Camping with a 2 year old.

My partner and I are seasoned tent campers.
We are going to go away as a family this year.
Just after tips/hints/experiences of camping with a two year old.
Especially about sleeping arrangements. We have a five person tent. What does the nipper sleep in and on? In his cot he sleeps in a bag but wriggles around various positions all night. How do we keep him on a thermarest or suchlike? What is it best to have him sleep in?
With the bedtime routine do you put them down at the same time as at home or allow flexibility for weather/being a holiday etc?
Will he wake very early due to the light coming in the tent? At home we have black out curtains.
Any other comments would be gratefully received.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

Not quite as seasoned a camper as you but starting the same journey next week with my three year old.
Will prob start out in the back garden the first time, if that goes ok will progress to the Campsies for a night, then start thinking about further afield…
Prob going to just use an inflatable double mattress for us both or poss just for him! Got him a decent sleeping bag. Bedtime-wise not sure, thinking about keeping the normal bedtime routine but not sure if it will be possible due to excitement! Him, not me.
Anyways, looking forward to it, hope its enjoyable for all concerned!

used a travel cot at that age [ and much younger – started at two weeks old!!!!] for the little un as it gives you comfort knowing they will be there- you can then drape black out material over it if you want but ours was never a sleeper anyway so there was no point
stuck to routine as well as far as possible at that age but more the [ex] wife insisting on this, not sure it had any impact tbh

Ours slept in ready beds with Vango convertible sleeping bags.

Ours have camped from around 6 months. They sleep on alpkit aero120s in toddler sized mummy bags. They do tend to wriggle around so we sleep either side of them but we do have to retrieve them and put them back in position the odd time during the night.
We tend to relax bedtime routine as it will be light, but after a busy day running round they usually sleep very well.
Do it. They’ll love it and if you relax, they’ll just fit into it.

also used a ready bed thing with mummy bag in it as the air bed was within the bag so they could never wriggle off the bed- forget what age they were but as it is Thomas I assume quite young- works well for keeping them in the bed

agree with above my kids love it but boy is it tiring

FWIW they get up early even when in a camper van with blackout blinds so it is mainly holiday excitment- now 7 & 6

Ready Bed here too. Sheet between the outer and the inflatable part to reduce the bloody squeaking they make.

nothing to add here..
we’ve been taking ours since about 7 or 8 months old I think.. great great family time but be prepared to come home a lot more tired than when you left..

Littlelife travel cot and toddler size sleeping bag for us. Crankbrat sleeps in our pod of our family tent the other pod is used as a playroom/prison for him in bad wether . A waterproof puddle suit is a great help as he can play out of the tent even after heavy dew or rain . Bed time routines such as we manage stay the same . All this was at one year old looking forward to this year at 21 months .

Slight hijack…

Any tent recommendations? About to do the same thing with my 3 and 6 year olds. Only have my trusty old 2 man 4 season tent so will need to invest!

At 1.5 years old my daughter slept in a pop up travel cot, last year at 2.5 we used a little alpkit mat and a sleeping bag folded over so she wouldn’t fall down inside it. As said above, going to bed can be a bit tricky due to the light, but being outdoors all day helps with that.

If your tent is big enough, remember to put the zip pullers high when you close the doors. Of course this doesn’t work on a smaller two man tent as I saw one trip last year 🙂

Little life travel cot, followed by ready bed here. Both help to keep them contained and limit movement to a certain extent.

FWIW they get up early even when in a camper van with blackout blinds so it is mainly holiday excitment- now 7 & 6

I guess it depends on the kids in question. Our daughter, now 6, has always slept much better when camping, especially in our camper van. Her bunk is more light proof than her bedroom at home. But I think the fresh air and exercise are the main factors. She often sleeps an hour or two later in the camper van.

Have taken all of mine from and early age (from 6 weeks onwards). Used baby sleeping bags (vango nitestar etc) but never bothered with a travel cot. When they were small they would be on a matt between ours made keeping an eye on them and feeding them easier. I would usually lie doen with them to help settle them ehrn they were younger but as they get older laying in sleeping bags chatting and reading books is more fun.

I have camped at -7 with my two youngest, we used a double airbed I was in the middle so they rolled against me. I can thorougly recommend them as draught excluders and they appreciated me as a hot water bottle – the boys loved it espescially waking up in a frosty frozen tent

We all sleep better in tents than we do in houses – makes me wonder if we could have a bedouin style existance sometimes.

Make sure you pick your site well too – endearing features such as rivers and babbling brooks are best avoided just in case they do make a break for it (for the record I’ve never lost one camping yet)

If they are out of nappies then definitely take a potty, saves going to the toilet block first thing.

as my brother found out, potty can be handy for adults too…

You can skip the tiny sleeping bag stage by getting a youth or adult sleeping bag and tying it off with cord or a belt at just below foot level. Kids are way tougher than adults, just go with the flow and get on with it. HOWEVER, they will always manage to get more sets of clothes wet than you think they will, take loads extra socks and man made fabrics like fleecy tops and trousers that dry easily.

Following this thread with interest… As I’m about to become a dad for the first time in July :@)

We are seasoned campers and want to continue with this trend … Currently getting rid of our two person tent and we were looking to buy a bigger replacement.

