I've just upgraded our tent via eBay, and treated us to a Vango Aurora 800DLX. Our plan is to go camping with our little girl who is just 14 months old.
Could I ask those of you that go camping with small children - how do you arrange it?
Where do they sleep (their own travel cot, or in with you)?
How do you keep them the right temperature?
Do you find you can get them to stay asleep while you stay up having a glass of wine - or does the chatting keep them awake?
It might well be that we wait until next year to use the tent - but I am now itching to get out there - what are your top tips!
I'm thinking the same myself our boy is 10 months old and next year we want to take him camping with us not sure how we are going to do it i will have to read what people write back to you
We've been taking our daughter since 4 months. She started in the cot part of the pushchair but now at 16 months has an inflatable mattress with sides.
She doesn't wake up from chatting but that is probably due to how tired she gets with all the running around.
Our next is due on new years eve and we are already planning for Easter and next summer :)
as for temperature our little one is happy in sleepsuit a vango baby nitestar sleeping bag and if really cold a few fleece blankets over the top
At night we keep him to his routine as much as possible and this also includes bed time and 90% of the time unless there is loads of noise he will be asleep and will stay asleep even through a party from the next tent
personally i would say if you plan on camping with your little one alot do it as soon as possible that way they will get use to it early as u said if left to next year they are going to be almost 2 by the time the first few trips are planned and by then they are more aware of there surroundings
Depends on how things are at home. If they are used to total quiet & blackouts at home then you might find they want the same when camping. Bedtimes usually get pushed back. Don't assume you can put them to bed at the usual time and sit out having a glass of something afterwards. My first baby slept in a travel cot next to our bed and when I put him to bed in the evening, whilst he didn't do any crying he was awake for hours listening to kids football games outside! Second child was used to a bit more noise at home and was asleep much quicker. She had the travel cot for a bit but sleeps on a SIM next to us without fuss. Chatting noise is usually a comfort to them.
We're quite new to camping but took our son who was 2 for a couple of short trips last summer. One mistake we made was pitching too close to the site entrance and so we spent the 2 days fetching him back from the driveway. Also because we were just starting out I had nothing to put the cooker on except the grass and I've now got a sturdy and quite tall cupboard so even if it gets bumped into by a little person it should still be safe.
I remember it taking him a while to fall asleep (he went in his own bedroom on a double airbed so plenty of room to roll around) and during wind in the night he did wake up but settled again. On the plus side once he was asleep he slept through quite a bit of chattering outside the tent!
In 3 days we'll be camping again with my son who is now 3 and our 4 month old baby, I think we'll still be learning lessons on our trips for a few years to come yet!
Alice was 21/2 when we first took her camping. She was in a normal bed at home (with a guard) so we just put her on an ordinary airbed. Those with sides weren't as readily available back them, and there was no chance that she would have gone in a travel cot - they were for babies.
Our first tent was a small viz a via - and although the idea was for the kids to sleep in one side and Richard adn I in the other - it ended up with the kids and me in one pod - having crawled across at 2am it was easier to stay there.
We then went for a bigger tent, and the main bedroom was large enough for all of us - so the kids slept in with us.
Even now when it is just me taking them we share a bedroom and they are 11 and 14. Although Pip is thinking about a pup tent.
Forget bedtimes - kids will not want to go to bed when they can hear every other kid on site still playing. The only time I insisted on a proper bed time was when we were going out somewhere special the next day. They usually found their own tired point.
The only thing that I would insist on was that teeth were cleaned - washes could be done in the morning. Once or twice they fell asleep fully clothed.
my little lad is now 4 and has been camping loads and he loves it, started at around 7 or 8 months and was off crawling through the mud straight away! he is very much and out door child.
Just got back from 2 weeks in France and he now has his own little mallet and a beach shelter to erect! (not brave enough to let him loose on the Vango Midas just yet!) very good at helping to guide poles and fetch pegs etc.
my advice is too take plenty of spare clothes and a couple spare blankets, a ground sheet to play on, or large picnic blanket, tbh the sun is more of a danger to little ones than the cold. (well maybe not this summer?!?) if the bed pod is large enough just have them sleep in there on their own bed (Mine has a junior air bed and a cheap sleeping bag + proper cotton sleeping bag so I can layer up if need be, then if your cold and need to reach for an extra blanket then they will need one too.
a ready bed may be suitable for a child of 12-18mnths? although mine always just used the airbed and a couple rolled up blankets as sides.
have been camping with little ones ~5 months. here are some of the things we have found!
