Camping with baby

[nightandthelight]

OK I think we might be a bit insane but DH and I want you to take DS camping this summer (he is currently 5mo). We know what adults need for camping but no idea with babies!

Food wise DS is ff and we can take the ready made formula and a Milton cold water steriliser so not worried about that. What do babies sleep in when camping though?

Getting about we have a carrier and an off road pushchair so I think that will be OK. I think it's the sleeping bit which I am completely unsure of!

[skankingpiglet]

I wouldn't have been brave enough taken DD so young but we did one night when DD was 11mo, a 4 day festy at 14mo, and a week's holiday at 15mo. She absolutely loved it.
We bought her a ready bed to sleep on, and put her to bed in a thick sleepsuit, usual sleeping bag, and a fleece blanket which was folded over a couple of times. She slept very well.
I think DD being that bit older does make a difference, particularly from a feeding perspective. She was only having milk twice a day at home by that point, it wasn't essential to her calorie intake, and whilst camping we'd only give her the morning milk which she was happy with. She was able to just eat with us and we didn't feel bad about feeding her easy camping foods like chocolate brioche etc for breakfast, which I would have done if she was younger.
She was also old enough to be happy to come into the shower with us, which was handy as no bathing facilities!

If you do go, we found the key to the nights was getting DS into her sleepwear early as the temperature drops very quickly and it can be difficult to get warm once a chill has set in. The last thing you want is needing to strip them off in the cold! Which also would be an issue if you still find yourself needing to change nappies in the night?

[Glitterkitten24]

We took dc2 when he was 7 weeks old! Only because it was unseasonally warm tho.

We didn't actually have any additional equipment- we took his Moses basket for nighttime and loads of blankets for layering. We placed the basket on top of the rollmat, a blanket underneath the Moses basket mattress to insulate it, then bedclothes and another blanket (although I took about 12 blankets as was scared of a cold night!)

We used milton cold steriliser tablets and bottles of ready made formula. We had to heat these during night which dh did with portable stove/ pot of hot water but we've since bought a tommee tippee travel warmer which would have been good.

We didn't take our humungous off road pram, just the baby carrier and we managed fine with that for a couple of days.

As with all camping, organisation is the key. Make sure you have spare nappies/ wipes etc for night changes and feeds handy in one place.

Good luck- camping with a baby is definitely easier in my experience than camping with a toddler!

[Glitterkitten24]

Oh meant to say, dc was sleeping in a vest, a fleecy sleepsuit, socks and mitts. I took a wee newborn type cotton hat too incase it was freezing but we didn't use it in the end because it wasn't too cold. I also took a woolly cardi and a slightly bigger sleepsuit so could have 'layered up' if need be.

[BikeRunSki]

Travel cot in tent, in grow bag, plus blanket if it's a cold night.

Do not expect much sleep once it's light, even at 4 am!

[nightandthelight]

Thanks for all the advice, looks like blankets are key here! Good to see that people have positive experiences of camping with babies too :)

Planning to go the weekend after next (weather dependent). Won't go far the first time so if it does all go wrong we can just come home

[Mommawoo]

We camped for 6 months with dd! From 5 months old to almost her 1st birthday, but we were in Greece so a whole different set of problems.

Our essential items were a big plastic bowl to bath dd in as the toilet block was disgusting. We used to heat water on a gas camping stove or just left several bottles of water in the sun on hot days. A huge, thick blanket to crawl around on outside the tent. A battery powered nightlight for inside the tent and plenty of toys.

Also make sure your tent is the fabric kind not the shiny plastic kind otherwise it will be incredibly noisy if you get a windy night.

[AlpacaLypse]

I took twins for four nights at a festival at seven months. I splurged on lots of disposable/pre-packed stuff to make my life easier and damn the expense and non-ecological credentials.

YY to layers, growbags, gloves and hats.

The worst bit was when some bastards decided to let fireworks off in the early hours!

And after all that, the solar eclipse (the main reason we'd gone to Cornwall in the first place) was 90% clouded over. We did get 30 seconds of totality though, so my now sixthform girls can say they've seen one. Not that they paid any attention - in fact I'm pretty certain one slept through it!

[ODog]

I have only ever done this with a bf baby or a baby over 1 yo when you don't need formula/steraliser etc but it seems you have that bit covered.

DS had a sleepsuit and a 2.5tog grobag and was fine in that. Last summer we camped in Brittany and it was quite cool at night. He slept in between us so I guess that gave more warmth too. Baby bath outside or in tent on cooler nights filled with warm water. DS loved it.

Planning on camping for a night or two this summer with a now 2yo DS and DD who will be 2/3 months old. We will probably have DS in with DH and DD in with me and DD is ebf so no worries there. Will do the a me thing with the baby bath.

Enjoy, it will be a blast!

[ODog]

Oh and DS was/is a horrendous sleeper but has never slept better than when camping!

[nilbyname]

We always camped with our babies, was lush!

Put baby to sleep in the early eve in
Vest
Baby grow
Grow bag
Blanket
In the pushchair and add a blanket if you need too.
Then we all just co slept with baby in the middle of us on the double air bed and took of Extra blankets.

Love camping with babies!

[BuddyC4t]

My mum used to bath us in an inflatable boat when they camped with us as babies!

[Zeitgei5t]

The only thing I'd add is get one of those torches you wear on your head in case of midnight accidents so you can have both hands free to deal with it!

[LillyBugg]

My DH took DS when he was about 9mo. He slept in something like the attached picture. Blankets underneath help keep them warmer. Thick sleep suit, socks, gro bag and a zip up hoody over the top. Could easily be removed then. Keeping them enclosed in a travel for like this also retains heat.

[LadesC]

We are going for a week nxt wkend with our 11mnth old. Friends are lending a snooze shade for travel cot. Im also a bit unsure re grobag blankets etc as if weather improves cud b roasting first thing but i guess cold in night. We did 2nites in a wooden pos thing in may but think tent will work better as in may the evenings were damp so we cudnt sit out when she went to bed and we wud have disturbed her by chatting or watching netflix inside. As our tent is 8 man we can at least be seperate from her in evening if we need to b inside

[christinawilliams]

I wouldn't be brave enough to take a baby camping but I would recommend a travel cot. Good luck !