How do you sleep, en famille?

[ReshapeWhileDamp]

If you have small DC, do you partition them off in separate pods or do you have one big family --bed- airmattress/thermarest? If the latter, how does that work? Do you just cover the floor with self-inflating mats and pile in?

I'm concerned about all of us keeping warm enough (on UK summer nights) and wondered if a large communal nest was better than separate sleeping arrangements. We co-sleep with DS2 (5 mo) anyway, and DS1 would probably like it.

(sex? What is that?)

at idea of sex while camping with Dcs!

We have a bell tent, with no partition and 3 DSs (ages 7,5 and 3 at the mo). We sleep in a big bed, they each have their own singles dotted around the tent.

By morning, we invariably have DS3 in between us, DS2 has usually rolled half way across the tent and will be asleep in a ball on the floor, and DS1 will be the only one who's had a decent night's sleep!

To keep warm, each DC has a very warm sleeping bag, with fleece blanket under them and hot water bottle in with them. I have a duvet under me (hollow fibre) and one over me (down), with 2 patchwork quilts over that. I also have 5 hot water bottles, arranged along the bed for me to lie next to, with DH on my other side (until DS3 gets in!).

We are all very warm when camping!

We have 3 bedroom pods usually ds and clothes , dd1 and dp and dd2 and me

We have a tent with 4 bedrooms, 2 of which can be combined into one larger one. We have noticed that the larger space makes it harder to keep warm, whereas we are very warm when the room is small. I have no experience of bell tents etc so wouldn't want to say but have always paired up my four children so that they stay warm. As for other things, we have one of them huge tall air beds and I wouldn't want to risk bursting it lol....!

Sorry just read your children's ages and in that circumstance, I think I would personally have one adult sleep with one child in a room each.

We have a 2 bedsection tent, dp sleeps with dd's 2&3 in one and I take dd's 1&4 in the other. We started it when I was cosleeping and bf'ing dd4 and have just continued it. It gets lovely and warm and cozy and the dd's find it reassuring having one of us in the bed with them.

we share a room with ds3 and the other 2 have a bedrom of their own (they're 6 and 3). that's only because when they were in together they just did not sleep and they ruined my wine time in the evening

We are in a small pyramid tent (bit like a bell) and currently all sleep in together (dds are 5 and 7).

I think there is a picture on my profile of my extremely anal bedding arrangements - it doesn't look like that in the morning though (think giant nest of sleeping bags, pillows and blankets).

We all sleep on self inflating mats in sleeping bags and have fleece blankets inners or just blankets depending on the temp. Good fleece pjs are a must.

It works very well for us at the moment. the dc sleep so much better being in with us. We even get lie ins (proper lie ins, like after 8.30am)

I'm sure the time will come when they want their own room but atm we all prefer being in together.

We have 2 bedroom pods and ds had one for himself.
We lay the floor out with 3 selfinflating mats to cover the whole floor and he sleeps in a cosy sleeping bag from decathlon. We really have to tie him in or he would move out of it in the night.
Dh dd and I would sleep inthe other pod, but as dd is bigger now she will move over to ds when we go camping this summer.

Mmm, so our best bets would probably be to decide if we want to take a DS each (if we opt for an inner sleeping pod, that is - yes sorry Slubberdegullion, still thinking in terms of a bell tent!) or go for the huge communal nest.

AmIStillSexy - what sort of mattresses do you use?

How many self-inflating mattresses do you need, I wonder, for two average-sized adults, one 3 yo and one 8 mo baby? And how well do self-inflating mats butt up against one another? I'm currently looking at 2nd hand ones on ebay (thermarest) but also trying to find the fattest, cheapest ones new. Aplkit doesn't seem to stock Fat Airics on their site any more (I'd gathered that these are favourites among MN campers?).

How many?
We have 3 for each pod, they cover all the floor, so no aching hips because of rolling off in the sleep.
The basic stuff from decathlon is really good.

Thanks Mousy, will go and check that out!

Our tent has 3 sleeping pods, 2 are together and one is at the opposite end of the tent. We started with DD at the opposite end to us but she was waking in the night and really early. I realised her pod was much colder than ours so we moved her into the pod next to us and left the bottom unzipped so if she woke I could just shuffle across. She slept through and much later into the morning.