Initially the hilleberg nallo gt 3

Is this going to be cramped and would we be better with something roomier ie you can stand up in ?

Took my 2.5 year old and 18 month old for their first camp last summer. Just me to handle them, and two friends with their sons. Both mine went in ready beds (so zipped in) with duvets over the top of them. I did put them in their own pod in a borrowed tent (I was in the pod right next to them) but they woke in the night and wanted me in with them. They were up with the sun so we wandered over to the nearest stream and threw stones for a couple of hours until everyone else was awake.

Bed time we played it by ear, an all male group meant we weren’t particularly well organised on meal times, took a while to light the BBQ etc. They were quite happy though, there were two other groups in the field and all the kids ended up playing together. My 18 month old was the youngest, eldest was probably 14. Great fun.

They absolutely loved it and cannot wait to go again, but I was exhausted!

Tent wise, a bell tent takes some beating. Easy to put up, dry (not sweaty and sticky in the morning) loads of space etc

@BBB

Travel cot (you can get pop up ones if space is an issue) or if they are too big and a bit of a moving sleeper, try one of these http://www.camperlands.co.uk/kampa-airlock-junior-airbed.html

Take plenty of blankets to keep them warm as well, or they will be awake very early!

Anyone want to buy a rare and never used Deuter baby sleeping bag, expands for toddlers? Similar to this:

http://www.lockwoods.com/deuter–little-star-exp-baby/prod_2406.html

Re camping – we did it from 6 weeks old, and last summer did a week in a 4 man backpacking type tent with a 3yo and a 12mo. We had one double sleeping mat and two singles at the edges. Just used blankets and duvets, but we like to do this anyway.

Marmot Limelight 4p

I wouldn’t recommend an inflatable mattress, they are bad for all sorts of reasons but having a wriggly toddler slumping against you would be just one more.

Best advice…don’t fret over them.
Bed time & getting up time go out the window. Seriously, just let them run till they drop.
Fold a regular sleeping bag in half or tie it half way down. (Kids like to move a bit).
Zip up the inner tent & leave zips high up, out of reach. Books, toys etc, ready for wake up will give you some time when they wake.
Littletrekkers are superb for kids outdoor kit. The all-in-one Polartec fleece suits & waterproofs are a godsend. If it’s wet, waterproofs worn over wellies & pop a couple of elastic bands around the bottoms, it keeps them dry.

We have a khyam tent. 4 birth. We took our 6 month old and 3 year old for the first time last summer.

We met friends at the campsite with similarly aged children and had a great time. 3yo had a a blow upp adult bed but had been in a bed for a number of months at home.

I would definitely look for the following features in a family camping tent for toddler friendly camping…

– standing room
– porch / non bedroom bit big enough to play in if weather is bobbins
– fast pitch time preferably possible with limited 2nd person input (the khyam is fab for this but at the expense of packsize and some compromise on shape). I managed to pitch in a 20mph cross wind in ten minutes with a minute’s assistance from mrs gd. Striking was a single handed job in ten minutes.
– take 2 or 3 wind breaks to create a kids area round one door.

6mo went in a travel cot

Sleep routine went to cock despite best intentions due to late dinners and too much excitement but hey ho.

Oh and lots of layers of fleece pajamas if they don’t like sleeping bags and are relying on blankets. Neither of ours stayed under their blankets.

Love that bottom photo from petrieboy.

Try not to take more stuff than you would use at home, else it kind of defeats the idea of camping (roughing it)

Some people I know take so much, they might as well stay in a hotel.

hmm am thinking of taking our 2 (6months amd 2.5 years) to the rough ride camping over the night before so this threads been very useful!

If you have one of those pop-up sun tents, you can use it inside the main tent as their own mini-tent. Fun and it adds an extra bit of shade.

it kind of defeats the idea of camping

Well no, the point of camping is to be somewhere other than your home, isn’t it?

I’ve done car, travel cot (phil and teds sturdy but light one with built in thermarest), sleeping bag in it, fleecy suit for pyjamas, in a big 4 man tent, when she was one.

Also done ready bed and a blanket next to me in my super light 2 man tent, with next to no spare stuff because we’d come on the bike trailer,when she was two. Worked fine too. Kids are resiliant as long as you keep em warm enough and don’t worry too much about strict bedtimes.

Rose is a very warm sleeper like me though, so it hasn’t been that hard with her so far – also she’ll happily fall asleep on the floor in her room and that is way harder than any camping bed.

Going in a couple of weeks so we’ll see how it works with a nearly 3 yr old then. I did mean to take her winter camping earlier this year, but all that snow hit and the campsite was snowed in so we couldn’t. Can’t wait for her first wild camp, maybe later this year!

I’m surprised no one has mentions a big ground anchor and long rope yet! The little buggers run off every where!

molgrips – Member

Anyone want to buy a rare and never used Deuter baby sleeping bag, expands for toddlers? Similar to this:

http://www.lockwoods.com/deuter–little-star-exp-baby/prod_2406.html

I could be interested in that,PM me a price etc
This is all usefull stuff as I`m thinking of doing the same thing this year, (my littluns are 1 and 3)
I have a Van that I am debating converting into a Dayvan /Camper, but may just do the tent thing to start with.