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Author Topic: When to go camping with a baby?  (Read 3654 times)

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Offline Shdef

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When to go camping with a baby?
« on: April 15, 2006, 10:03:50 am »
DH, MIL, BIL and SIL and me are big camping fans. In Scotland you can camp anywhere and we are usually here (I'll post a pic). Dh hubbys best friend has five kids (the youngest is 2) and they camp all the time... Has anyone ever done it? We thought maybe this summer, but I don't know yet...
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Offline Michelle C

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Re: When to go camping with a baby?
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2006, 14:01:30 pm »
I first went camping as a baby when I was 2 weeks old...my friend took his 3 day old baby camping (to get away from the ringing phone and well-meaning visitors)- but he's a pediatrician!  I wouldn't recommend that!!

I'm taking my 5.5 month old baby camping this summer for 9 days.  We don't exactly camp "hard core"- we don't have electicity or anything, but we will have a small trailer in a national forest (we're not backpaking/ tenting).  We will have to do some creative engineering to get the pack-n-play in the trailer for DD to sleep in, my my brother reassues me that it can be done!  :)

As long as you can meet the baby's needs, you should be fine.  Somewhere safe to sleep, warm enough in the evening, etc.  The more people you have along, the easier it should be.  We'll have 9 adults, 2 older kids, and 2 infants, so I'll have help with my baby when I need to cook, etc- or if I want to go for a swim or a baby-free hike.  If you are unsure about how it will go, go somewhere close to home and go for a practice weekend 1st, before you take a longer trip. 
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Offline RachelC

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Re: When to go camping with a baby?
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2006, 14:12:57 pm »
We go camping every father's day weekend with dh's family.  DD1's first year she was 1 month old and we opted not to stay overnight.  We plan to take dd2 this year and she will be 9.5 months old.  DD1 loves to camp and we wanted to instill that fun at an early age and she is already talking about going, even though we are 2 months away.

I agree with Michelle C, make sure all Scott's needs are met and have fun with it.  He'll adjust better than the rest of you  :)

~Rachel
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Offline Shdef

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Re: When to go camping with a baby?
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2006, 18:05:12 pm »
Thank you so very much for your replies :) DH and I were waiting for that...

We have got a wee secret camping spot just about half an hour walk away from here so we will try that first. It's a wee nature reserve and it's beautiful. Tesco's is just 10 minutes away and it's really secret and wonderful there. We were planning in going to Arran with him, but our usual spot in the standing stones of the Isle of Arran is 2 hours bus away from anywhere. And the bus doesn't go all that often anyway...

We might not go there until we are REALLY experienced with our baby camping. We are backpackers and do tenting but we have appropriate equipment (water proofs, camping cooker, flasks with hot water, wipes, brilliant tents where the pram can fit in, loads of clothes, proper insulation mats and sleeping bags, hats and so on...) We are also quite experienced in travelling with him for a whole day and we live in two countries anyway... He is very much an outside boy, he naps in the garden or walking at least once a day, he never naps in his cot, always in the pram. We know how to check his temperature properly and the pram has got a thermometer attached to it so we always know.

We will head for the middle of summer (ten he will be nearly a year) and we will camp with my MIL, BIL, SIL, DH and DS and me :)

Thanks !

P.S. have you found anything that you HAD to take for the baby that isn't obvious? Something that is handy camping?
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Offline ~tess~

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Re: When to go camping with a baby?
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2006, 18:41:21 pm »
we went when our daughter was 1 years old....it went well.  we slept in the tent, but grandma had a camper we laid her down in first, then moved her when time for us all to go to sleep.

i do think it's possible with young kids...even  babies.  nothing wrong with a pack n play in a tent!  dirt won't kill them if they eat some of it.....they tire out a lot from the outdoors and new activity, so allow for lots of naptime, but have fun!

the only thing i can think of that's weird......we took a sound machine.....it helped drown out the sound of voices  since our daughter went to bed early at that time......it ran on batteries and it helped her stay asleep when the birds in the early morning were too loud, lol.

we are going again this summer.....but i know of friends who went with their 3 week old a few years ago.  go for it.  i think the earlier you go in their lifetime the sooner they will adjust.  have fun!
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~Tess~
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DD, 12

Offline Shdef

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Re: When to go camping with a baby?
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2006, 20:25:07 pm »
He is having trouble with the birds as well. They wake him quite earlr now. But a ound machine wakes me  :-\

I might give it a go though :)
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Offline mumto5cuddlebugs

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Re: When to go camping with a baby?
« Reply #6 on: April 19, 2006, 19:36:30 pm »
We took our eldest camping to a trad festival in Ireland when he was 6 months old and went camping when our youngest was six weeks old. They both slept very well and soon adapted to the new environment. It was great fun.
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