Hi all very new here, I've never done the camping thing before in my life and somehow I've been talked into thinking its a good idea, not sure how that bit happened! Any way we are going 13th May with 2 children aged 4 and 21 months I have two worries how on earth will I ever get excited children to bed? and how do I convince a 21 month old that has never slept in a bed yet that staying in bed is where she needs to be? Will they be too cold, we have bought them 4 season sleeping bags plus they have blow up ready beds. I would be grateful for any advice or words of wisdom from those that have done it.
We are only going for one night the first time and we live in the New Forest so not planning on going to far.
Hi Kelly the 4 season sleeping bags & ready beds sound great, but the ground you're sleeping on will draw the heat from you're childrens bodies. Full length foam mats on top of the ready beds should prevent this from happening. You can buy these from most camping shops maybe even argos.
Hi kellyrushin and welcome to ukcs. Regarding the "Getting exited children to bed" question, we took our daughter last year for the 1st time when she was 20 months old. The 1st night we tried putting her to bed about an hour later than usual (as she was so exited) but she was having none of it and got really upset. She finally went to sleep about midnight after we played with her in the tent till she was exhausted (mind you, so were we!) From then on we decided that any sort of 'routine' was no good when camping and we usually manage to wear her out by a reasonable time. As long as we keep her occupied and quiet after dark, I don't think there's any harm in it. Good luck with your 1st trip!!
try the kids indoors with airbeds, then have a go at garden camping overnight,to let them get used to being in the tent. good luck on your first trip..
We laid down with our daughter at first and went through nursery rhymes and songs to get her drowsy and she used to sleep fine, now she's nearly 6 and just takes herself off to sleep but knows we're not far away and she can talk to us.
I'm afraid routine isn't a word we use when camping, all the fresh air tends to knock them out a bit anyway.
I find forgetting bed times the best solution - let them go when they are tired. Its awfully hard to explain to children that they must go to bed when other children their age are still playing outside. They will sleep when they are tired. Often you find that when they've been playing outside for hours this isn't much later than normal. Once or twice mine have flaked out fully clothed. Shower and fresh clothes in the morning and they are fine. Layers are the best for keeping the kids warm - easy to add/takeaway. Fleece pram blankets (inexpensive kind) are idea. Even use a car fleece for myself. Kids love garden camping - when we got our first tent we spent the night in the garden to get the kids used to sleeping in a tent - needn't have worried. Now we often garden camp. I've even got a special tent for garden camping. Just used it as a bribe to get them to go to bed - so heres hoping for a nice weekend.
Two of my children will be on 13mm roll up mats with 2/3 season sleeping bags - I intend to use a picnic blanket also underneath them - will this be sufficient for summer camping or will they need more ?
mine don t have bed times on campsite last year my three year old,five year old and six year old was out playing till about 11-12pm we were all drinking and playing then they would just come in all nice and dirty crawl into there sleeping bags wake up about 9am get washed changed have breakfast then play out only came to us when hungry or thirsty with about another 10 kids in tow then do same again brilliant no routines no pressure no hassle for us we all love it and have brill times
Thank you everyone for your posts. Guess I need to just forget bedtimes and routines. could be interesting I am not very good at that! But I want us to all have fun not spend the whole time shouting at them to go to sleep, so I will just try and go with the advice and just let them keep going til they flake! We are going with my brother and his wife who have camped many times but never with children (they dont have any) soI don't want to ruin it for anyone. So just all remind me on the 12th that this is supposed to be fun and I will try not to stick to the military routine (ex RAF I can't help it!)
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Topic: First time camper! with kids help!
