Camping with a 15 month old

[elm26]

Yes I know, I'm crazy.

Every year we do a camping trip, much to DH dismay I insist on having electricity, a king size blow up mattress and somewhere that has good reviews for shower block 😂

We didn't go last year as I was heavily pregnant then had a newborn.

This year we've booked to join friends and their kids. They are doing a week however I've insisted on 3 nights to trial it out and we are only 1.5 hour drive from home.

DD is a pretty chilled kid, happy to crawl around grass with a ball/building blocks, play with other kids etc.we spend a lot of time outside now the weather has been nice and she loves it.

Although we are going next month so technically (although British weather is unpredictable) it should be warm but I'm worried she will be cold at night.

Do I put her in our airbed with us for warmth? Neither of us are drinkers, I think?! She would be old enough now to move if she needed to. We have individual sleeping bags, do I need to get a toddler one? Is there such thing? Or will her sleeping bags that she uses at home be okay? (I have a range of 0.5 tog to 2.5 tog for the winter). Do I buy a little toddler camping bed (I've seen the ones that are low to the floor with sides so she can't roll out) or do I take her travel cot?

Any suggestions on a high chair that's not a high chair if you see what I mean, like a little chair that has a clip on tray for her food?

She hates showers, sobs and screams and holds her breath, is it worth taking a little blow up toddler bath that I can take in the shower with me or DH and fill with warm water. I'm not fussed on washing her hair unless she's rubbed food in it. We wash hair every other night so I'm sure an extra one won't hurt so just need something I can let her splash about in/give her a quick wash down.

She's easy to feed, will eat pretty much anything and we take a camping stove with us and an electric cool box so not worried about keeping milk cold for her weetabix or what not.

Any help/advice/ideas would be appreciated!

Don’t have her in airbed with you because every time you move so does the mattress

I don’t think I could settle noise travels I wouldn’t want to ruin other people’s holiday with my child crying in the night

We took our youngest camping at 16 months old. We took the travel cot but he ended up in with us as it was chilly overnight. The cot was useful for containment during the day! I put him in a vest, long sleeved all in one, baby sleeping bag on top then under our sleeping bag too. He was fine.
We used to take a blow up baby bath for him to bathe in which worked well. We had a pocket high chair that tied onto a chair which worked well with camping chairs as long as we held onto it to stop it tipping otherwise he sat on someone's lap to eat.
He still loves camping now 10 years on and it's such an economical way to enjoy a family holiday.

We have a self inflating mattress which is much more comfy than a blow up and no bouncing around when DH moves!

Get a puddle suit 👍

We did it at 8 months and 17 months. We had one of those toddler dingy airbeds which was fine. Put a bedding roll underneath as an extra layer and lots of blankets under and around him.

Little camping chair.

We just did washing in a collapsible wash bowl with some water warmed up on the stove. Still do at 8 and 6 actually but now they just stand in the bowl instead of sitting in it!

We've camped every year with our 20 year old DD . Austria and Slovenia when she was 8 months then Cornwall and Wales.
Can you get her a Thermostat mattress ? We used a travel cot/ playpen for the first two years.
Warm bedding.
And the snoring from other campers is worse than a crying baby.

We’re just about the re-embark on the camping adventure; the youngest will be 9 months.

We have a little life travel cot with a insulating foam roll mat underneath, LO will be in a vest and socks, sleepsuit and a 3.5 tog sleeping bag,
with blankets available.

We have a summer infant (I think) mini camping chair with clip on tray which is really good!

Inflatable bath works well, ours is actually the index small square paddling pool but for 3 nights I’d be inclined to wet wipe/flannel wash so Lo isn’t getting cold after a bath.

If you join the LoveHerWild group on Facebook and post a question there you will meet lots of women, many who are mums, who'd be very happy to share all kinds of camping and outdoorsy advice x

A collapsible bucket or small dog paddling pool is so much less faff than anything inflatable.

I took DD camping for the first time when she was about 9 months old, we used the little life camping cot which I got off marketplace, it unzipped on the side that was handy for checking on her but might be too small for a 15 month old. Due to the pandemic we didn’t camp again until she was 2 and had an inflatable bed like you mentioned with the sides on. If you’ve got space I would go for your regular travel cot, this will also help with warmth as little one won’t be straight onto the ground. Until she outgrew the biggest size DD had the Jojo Maman Bebe 3.5 tog sleeping bag suits - they don’t make them any more (I think the thickest is 2.5 now) but you can probably get one on vinted. She also had a blanket over her as well. We also had the chicco pocket snack booster chair for her to sit in. We had an inflatable bath which we used on holidays but never bothered when camping!

She sleeps through 7-7 and even when she wakes she just shouts "mama" or "dada" so I'm not really worried about her disturbing people.

