Camping in the garden of grandparents with a 2 year old, a 3 year old and a baby - I say fun DH says not.

[Foreverexhausted]

Just toying with ideas atm for fun, inexpensive things to do over the summer with my little ones.

Grandparents have a small but big enough garden for us to camp in and I think our children would love it! DH is saying no way!

We have camped before but never with children and never in grandparents garden :)

My children are so young I can imagine them finding this really exciting and loving sleeping in a tent, having BBQ's, sitting in the garden and playing games long after it's dark, but we will have a toilet/bath/kitchen with snacks etc on hand and will probably only do it for two nights!

AIBU for thinking this could be fun?

Anyone else done this? Did it work or not?

Having put myself through it with an 18month old I came to the conclusion that there’s absolutely no point before 3. At 3 1/2+ DS loved camping loads last summer. At 18months it was a load of work for very little reward.

We camped in an aunt's garden with a 3 year old and 2 year old twins. It was fab. Led us to eurocamp in France the following year in one of their tents. Still camping 15 years later 😎

Sure it'll be fun if your idea of fun is nobody sleeping. At all ;) I think a kid has to be 3 before you stand a chance of it actually being fun! And I love camping.

Took ds 6 months abroad (other dc to amuse him (4+), was actually great because he could sit up but not crawl and was still ebf!!
But not the ages of your dc!

If they where 6 or 7 and you weren’t going away otherwise then I could see it being fun. At those ages it would just be a hassle

Thank you Red I'm quite pleased with myself for thinking of it :)

Thank you everyone, your comments have either made me laugh, made me think I must be mad or encouraged me to give it a try!

I'm tempted to give it a try, maybe have baby sleep indoors with grandparents and me, DH (I'm sure I can talk him round) and the 2 and 3 year olds sleep in the tent. I don't know why but I think they will love it! This could either be a brilliant success or we won't last one night :)

Is this a reverse? No, not fun at all.

You also need to keep in mind the proximity of neighbours too because under 3s aren’t known for being quiet all night!

So your dh doesn’t want to do it but your plan is you inside in nice warm comfy bed and him outside?

Mine would have loved this.

Mine loved camping from birth ( ds camped for the first time at 6 weeks) and always slept brilliantly in a tent. Friends kids hated it.

There’s only one way to find out, OP. Give it a try. It’s not a disaster if you don’t like it. And with two parents, it’s not a disaster if some like it and some don’t.

The person who likes camping has to do the camping. Otherwise the children will pick up the negative vibes.

Batshit

They're too young. In a few years when they can toast marshmallows and get a teleacope out for star and moon gazing and tell spooky stories it is fun. My 7 and 5 year old had a great time camping in the garden but yours are just too young.

Absolute fucking madness.

I think its brilliant! Especially as you could always retreat to the house...however, I wouldn't do it with a baby.

You are a lunatic.

“however, I wouldn't do it with a baby.”

Why not?

Im sure some hardy soul will come on to tell you they camped at the foot of the Himalayas whilst breastfeeding twins, but I personally can think of nothing more hellish.

It wasn't quite the foot of the Himalayas but it was in the Alps. It was fine! But I'm quite an enthusiastic camper and had all the right kit.

we've done exactly this (and in our own garden) it was fabulous. When the shit hit the fan there were facilities close by and babysitters and I'm proud to say now dc are older we can go to actual campsites. It helps that DHs parent have a massive garden and a great wine selection but our tiny garden was equally fun

Not the Himalayas and not twins. But Scotland and a 6 week old.........

I love camping BUT this isn't camping and your DC are too young to appreciate it. Wait a couple more years then go for a camping weekend, and see how it goes.

It was a medium OK idea until you floated the plan of allowing two toddlers to sleep outdoors unattended - did I read that right?

The baby isn’t really the problem. Babies are easy peasy. It’s toddlers that are possibly a bit trickier.......

Not fun.