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ACTIVITY => Activity Time & Toddler Activity => Topic started by: *Ellen* on May 27, 2006, 18:38:43 pm
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We are planning on going tent camping over the fourth of July. It will be super hot seeing as how it already feels like the dead of summer around here. Has anyone ever camped with children/babies this young. I guess I don't know how to get DS to sleep since he has never slept anywhere but his crib. Should we try to put the pack and play in the tent? Would you try to put a fan inside tent to keep him cool. I'm not worried about our three yr old because she can go to bed when we do and sleep beside us. We are excited about it but I am starting to wonder if this would be a mistake. Can anyone please give me some advice?
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BTW, actually, DS will be about 7 mo when we go ;D
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Hiya, I do not think it is crazy at all. We took our ds camping when he was 7 months old to Ireland. I was concerned but he seemed to adapt to sleeping in a tent very quickly. I took his lovey and a musical light thing (thing he had that projects pics on wall) and he was happy to sleep in tent. We did put tent up before we went a few times to get him used to it and we put him in pop up cot, more to stop him from sleeping legs and arms akimbo and taking up the whole tent space!!! We took him (at age of 18 months) with dd who was 6 weeks old for a week long camping and again it was actually fine. Baby was so young i suppose she did not realise we were away from home. We are going camping in the summer again in Ireland with both of them. It is great fun. We did not have the heat problem so much as in the uk but a fan sound like a good idea. I found that taking familar things from home did help lo's settle better. I did try as best as poss to keep routine same as at home but thats hard on holiday. The first night or two they definatelty needed bit more help to settle but once asleep slept as well as at homel. I hope you have a fantastic time!
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Thanks, I think it has potential to be great fun! If we can beat the heat, we will have really accomplished something. It gets so hot around here in the summer the humidity makes it hard to breathe. If all goes well I want to try to entice DH to go camping on the beach in the fall.........but first things first.
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We took dd camping when she was 8 weeks old and continued to take her through last summer. We've been three times so far this year and are looking forward to many more trips. So, no, I don't think you're crazy! Our dd loves the outdoors and sleeps really well in the tent. Last year, we took the moses basket, and this year we have the travel cot, and she sleeps fine.
Last year we had one camping weekend when it was very hot and stuffy. She was about 4 months old and the heat was unbearable even for the adults. I have a photograph from just after she woke up one day of a dd shaped sweat patch on the bed! It had arms and everything. We did everything we could to keep her cool. We had a washing up bowl which we filled with cool water for her to sit in and play. This year, we have a small paddling pool to take. We also took off her clothes when it was very hot, and kept her in the shade in just her nappy. And made sure she had loads to drink. Will ds sleep in a buggy? The inside of a tent gets too hot during the day to nap in, although if you had a fan, it may help. We're cheap campers and don't have electric!
But most of all, enjoy it!
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he pretty much likes to sleep in a bed.....unless he is asleep on me like at church or something. But he only takes short naps when napping on someone. So.....not sure what to do about day naps. I see your point though, I bet it would be really hot during the day....too hot for napping. Maybe I can just strip him down, all but his diaper and point a fan on him. Maybe there is some other way to keep things cool inside that I am not thinking of. Is a travel cot like a playpen with a pad in the bottom for sleeping?
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Hi!
I went camping with my DS when he was 3months old, because he was so little we used the pram as his bed. He napped in it when we were out in the day and slept in it in the tent at night. It was very hot and although I didnt have a fan or anything we kept him in the shade as best we could and he was fine! This year we are going away again DS is now one and he'll be sleeping in a travel cot, I expect I'll let him nap in his pushchair in the shade in the day. Hope your trip goes well and you have a lovely time!!!
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Is a travel cot like a playpen with a pad in the bottom for sleeping?
Yes. I think you'll probably be alright with the fan. She did fall asleep on me a couple of times and I put her in her pushchair after 10 minutes or so, so that she didn't get too hot. We never do that at home, but she did have a hard time napping in the heat. Wish we had a fan, but we wouldn't be able to fit it in the car as I already have to sit cross-legged in the back and squashed to fit what we have in!
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We're going camping too! We took dd last year when she was 5 weeks old. She did great! This year she will be 13 1/2 mo. I have been having her sleep in the pack & play a few times a week to remind her of sleeping there. Since we are borrowing a camp trailer, I took her over & we had lunch 7 took a nap in there (in the pack & play) to help her get accustomed to it. she did OK & slept for about 45 min the first time. I also bought a battery operated white noise machine so that we can mask the nighttime conversations & some of the "scary" nighttime noises (owls, etc). I actually have her sleeping witht he bird noises now to help her get used to the noise so she won't wake up at the crack of dawn when the birds start making their noise.
My big question, may seem kind of silly. Since we use a diaper service, we almost never use disposable diapers. Which ones are good for nighttime use? The ones I used last year (can't remember the brand) didn't help & I ended up using cloth at night & "packing them out" with us to return to the diaper service. Not doing that again!
I've also tried to think of toys to take. She has hit a boredom phase & I need to find new things to stimulate her. Any ideas, especially for camping?
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My big question, may seem kind of silly. Since we use a diaper service, we almost never use disposable diapers. Which ones are good for nighttime use?
We use cloth too and I am just going to take it all with me and use it there too. :P I am not sure what brand of disposables to use for night. Before I started using cloth I used Huggies and Pampers but they always leaked overnight ::). I am planning on using what I use now for overnight which is an Indian Prefold, a doubler and a heavy duty fleece or wool cover........what do you normally use?
I've also tried to think of toys to take. She has hit a boredom phase & I need to find new things to stimulate her. Any ideas, especially for camping?
At that age (and even now) my DD loved riding in her wagon. I am also planning on taking our baby pool because it will be HOT!!!
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Go for it! ;D
We went camping when ds was just over 2.5 and dd was about 10mths for one night only ( :D). It was a fantastic time even though both kids had an awful time falling asleep and staying asleep all night. DS decided in the middle of the night he wanted his own bed even though he was sleeping with us. We took dd's portacot but she woke in the middle of the night (it was a full moon) and started pointing at the roof of the tent all night and wanted to play and chat since it looked like early morning ::), but we had a fab time anyway, so the disrupted sleep was a small price to pay.
We took a small bin of toys that both kids play with (a couple of books, small cars for ds, a pack of animal cards etc) and ds's tricycle - I think the paddling pool sounds a fab idea.
We use cloth normally but did disposables while away (for the one night we could have easily done cloth I guess).
We took the backpack for dd to ride in and she napped in there too if we were out walking.
Have fun.