Hi all newbie on here!!
Myself, wife and 10 yr old daughter have enjoyed camping a few times, we bought a 8 man vango tent 2 years ago and i have only used it once. We have all the equipment to go camping but i need some advice! The cold doesnt bother me but it bothers my wife, 10yr old and our baby. He will be 1 year old in the summer and we want to take him camping but are worried about how to keep him warm at night. Im lost just thinking about it so any advice is greatfully appreciated. I had though EHU and an electric oil filled radiator(used to be a spark so understand power ratings) but i dont know if it will heat the whole tent?? Space isnt a problem as i am borrowing a friends minibus!!
Lastly, any suggestions for good summer campsites, maybe in Wales would be most welcome.
Ok so you have all the gear which is half the battle and you have been camping a few times so you have a rough idea what its all about. EHU would be a good option for keeping the family warm. When we first started out our youngest was 18 months old so I understand your concerns re keeping warm etc. We use a fan heater which does the job nicely of heating up the tent.
There have been many threads recently re taking young kids away camping so have a wee read through them and that will give you lots of help and ideas. Sorry, I am not good at doing links .
I am sure there will be plenty folks along with more suggestions for you soon. You say you fancy Wales? We have never been camping in Wales yet. Which part of the country are you from?
------------- 2015 Trips
January - Red Squirrel
February - Red Squirrel
March - Gimme Shelter
April - Elie
May - Noah's Ark
May - Riverside, Skipton
May - Blair Castle
June - Braithwaite Bridges
July - The Star
July - Witches Craig
July - Scone
August - Highburn House
September - Gimme Shelter
Hi
Definately invest in an ehu and a fan heater, I also dont like being cold but using the heater means we can go camping for longer, we have had the heater on low in the bedroom pod all night before now. Also worth thinking about is what you are sleeping on and insulating yourself if it's air beds, we use fleecy matress toppers on ours for a good nights sleep. Have a look around this site, you can find info on anything and everything and use the camp site search to look for campsites in Wales, reading the reviews will help you choose a site suitable for your family.
Wherever you end up have a lovely time
Angie
Hi my son was 1 when we first took him camping. We took his travel cot and put it in our bedroom pod, we put it on a flattened cardboard box and stuffed all the empty holdalls and stuff sacks underneath to keep the cold air from getting underneath it. He was in a snuggle sac (a really brilliant thick fleecy baby sleeping bag) and wore his all in one vest, a long sleeve t shirt and socks underneath a fleecy all in one sleep suit. We also took extra blankets which we added or removed as we felt appropriate. The main problem was his hands which he kept flinging out of the covers and were like blocks of ice, so we waited until he was properly asleep and put little cotton mitts on him. We did have ehu and ran a halogen heater for about an hour before putting the children to bed but tbh you could get away without it in Summer months if you don't fancy the ehu route.
We did the same as FionaW1971, with out 1 year old twins, travel cots and layers of clothes, we put tights on them both (boy and girl) and then layered up from there, they usually don't feel the cold like we do, but we used a oscilating fan heater to keep a base heat in over night. i find it harder now they are older as they are in sleeping bags (jnr pods) and they have much more 'air space' around them!
------------- April-Norfolk 7nts, Oxford 2nts, Defford 2nts
May-Symm Yat 3nts
June-Defford 2 nts,Pembridge 2nts
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A quick tip from when I used to go camping (real, lightweight camping!) in winter to help keep the older children in sleeping bags warm - put jumpers (or similar) in the sleeping bag with them to fill some of the dead air-space - just don't stuff the bag so full they can't move! It really does work.
As for taking a 1 year-old camping, my daughter spent her first night under canvas (ok - it was a folding camper, but it was still unheated canvas!) when she was 4 weeks old (it was early May), and she was perfectly happy. She took her first steps in a field and camped regularly from then until 2 years ago when we stopped touring (when she was 18) and was always happier in a tent than any other accommodation. As others have said, try to fill the space under a travel cot with insulating 'stuff' so that the cool air isn't circulating under his bed. When my daughter was small, I used to put a cellular blanket (those with the little square holes) right over the top of her cot so that the air inside was kept still and warm (use your judgement about this - if it's a warm summer night and you are warm yourself, baby will be warm too and won't need the extra cover).
Have a great time - there is nothing better for the little ones than the freedom of a field.
Hi all, thanks for the tips, we have all the stuff mentioned from fleece blankets, cellular blankets, snuggle sacs,travel cot, fan heaters etc etc, that has put my mind at ease..... Im from just outside glasgow so will be travelling a fair old distance but have the use of a minibus which we will use so we dont need to worry about packing the car, just need suggestions for campsites in Wales near the sea???
Wife found the willows abersoch - unfortunatly no EHU..... is there a solution for an electric heater with no ehu such as a battery facility?? any ideas would be very welcome
Quote: Originally posted by iaingray5 on 04/3/2012Wife found the willows abersoch - unfortunatly no EHU..... is there a solution for an electric heater with no ehu such as a battery facility?? any ideas would be very welcome
No I'm afraid you're struggling a bit there. Electric heaters pull so much power, you need a mains supply. You can get small 12v heaters on eBay which are used in cars for defrosting the windscreen etc. However, they won't provide much heat in a large tent, and they would flatten a leisure battery in no time. The only other way of providing heat is gas heaters, which is definitely not advisable, especially with a baby. The only way of keeping warm safely without EHU is good old fashioned layers and blankets. Keep beds well insulated from the floor, wear thermals, sleeping socks etc and good warm sleeping bags. I have a 3kw fan heater and it keeps my large trailer tent toasty (just need a 16amp supply to power it), so if you do find a site with EHU, a good fan heater will keep you warm, unless its really really cold outside! Good luck!
we are the same, our boy will be 7/8 months old when we go camping this year, its our 1st child and like you, we are a bit apprehensive but have all the gear as we have been camping for about 5/6 years now, were equipped with EHU and all the modern equipment that we need to enjoy ourselves. back to baby though, we have invested in his 1st sleeping bag, follow the link, alot of people have maybe seen this or got it already. we will also be packing plenty covers, thermals etc so i trust he will be nice and cozy all day and night.
we get married in november and we want to take Lucas for his 1st camping holiday aswell as us needing one due to the OH stressing about wedding plans etc.
If you have EHU you could just use an electric blanket just making sure you have good insultor inbetween the raw and the blanket diverting all that warm goodness up.
They're safe, you can spill on them, step on them etc they all have a strict safety standard to adhere to. Providing its a good quality I reakon it would be a great option for you.
Without EHU as everyone has already said many layers and insulation from the floor, you loose a lot of heat when not insulated properly, I've seen and used a few types of insultors and tbh the best Ive see is the cheapy foam mats one of them under your bed is toasty.
We stayed in Dyyfryn Seaside Estate http://www.dyffryn-seaside-estate.co.uk/ near Barmouth its a big busy campsite but pretty much has its own beach 10mins walk away!! We're going again in June so it must be okay
AS far as camping with your baby...the main problem is variation in temperature. When we put our little ones to bed it would still be quite warm andthen the temperature drops quickly. We used sleepsuits (they were about 18months old) but had to wake them tyo put them on...not ideal...but they couldn't kick them off in the night ! Also took a fan heater which kept the tent about6-7degrees warmer than the night we didn't use it !
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Bringing baby camping
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