It's also a family campsite, a couple of years ago there were kids playing outside, kicking footballs and laughing and having a great time. I think if you're somebody who's offended by baby/kids noises then they should book an adult only campsite, just my opinion.

Good point about the airbed!

Thank you for this! X

Oooh I might have to go and do some research and invest especially as we plan on doing a camping trip once or twice a year! Thanks!

That's what I've been looking at, they are sort of like a mini dinghy I know what you mean! Maybe I'll grab one off Amazon as they're only £20-30 and it can be used for sleepovers at grandparents house too. Thanks!

Wow that's amazing, I'd love to go abroad and do it!

I will look into the mattress mentioned, thanks!

Travel cot
Merino thermals instead of normal pjs.
Sleeved toddler sleeping bag. It gets really cold at night.

Blow up bath - put water and add warm from kettle. We had a duck shaped one that my kids really liked.

Good idea about the flannel wash!

Thanks for the suggestion on the mini camping chair, will have a look!

Amazing, thank you! X

That's true! Might look at a small paddling pool as if it's warm she might want to have a little splash about anyway!

A lot of the cold when camping comes from underneath. So whatever you’re putting her on/in to sleep I would put a wool blanket underneath her. She should then be warm enough with a baby sleeping bag with possibly an extra blanket on top if it’s really cold.

We camped a lot with DD when she was a baby (from about 9 months) and toddler and have some great memories. She is 6 now and loves it - although we have limited it to local trips since DS arrived so that I can head home to sleep with him (awful sleeper).
Anyway..

Always found a travel cot great - really important to have something underneath to keep cold from coming up from the floor. We generally used a thick wool blanket but PP had some good suggestions above.
Warm pyjamas/sleeps until with vest, 2.5 sleepsack (or poss higher if they are more prone to getting cold) and blanket or two depending on the temp. I don't remember her getting cold.. you could also warm up tye bed a bit with a hot water bottle before putting her down.
Travel cot is also a nice play to play etc..

Bath - we just did flannel wash with warm water in the washing up tub, easy peasy and if sunny it's of course easier to do outside. Big towel under to catch the overflow/splashes.

Also good to have some fairy lights/soft night light (we had a hippo thing with batteries which was great) so that you have some light to see during the night if needed and without fumbling around in the dark.

Thank you for all of the helpful suggestions.

She is fast outgrowing her travel cot now, she turns and twists in her sleep and she just doesn't have much room in it anymore so I need to see if I could buy a bigger one (do they even do those?!) will have a look on marketplace x

Thank you for the suggestions will have a look at the merino thermals!

My youngest went camping at 6 months, a 4 day music festival at 10 months, a week's camping on the isle of wight at 18 months, another 4 day trip at 20 months and more since she has turned 2. All with her older sister in tow who is 3 years older than her. Take layers/puddlesuits/wellies/small selection of toys/books. We bedshare on the quechua inflatable bed bases with a berghaus self inflating mattress. I was worried about it being cold overnight on the early trips so where we had electric hook up we used an electric blanket on the bed, but ended up switching it off as too warm. For the little one I used fleece PJs in her normal grobag that we use at home and tucked that into the cozytoes from the buggy. After she turned 2, I got her a kids Pod sleeping bag which she loves. For mealtimes we took the ikea high chair as it didnt take up loads of space but didn't end up needing it much. Showers are a faff with small kids. For baths I have a big flexible garden bucket tub with handles and fill it with warm water from the washing up sinks on the campsite and let them have a splash and a play in the middle of the day rather than the evening as it gets too cold. The bucket is useful for on the beach too, playing with water and rinsing sand off stuff. We pack and store all the shoes in it when its not being used as a paddling pool/bath. My kids love camping and running around outdoors finding new friends. I camped a lot growing up and worked in the outdoor industry in my early 20's. Camping with little kids is harder work but I absolutely love it and it hasn't put me off going relatively frequently.

I've been camping with my DS 2.5 since he was 4 months old. Fleece all in one suit for evening and night time, plus a hat for really chilly nights. I have a double sleeping bag and he's in with me but doesn't usually like the cover over him and has his own fleece blanket.

For washing he has a pop up bath which we use at home anyway. It's like the collapsible washing up bowls and folds flat. I bought it off Amazon. I use solar bags to heat the water when the sun is out and pour in.

Mamas and Papas do an excellent 3 in 1 bug chair. Great for camping as it sits on the ground but you can also use it at a normal table indoors as it clips to a regular chair so really portable and versatile.

Those festival trolleys are great too. If you put a mattress in the bottom that becomes a great portable bed too and some come with covers so will keep the sun off if they have an Outdoor daytime snooze.

Happy Camping!