i am thinking ahead of next year when we go back out in the van. I have been taking my grandaughter away on a few weekends this year and at the moment she is young enough to sleep in a moses basket, however what will i do next year without the ovbvious putting her in bed with me. there must be other ways, she will be one year in march so possibly be walking by the time go next year.
We had the same issue when deciding on buying our first van this year. After a lot of hunting around and different ideas (including netting, etc!) we have come up with the following which will work and should be 100% safe! I am not sure of the layout of your van but the below may also work for you!
On the Bailey ranger we have a single side dinnette that turns into a bed with a single bunk that folds out above. We will be (don't get the van for another week) removing the fold out bunk bed as we don't need it at the moment and its just more weight (the dealer has showed us its just 8 screws to take it out). We then make up the lower bed but won't put the cushions back on that form the mattress. You now have a platform with consists of wooden slates either side where the chairs were and a solid middle section where the table slides in. Next we will be placing a small piece of plywood over both wooden slated sections so we have a completley solid base and then the following travel cot fits into this space:
The main problem with a lot of travel cots are they are too wide to fit in this space on most vans but this one (with the bunk removed) is a perfect fit and will also last till our 8 month old is 3 years old. During the daytime we will just collapse this down and make the dinnette back up. It should take less than 5 mins to put up / down and the pieces of plywood could be left under the cushions or tucked in a cupboard. We only added the plywood to give an even base for the cot legs and to avoid one leg slipping between the gaps but to be honest it would probably have been ok. If your pagent has two doubles then this cot may be slim enough to fit in between both seats as its the slimest one we could find that would last for a few years!
When my niece was a baby, my brother made a frame like a cotside but the length of the single bunk and fixed it to the panels either side (it was a van with single dinette at the far end). I think he screwed batons to the wall and used small bolts - not too sure now as she is now 31!!
She slept very well in it as it was like being in her cot at home.
Were off from Sept 3rd and my little dude will just sleep on one sofa at the front and my mum on the other. Hubby and I out in the awning. He's 2 though and been used to a single bed since Christmas. We will though put cushions from the back of the seat on the floor just in case!
Hiya
Our boys are now 3 and 4 but when we they were smaller we used a samsonite bubble cot. It was really useful as it was just the width of the lower bunk and the top was springy enough to mould underneath the top bunk.
Hiya only thing I Would say is to take plenty of things to entertain on a rainy day, not that I wish you any rain but you know what the great British summers are like here.
Amy.
Hi, We have camped and caravan with our twins since 3 months. In the caravan we used the single beds and had the beds guards, these worked great. At six occassional they still fall out of bed, but rarley wake so do not beieve that they have. Enjoy.
Hi, We have camped and caravan with our twins since 3 months. In the caravan we used the single beds and had the beds guards, these worked great. At six occassional they still fall out of bed, but rarley wake so do not beieve that they have. Enjoy.
We also used a bed guard from argos and it worked a treat. Also we use one of those builders trugs you can get from a garden centre as a baby bath for a toddler. We used the 42l until she was about 3. They are great as they can sit up in them and you can flex them under the sites washing up sink to fill them up. We now use a bigger one now she is 4. She loves it. We even take it to the shower room and she has a shower while sitting and having a bath! . They are multi purpose as we also use it for transporting the groceries when loading up the van and as a washing up bowl as they flex under the sites washing up taps(when too much stuff for the vans sink)
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: any ideas - vanning with toddler
