Camping w/Toddlers - Tips and Tricks

Please use this sticky to post your (you can copy and paste from previous threads about it!) tips and trick and ideas for camping. Disasters are also welcome because we do tend to learn from others!!!

 

I have camped with my twins since they were still in utero. My twins will be 2 on Aug. 21st, 2008. Here's what I can help with:

Their sleep schedule will be all off. Mine normally wake up between 9 and 10, while camping they woke up with the sun which meant 6. This also meant they were ready for a nap by 10, and they took 2 or 3 naps while camping. When at home they only take 1. I just planned my day trips around their naps hoping they would sleep in the car. While camping they are generally tired enough that they'll fall asleep almost immediately.

Bring a comfy stroller. My kids would not nap in the camper during the day. I think because of the light, not to mention the freedom since they weren't in their cribs. (I didn't bring pack-n-plays this year) When they were ready for a nap I just snapped them in the stroller and took a walk. When I got back to the campsite they would stay asleep until a really loud noise or about an hour. I have a baby-jogger double stroller that you can lay the backs down all the way, and it has a good canopy to block the sun, and quite a bit of noise.

Also try to plan ahead on sleeping arrangements. The first time I went camping this year I was with my sister in her camper and didn't know what I was going to do but I didn't bring pack-n-plays. (She has a 3 year old and a 1 year old in a pack-n-play, the camper would've been a little crowed.) But the first two nights Alex fell out of bed. So I got him and moved him in bed with me. The third night I arranged the beds differently and Alex was on the floor and Trevor up in the bed with an extra roll to keep him in his travel bed. Alex still rolled out of his bed but at least it didn't wake him up. <_<

Bring PJs with long sleeves and footies (or socks if they actually keep theirs socks on). I know its warm during the day but it can get VERY cold at night. This doesn't pretain to you if you have a climatic controlled camper (my sister does , but my parents don't ). Over 4th of July I actually should've had winter coats for the boys on two of the mornings. My almost 2 year olds just didn't move fast enough to get themselves warmed up. Poor Alex was chattering his teeth so badly I thought he would chip some.

Depending on your hiking prefrences bring backpacks. My kids love them. Over fourth of July my dad and I walked 270+ steps with a kid on our back :huh: . It was a good workout for us. I had the dogs to help pull me up the stairs too.

If you don't have a shower in your camper and you are using the public facilities try it for yourself first. I took my kids to the shower this last time thinking we'd all take a shower together and we'd be fine but they screamed the entire time (loudly, my dad heard them from the campsite). First I didn't know exactly how to use the shower (it had a token thingy), and I couldn't adjust the temperature at all. Not to mention that whenever a toliet flushed the shower got hotter and this particular day one of the toliets was flushing continuously. So the water was too hot for the boys. I had to splash them myself to rinse them off. I used the extrernal shower on the camper the next time. Oh and the shower was dark so I think they may have been afraid of it too.

Bring sand toys. Most campgrounds have dirt at the sites and they'll be playing in the dirt anyway so you might as well have the bucket and shovel so you don't have to wash more dishes.

I don't have picky eaters so I don't have any issues with eating.

Most of all have fun and let the kids dictate some activities. Like throwing rocks in the water or chasing minnows.

 

I forgot to mention put up and take down. I generally miss this because I time my visits well when camping with my sister. But while camping with my parents I was there for the take down, and after awhile the boys just got in the way and were a little too needy. So I put them in their car seats and popped a movie in the DVD player. I straped a juice and a snack cup to their car seats and left the windows down and they were fine. I also had their toys, which included books (their favorite toy), between their car seats so they could play with them too. They did pretty well with this and most of the crying was one taking a book from the other, typical twins playing tantrums.

 

just cutting/pasting my post.
*****
we just got back from our annual camping trip to maine. we have a pop-up camper. i really couldn't imagine camping w/ the twins in tents. that is just me. especially this year since it was the worst weather we had ever had....it rained A LOT!

we didn't use sleeping bags...just laid out big blankets on the bed for them to sleep on...warm ones...then there usual bed stuff, blankets, stuffed animals, pillows, etc. tried to make it as much like home as possible. you could always cut the strings off the bags, couldn't you?

we use hookups...and we have a little hose shower area in the camper...to be honest...i think they had one hose down all week. it is just too hard camping. we did go to the pool once, so i sort of count that as a bath also...we cleaned them up every night with a face cloth...hands, face, feet, privates...as best as we could.

we did naps as we did at home...though i think they were soooo tired because we would keep them up late at night to assure they would sleep through the night....after a couple of days, we started doing two naps and it worked out great. they were less cranky.

last year when we camped, they were 10 months old and we used two pnps for them to sleep in...this year, they slept in the bed of the pop-up...my dh mcgyvered a way to keep them in the bed using pieces of a supergate!

it all worked well for us.

good luck!

 

For people using "beds", one good way to keep kids from rolling off is to lay down a blanket and tuck pillows in under the edge. You can tuck the blanket back under the pillows. Unless you have really wild sleepers, that little rise will keep them in the bed. That also works well in beds with fitted sheets (when you are visiting family, etc.) and don't have a bed-rail with you.