When very little (baby) we used a pop up travel cot (folded up to the size of a dinner plate), however this was useless once the baby could roll as their body weight would tip the whole thing over! We have then tried ready beds (with additional sleeping bags, and those inflatable beds with sides all round. To be honest the first travel cot was great, the others were ok. I wouldn't rush out to buy any of them again. the problem with the cot was finding the zips in the middle of the night! We used the ready beds as we already had them at home. Now we cover the whole of the bedroom pod in SIM's and let them roll around, the youngest is always beside us incase of night time waking. We have never used a standard travel cot as we never had the space, both in the car and tent! We have plenty of spare fleecy blankets around.
We also used the baby sleeping bags with the shoulder straps so that they couldn't roll out (this was upto about 3) and get cold. When a real baby we also had a hat available if needed! We always used fleecy pyjamas, especially the ones with feet attached.
Then you need to try and not stick quite so much to routine! We did try and stick to the same bedtime, but it is really hard when they can hear children outside. Now we tend to play it by ear and see how tired they are, but going dark is always the limit of daytime!
WAterproofs, all in ones, and wellies are vital! Take plenty of clothes and watch out for the mud and grass getting everywhere. Sometime we resorted to a DVD before bed, which is something we would never do at home, but we used it as quiet time in the tent (we could have a drink and know where all the kids were!).
I would go, but be prepared for everything you normally do not to work quite as well. We have always found the early morning waking a problem, our solution is to stay up later so that a couple of days into the holiday they are so shattered they are sleeping in past the dawn. We did experiment with a piece of blackout fabric over the bedroom pods and this did help a bit with the early mornings.
Go and try and enjoy yourselves! But remember the next trip will be better!!!!! Hope the advice you get makes everything a bit easier!
Ribble
How I wish I'd seen this forum when we first took our daughter camping aged 16 months old back in 2004. She was a nightmare, wouldn't sleep, wouldn't stay in her sleeping bag etc etc. She ended up going to my mum's whilst the rest of us carried on camping. She had been in a proper bed for ages,which is why we thought she'd be ok. I think some of it was the novality of sleeping in a small dome tent with mummy, daddy and big brother!
With hindsight we would have done things so different and equipment has changed and improved as well.
The following year we tried camping again and she was much better. We were much more relaxed about bedtime routines or lack of.
We first took our little one this March when he was 7 months old. It was the coldest weather that I have ever been camping in, we used a normal travel cot and dressed him in a vest, babygrow with built in scratch mitts, grobag and 3 blankets over the top. He slept all night and woke up toasty warm in the morning. After this test camp, we bought one of these Arc 3 it is amazing, we let him sleep in it in his nursery a few times to get him used to it and now he always goes down with no problem at all. We try to keep as close to the normal routine as possible, and he is always tucked up by 7pm. We usually put a couple of fleece blankets underneath him, dress him in a vest and babygrow and put 2 blankets over the top of him that he can kick off if he gets too warm. We also find that the sound of chatter outside the tent helps to soothe him off to sleep. We have bought the blackout cover for the Arc and Alastair is so exhausted from having outdoor fun that he sleeps through till 7am.
I too had my reservations about taking a little one camping, but he is now 13 months old, has done a whole season camping and loves it, which makes me love camping even more! I have such amazing memories of camping as a child and am so excited that Alastair will be able to have his own!
I've not read the previous posts so apologies if I'm repeating anything here. Until this year our daughter slept in the travel cot, we left her in the bed pod while we sat up outside and didn't find anything kept her awake.
It's worth noting that children that young have no way of regulating their body temperature and are more likely to be too hot than too cold. Hold off with too many layers/covers unless she lets you know she's cold.
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Topic: Camping with a Toddler
