Gear fanatics - Childrens sleeping bag advice please

[WomblingWriggles]

This summer I want to take my children camping for their first time. They will be 3 yrs and 5 yrs old.

I have been looking at sleeping bags, and like the look of the Nitestar convertible, as it seems fairly warm, robust and obviously, convertible to longer lengths.

However it has just dawned on me that by the time my children get to the age where they need the longer length, the sleeping bag will be old and past it, no doubt having been played with and abused to within an inch of its life, and I'll probably want new sleeping bags for them by then, so the convertible bit isn't important any more. Although, the smaller the sleeping bag, the warmer it will be ....
Keeping up with me so far ?!

What are your recomendations for the warmest children's sleeping bags? Warmth and compressability into stuff sacks are probably the most important features as we will probably end up doing quite a bit of 'wild' camping.

Have you thought about just a standard envelope, with the extra length folded over or under for warmth? That's what we've done with DS - wouldn't want to put a tiddler in a mummy shape, especially in that period of uncertainty following potty training..

We get on OK with small 2-season mummy bags like the Vango ones. DC's are 5&6, they sleep in fleece PJ's and socks usually. They don't wake up in the night so I'm guessing they're normally comfortable enough. The bags pack up very small too.

The DC's are devoted to their sleeping bags and constantly beg to have them out for sleepovers etc.

I figure by the time they grow too tall for those bags, maybe 8 or 9 years old, they can have some adult size ones and then they're sorted (envisioning hearty years of Scouts and D of E in future)

Isn't it the usual case where buying a "convertible" thing costs more than buying the small and large separately?

My two 3 and 6 and a half both have nitestar midi's.

Really good sleeping bags, kids generally just sleep in cotton pj's (actually for both you and the kids the less you wear in a good sleeping bag the warmer you will be, wraping up in loads of layers stops it from working properly).

I would expect it to fit ds (6) for another two years? Then I will just get him an adult one. If you look after them they have great resale value. I sold my baby nitestar for more than I paid for it.

my dc have the childsize mummy ones from decathlon. they wash well(!) and are very cosy (I have the adult version)

Icant make any suggestions as I'm in the same position as you, same aged children planningto camp for te first time this year, but just wanted to say that I've been buying camping magazine each month, and if you take out an annual subscription, (which costs n more than the cover price) then you get a free gift of the vango childrens sleeping bag.
We're just waiting for it to arrive, but hope to use that for one of ours.

It's a good read as well.

Sorry, I'm on my phone, rubbsh typing!