Wish it hadn't taken 4 nights to suss it out :o

Mats - DH and I have the new versions of the fat airics, (forgot what they're called) and DD has a wee airic.

Interesting thread, we are camping end of the month (we are irregular campers) with kids of exactly the same ages. Apparently Lildl have some of the thermarest type mats at the moment for £12.99.

No idea how we are going to manage. We have a 4 man tent with one pod with a partition.

We fill the floor of the tent with mattresses. 5yo dd sleeps spread-eagled like a starfish in the centre of the tent. 3yo ds sleeps on top of me with his elbow in my throat and my head in a headlock - at least we are nice and warm. Dh usually ends up trying to sleep on the remaining half of the small Barbie readybed with no duvet, and a damp back where he is squished against the wall of the tent.

I think the new fat erics are called Dozers.

Reshape, I said this on another thread a while back but in hindsight I really wish I hadn't splashed out on getting the dds expensive thermarests. When I camped as a kid it was these sort of roll mats for me and my sister. I remember 'upgrading' to Argos air beds and gawd was a chufffing palarva that was. I just never ever remember being uncomfortable or cold on the foam mats (where as I do remember pumping up the arsing aired every morning with the foot pump).

When I wake up in the night or in the morning now one or both of the dds has migrated off the thermarest and is fast asleep on the floor in their sleeping bags

Trouble with the cheap sims is there are still 'bits' that can go wrong, like the valve, and they can puncture. The roll mats are just a bit of foam, so nowt to break but VERY insulating against the cold floor (much better than sleeping on an airbed).

Would have been better to spend more money on slightly wider and thicker thermarests for dh and me and just have the girls on the mats.

We have 2 pods and do 1 adult in each with kids

Bumper, how many of you are there?

We are 4 and camp very happily in a standard four man tent.

I hold no truck with this 'you must go up two births by how ever many you have in your family' and you need to have a giganticus tent in order to enjoy camping. Bobbins to that.

If you are the Waltons though in a four man you might be a tad cosy.

We're going for the first time with DS (18mo) in June. we've got a tent with a large bedroom which divides into two. We were going to put DS (in fleece sleepsuit, cardy and bag with sleeves) in a travel cot (standard cheap mothercare) in one side, and us in the other. If he doesn't sleep, he'll come n with us. But we won't go to bed at the same time as him, so it'd be difficult to start off with him on our mattress as he moves LOADS in his sleep so could roll off into the side of the tent. Is is wrong for us to be in separate rooms?????? If we keep one big bedroom, it'll likely be colder....

Slubber, we are 4, 2 adults, 3yo and a 7mo. Wasn't so bad with just dd1 as we took a travel cot which she was well used to sleeping in and that fit fine with a double air bed. Going to skip the air bed, and have just bought 3 of the lidl self inflating mattresses (not much inflating going on though ), think we have also got a couple of cheap foam mats like you linked to. Dd2 is the problem now. She is a difficult sleeper at the best of times but a friend is lending us a pop up travel cot which will hopefully fit in with the rest of us. Not sure what to do about covers though. Dh and I have cheap sleeping bags (we don't camp often) but nothing for the dds and dd2 won't even wear a baby gro bag at home. are we going to regret this?!

Fortunately the people we are going with want to come here to the cotswolds so we can pack up and go home if it is that bad!

Icould, I think we had the same set up with dd1 when she was a similar age, we had the divider up and it was fine. Wasn't great the first night but she had got well used to it by the second.

Sometimes you need to give the sims a bit of a puff or two to get them going.

Have you got room in your car to take the dds usual bedding? If you get some thermals (m&s and millets do them for children) and put them under some fleecy pjs then that's a start.

I thought it must be the Dozers, looking at the site. £60 though. I have used thin foam mats like the ones you linked, Slubber, and I'm afraid they were so uncomfy for me that they scared me onto a cold, leaky air mattress! It was a while ago though - I was a student, camping during some fieldwork and had spent the absolute minimum on everything.

Sometimes I wonder what became of my tiny, nylon ridge tent from Millets. Cost £19.99 in 1992. I practically had to move the central pole to get in...