Tell me all I need to know about camping !

[mommyfinger]

Haven't been since I was younger, we used to go all the time. Well, I've just booked the haven park we used to go to in Mablethorpe.
I have a brand new large tent. There is me, dh and 3 kids. Two of them infants.
What are the little ones meant to sleep on???

What age are the babies are they twins? I'd get travel cots to sleep in.

How many bedrooms is the tent, what other kit do you have? How old are the kids?

Blow up camp beds for everyone else.

The babies are 1 + 2. So far we have two double airbeds, I need to get more stuff obviously lol.
I did think the travel cot, would they be warm enough though?

And it's one massive section at the back, so technically 3 with the things up

You could probably line them underneath with blankets

All you need to know about camping is the number of a hotel nearby

The tent is a Vango lismore airbeam

Haha...this is always my response when anyone suggests camping 😆

We used a travel cot until this year (DD has just turned 3). Camp bed for oldest (DS7). This year we are switching to camping bunk bed for them both. I invested in a thick sleeping bag for DD the last 2 years to keep her warm. 3.5tog with lots of layers and she was fine.
We have a double airbed and sleeping bag. Lots of blankets just in case its cold (we only camp end of May to begin of sept though)

Other things to think about:
Seating - we have one of those folding table and benches plus camping chairs.
Cooking - we have a gas two ring burner and gas camping BBQ. All the utensils for camping - plates, bowls, cups, cutlery, cooking utensils, camping saucepans,
Cool box - to keep your food in

Other things we have that aren't necessary but we like to be comfortable camping -
separate gazebo (great for rain and sun),
storage units for putting food in and a surface to prepare food on,
lights (we camp with electric most of the time),
camping bin (game changer for putting bin liners in!),
tent carpet to put down to make it a bit less cold on the floor

We've kind of added as we have gone alone. Had the basic tent, airbeds and basic cooking equipment the first time then decided we liked it so got other bits over the years

This was our setup:
Very small children - travel cot.
Children - sleeping bag and insulating foam mats
Adults - sleeping bags and SIMs but you may prefer duvet/airbed.

The most useful thing is some sort of low table and stools or boxes, for children to eat at or play games on. Camping furniture is quite wobbly and you don't want cereal or hot chocolate tipped all over your tent floor. And if it's wet you will be confined in the tent for some of the day at least and tripping over each other. The advantage of foam mats rather than airbeds is that you can push the bedding to one side and use the space to play in during the day.

Take onesies and wellies for them to run around in when they first get up, grass is always wet in the morning.

Make sure you have something to read/do in the evenings as obviously you can't leave them in the tent alone!

Plenty of blankets and insulation under the airbeds - they are not the warmest things to sleep on. If you find you enjoy camping it is worth investing in some thick SIMs (foam self inflating mattresses) which are much warmer and comfier.

We used to have insulated pad things they look like jigsaw pieces for our awning when we had a caravan they would work in a tent ?

Amazing tips ! I looked at the sims but they're bloody expensive, wondering if a yoga mat under the air bed would insulate well??

Like the kids play tiles?

Its awful, don't go
Thats all you need to know

Yes those but you get insulated ones but i think play tiles would work.

Aldi usually sell big square foam mats as part of their camping specialbuys promotion, they would work well under an airbed. Their hard ground tent pegs are worth buying too - the ones that come with tents can be a bit flimsy.

Brilliant choice of park to camp with kids. First time we went there with 1 and 3 year olds. When are you going? Summer we found a travel cot with a thick sleeping sack was fine. Travel cot was also very useful for having a safe place to put them at points.

Think about meal times, something like a chicco pocket snack will give somewhere for them to eat comfortably but won't take up much space.

Essential for us camping with dc is a toilet tent. We set it up next to and facing the side door of the tent so if they need a wee at night it's just a case of unzipping the side door and then the toilet tent door, rather than trekking them across the campsite in the dark to the toilet block. We have a basic camping toilet that we add the chemical to, and it's strictly for wees! You'd need to check what the disposal facilities are on site though.

Yes I need some kind of toilet for the night, if not for dc for me 😆

There's a camping board on here! I learned a lot from it before going on pony club camp with DD

Are you going electric? If so a small blow heater. If you want to get really fancy buy those remove controlled plugs so you can turn the heater on and off from the comfort of your sleeping bag.

Always a blanket or something under air beds.

For fun and kinda practical. Solar fairy lights we wrap them around our entrance and guy lines. Looks pretty and stops you tripping over them.

Lots of colouring in for the children. Wellies! I’ve heard that haven can get a bit boggy in places and flip flops for the showers personally.

Head torches. You can even get ones built into hats for children so it’s a warm bear with light up eyes on their heads with scarf for walking out later on in the evenings.