 

Here are some links to recent camping topics that may help as well

Bathing kids while camping

General camping tips for 2-3 year olds - how to entertain, etc. - LOTS OF GREAT TIPS!!!

More general tips for camping with toddlers

More general tips for camping

Sleeping arrangements while camping

Camper/RV Sleeping Arrangements

Good sippy cups for camping

Dealing with mosquitos

Keeping toddlers occupied while camping

 

QUOTE(melissao @ Jul 30 2008, 08:23 PM) [snapback]905343[/snapback]
Here are some links to recent camping topics that may help as well


Thank you Melissa! :good:

 

For younger kids that don't climb...bring a superyard! We spent a week in the Sequoias and set up 2 x-pens (similar to superyards...technically made for pets ), put a blanket down and a shade tent over top. Threw all the toys in there. The boys had a great time and they stayed safe while we could cook or do whatever.

Ignore the giant pregnant lady and you can see our play yard set up.

Also, bring a wagon! I have a Combi and it is NOT an off-road stroller. lol. It has never been the same after the Sequoias trip.

We have a pretty large tent, and we were able to bring the 2 pack and plays. The boys slept well. My oldest just slept with us in our air mattress. Now that we aren't in cribs, I'm thinking we will get another big air mattress for all the boys to sleep on together. But layer them. All my boys slept with long sleeve jammies underneath of their footed sleepers. But put socks on them, too. I didn't put socks on and the footed pajamas are not real warm in the feet and they woke up with frozen tootsies.

Don't go overboard on the toys. Some buckets and shovels are good. But usually they are entertained by their new surroundings and aren't all that interested in the toys.

Bring booster seats (with the trays)! They were awesome! the kids had a place that they could be strapped in and fed instead of wandering around or trying to hold them to eat. They take up a lot less room than bringing high chairs.

I also brought the pre-soaped (Huggies) washclothes for baths. They just got a quick wash down in a dish tub. My oldest just came to the shower with me (bring some flip flops).


We camp a lot in the desert over the weekends. Those are much shorter trips than the week long one in Sequoias. I don't even bother to bath them on the weekend trips.

Bring LOTS of wipees and sunscreen. Trash bags are great for putting dirty clothes in.

Oh, and I have taken them tent camping while still waking up for night time bottles. Thermos' work well for keeping milk warm.

 

oh yeah....for eating...we brought one of those fold up little tikes kids tables...they ate their meals at that a lot.

 

We are getting ready to take our annual Labor Day trip.........over a week in the boonies - no water, no showers, electricity, nothing! There's a creek, but it's ice cold. We have a motorhome, but usually there's just enough water for me to take showers; dh doesn't mind jumping in the freezing creek. :huh: So we'll be bringing in lots of water & probably bringing more from the creek to boil & then wash dishes. So I'm racking my brain to think of things to make it easier & what has worked in the past:

* find a large but shallow rubbermaid tub to pack everything in & once it's unpacked it can double for a kiddie tub. Last week I just set mine on the bench of the picnic table & it was just right.

* I second the glow sticks! I'll also stick one in my cup if I'm drinking something at night that's not sealed......it's saved me from getting a big ole swallow of giant moth!

* outdoor carpet or tarp in front of your trailer/tent to help keep dirt out

* I also bring a tub for shoes; ours seem to get lost easily & it also helped with the dirt control

* toys were a waste of time to bring......they had more fun digging in the dirt. Bikes, though, were fun.

* dress in layers; it often gets cold at night

* don't let dh do the packing

* lots of sunscreen & bug spray

* don't bother with citronella candles......they just thought it was a birthday & blew them out about 20 times before we gave up

* EZ ups provide extra shade

* my kids love their toddler camping chairs!

* extra ziplocs; you just never know when they might come in handy

* don't bring a book, thinking you'll have time to relax - ha!

 

This is more of a disaster post. We went camping when the twins were 1. That year was fun--all six of us slept in one big tent, with each twin having a pack n play. They cried a little at night, but I was still nursing and could get them back to sleep. This year, two year olds, not so fun. Did the pack n plays again. They fell asleep just fine. But woke each other up around 2 with inconsolable crying. Not nursing anymore, so that was no help. My husband and I tried putting them next to us--nothing worked. Over tired and in strange surroundings I guess. I ended up driving them up and down the highway for an hour. But then I couldn't pull back into the campsite and have them start crying again, so we slept in the car on and off for two hours in a nearby day parking lot. The sun came up at 5:30 and they were up again--so we drove to a nearby town and had a latte before pulling back into the campground and waking up the families around us.

I think next summer will be better because in my experience most 3 year olds can follow instructions to stop crying and be quiet even if they're not asleep. But two year olds aren't quite there yet!

Another thing that was very challenging was keeping an eye on them and our other 2 kids. I pretty much did all the loading/unloading and my husband did the childcare. Exhausting!

 

We're re-arranging furniture this weekend and setting up tents in the family room to do a trial run of camping before we try it out somewhere. This is DH idea.

Wish me luck!