tips needed for RV camper trip with 2 year olds

hi all,

just wondering if anybody has some tips and experiences to share for going on a RV trip with 2 year olds. they are 26 months old and potty trained since one month, they nap in diaper and also at night, mostly wake up dry by now.

we have 30 footer RV and drive to Phoenix area from LA, we booked a nice camping ground at Lake Pleasant called Lake Harbor, north of Phoenix, it has all the amenities, playgrounds, hookups and pools.

now I am looking for advice on logistics etc, they both sleep now good long 2 1/2 hour nap in their cribs and solid no waking up nights from 7:30 til 7am. I lowered their bars on the crib (for my back) and they never ever attempted to climb out, even not when they are in crib awake.

the RV has one queen size bed in the back with sliding doors, it's pretty low to the floor. then it has the eating corner that converts into a bed plus it has the bed above the driver seat.

they sleep in separate rooms at home so I don't think them sleeping together in queen size bed will work. so I was thinking maybe in the queen bed and the other one in the convertible bed/eating corner, which is right in front of the door to come into the RV.
hubby and I could stay outside and enjoy and eat and have drinks and only go in once we are ready for bed. so hopefully the one in eating corner sleeping won't wake up too much.

any other ideas? we have not done the pack n plays in a while and I honestly don't think they would fit in there, maybe one, I could try that once we get the RV, which is 3 days before we head out.

also, any tips on what to bring and such? we are going there to look at different neighborhoods and houses, thinking about moving out there. but it will also be just a fun vacation. hubby has done RV trips before but I am totally new to it.

any help welcome, thanks so much!
alexa

 

I don't think I have any specific answers to your questions. My mom has a camper that is permanently set at Myrtle Beach in the campground and we have been taken the girls a lot. It has a slide out in the living room and bed room, so we usually use a queen size air mattress in the living room and that is where the girls sleep. They sleep together at home, so it isn't much of a change.

As far as what to bring... we usually take coloring books, puzzles, and movies for down time. But if there is a playground and pools, I think that will keep them well entertained.

Have Fun!!

 

You may find that your kiddos can sleep in the same bed while you're travelling. Our girls have always slept in the same room, but different cribs/beds and are very independent of each other. We hesitantly had them sleep in the same bed in a hotel when they were 2 and they loved it. It was like a little party - but they did sleep. So in an RV, I'd probably try to have them both nap in the queen bed in the back, and maybe sleep there at night together too so that you can use the rest of the RV and come in and out of the door in the evening. At least give it a try the first night and see how they do!

 

thanks for idea Tricia, we have thought about doing that, we'll probably try....

 

Could you set up two pack-n-plays on top of the Queen bed?

 

Make sure you pack booze. :wine:

 

I bring the PNP's with me anyways....we might add couple hotel nights in the end.

the idea with the PNP's on bed, I don't know....you mean taking the queen matress out and put the PNP's on the frame? not sure that is stable.
after all, I don't even know if they still would sleep in PNP, they are regular small but they seem small for the kids now.

we'll see..

and yes, the 2 buck chuck will come with me, in a case

 

We bought 2 peapod plus tents (the "plus" is for the bigger size) for our upcoming trip, we will be stayign with family though. However, I was thinking you could put those on top of the queen bed and they fold up very small and would be out of the way. My boys are just a month younger than yours and I tried them out for nap the other day (just put them on top of their converted cribs-todder beds) and they LOVED it and went to sleep with no problems so that made me so happy we bought them. They are now both in the front pocket of my big suitcase so they don't take up much room! And, they can use them for years at Grandma's and other trips out of state.

Good luck!

 

thanks for the peapod tents idea, I do like them but a bit pricy for us right now, plus I think, the size is about the same than the pack'n plays, right?

also, does anybody have experience with having kids in the carseats while driving RV? or can the roam around...? just thinking.

we decided to stop and spend the night halway at a nice river camping ground, so we don't have to do the 7 hours in one day, for our and the kids' sake

thanks again for all the tips!

 

We're in the process of buying an RV right now. For the one trip we've already taken, we made the girls stay strapped in to the couch or the dinette. We didn't use car seats - not sure they would have provided much protection since the couch runs from the front to the back of the RV. Every so often we'd unstrap the girls and let them run the length of the RV to use up some energy. And, we had them nap in the back bed while we were driving. I did find that if they were out too much, they bugged the driver and wanted to climb up on our laps in the front.

 

Legally, I believe it is allowed to roam around if you're in an RV. We never did, though....even myself walking around I found myself catching at counters to not fall. Plus, you never know if a cupboard will open & something fall. Our side couches had seatbelts that we put the carseats in with.

I don't know about sleeping arrangements. My kiddos seem to sleep completely different when we're camping. It's like a big party for them & the schedule is completely out the window. I would bring your monitor, if you still have it. It was nice to be able to hear if they got up & around w/o actually disturbing them in case they weren't.

Another thing that helped was I brought a portable battery powered speaker for my ipod....so they could listen to some lullabies while they were sleeping. (we tend to camp w/o hookups)

Our first couple camping trips I WAY overpacked. Lots of toys, playard, etc. I finally figured out they just wanted to play in the dirt. If you're going to be camping with hookups, then this won't matter. But we usually don't, so when they were little I had a rubbermaid tub that I used for baths. (helped to not fill up the tanks)

And take lots & LOTS of babywipes!