Anyone ever 'lost' their crawling baby in a bell tent?

[missmakesstuff]

We have a lovely bell tent, which I am not keen on getting an inner for, last year it was perfect as when it rained a lot, we set up the stove and chairs inside, we were able to enjoy the holiday even during a downpour. Worried an ineer will take up too much room, and not make it as pretty. We are off to cornwall this year, with dd who is 14 months and crawling/cruising everywhere. As far as I know she isn't moving much at night, sleeps 11/12 hours without a peep - however, thinking what if the change in scenery means she wakes up in the night - with everything being so open, I'm worried she will be into everything, and possibly might manage to get out - so will we need an inner?
She has an airbed with a ridge around the outside to stop her rolling off it, but thats it so far. we even considered a small pop up tent just for her, inside the bell tent - that would be a bit mad though, surely?

I just have visions of me waking up every 10 mins to check she hasn't scarpered! not very relaxing!

Any thoughts/solutions welcome!

Friends of ours lent us this but we just used a travel cot this weekend as it was the same size foot print.

We have a Samsonite pop-up travel cot, along the same lines as that one, which we used with DS1. I was thinking of taking it along in August if DS2 is mobile by then (8 months, so probably!), especially if we aren't still co-sleeping by then. (Am a bit concerned about how co-sleeping will work if we're all muffled up in sleeping bags. A bit smothery. Maybe duvet better.)

We took the pop-up cot with us to Portugal when we stayed with relatives. I used to leave the side zipped down, because I thought it might be a bit stuffy for my PFB. One evening, I went in to check on him, and he'd vanished! He was just not in the cot. He wasn't crawling at that point, so I freaked out. And then realised that he'd rolled over the lip of the cot (unzipped) and halfway under the bed, and was happily sprawled over the bare floor, snoring!

And apparently some pop-up cots can become giant hamster wheels once a baby's crawling - but they wouldn't actually be able to get out. Sort of baby-Zorbing.

We have the littlelife arc 2 Bumperlicious linked to and it is great. It opens at the side as well as the top so you can reach in for a cuddle without getting out of bed if the baby/toddler wakes but zip her up the rest of the time to avoid unauthorised wanderings. We used ours in the bell tent (no inner) this weekend and DD (18 months) slept like a log (unlike us who lay awake all night wondering if the wind would blow the tent away from over us).

Space-wise, our bell tent is only a 4m and we had plenty of room for her cot next to our double SIM.

Those little life sound good, I had thought of a travel cot, but just they seem so bulky. The pop up ones would solve that, does anyone know of any age limits though - thinking we would only get this summer out of it, she is small but very long, likes to sleep diagonally too - would they be suitable for 2ish yr olds?Reshape - I would have freaked to find dd missing! She did it to me yesterday, turned my back, gone! Found her at the top of the stairs, laughing like a drain - she had never done it before. My heart stopped! Not liking the sound of baby zorbing, but I'm sure dd would love it! can they secure to the ground in some way?
The only reason we thought of a small pop up tent was cause we could use it later on for the beach or something, but maybe a cot would be better, I guess she would be lovely and snug in there too.

Aah sorry, being thick, just found all the answers online! They do look good, though pricey, will see if I can get one second hand. Thanks all!

The travel cot is bulky but size wise not massively bigger than the arc. The arc packs down v small though.

we've got a 4m bell tent and have used a phil and ted's traveller cot in since ds was 1, and he's now 2. tis pricey, but well worth it i think. we got it last May and it's been our travel cot for everything, not just camping for the last year. totally reccomend it. it's tiny packed up, really light and when up untippable, un gettoutable, warm, stable, cosy and confortable.

Do you have a 4 or 5 meter BT? If a 4m I really wouldn't bother with an inner as I don;t think it would be big enough.

We have a 5m with an inner. We only bought it as it was cheaper in Obelink where we had got the BT from and if we didn;t like it could have ebayed it here and got our money back (would have cost less than one form BT.co.k or Soulpad). However, we really like it. Its great for keeping the bedroom area separate, so as the kids go from tent to tent playing, there is no worries of them jumping on our bed! Also when we roll the sides up, stuff in the inner is hidden from view!

I won't lie, it does make the tent seem smaller but it is still a really nice and airy feel. I did take some photos this last trip so when I get back home, I will try and put them on my profile page. We happily fit a double aero bed and 2 single camp beds in it, with room for bags of clothes, all the other stuff is then in the outer bit of the tent.

Where in Cornwall are you going (Just got back from there - wonderful break, wish I was still there!)

I agree with needanewname - we've got a 4m bell and I think it would be very cramped if it was divided with an inner. I think, whilst there doesn't seem to be that much difference between a 4m and 5m one on paper, the 5m one is probably the better choice if you don't want to go completely open-plan.

We have a 5m bell with a 1/4 inner (we felt a full half inner tent would take up too much room) and although it worked for its purpose (storage and a portaloo) I wasn't massively happy with the way that it changed the look/feel of the tent, and DH definitely didn't like it (although he did love the fact that DD claimed it as her own and would disappear into it to play/draw for an hour at a time!).

There was, however, plenty of room, we had 3 airbeds, 2 inflatable armchairs, side table and various boxes for storage in the 3/4s left to us and it wasn't the least bit cramped, it was just the feel that there was less space, sounds weird I know but I can't really explain it any other way...

Sorry, not a massively helpful post, just to give you an idea of how a 5m with a small inner works/doesn't work...

Hmm, thanks everyone, lots of good advice and still not sure! We have a 5m, so definitely have the space, but yep, worried about losing the lovely feel - its so nice to wake up looking up at the roof of the tent. Think we are going to go with a travel cot for dd, I think she would be happy to sleep in one, as we could probably make it quite cozy for her if it gets cold by insulating it more, also, she really struggles to sleep if there is lots to look at, so it might help.

We would also get a fair bit of use out of it for the rest of the year too, for the same cost as an quarter inner..I just need one my size now too, as we were plagued by bugs last year!! We just use a mosquito net though, which is ok.

Also need to find a replacement for our airbed that punctured, again..

needanewname we are not sure, have left it ridiculously late, going to try to find something, anywhere, don't mind where, we have two weeks off and a car, will see where will have us! Going to call round a load this week, if nowhere in Cornwall has room, then will look at wales or Devon maybe. I used to go to North Cornwall as a child, loved it, think we will head for south coast somewhere, near St Austell maybe. Just want clean loos and hot showers, a beach nearby and a pub in walking distance, all we need!

If you can push out the extra miles, I really recommend Noongallas near Penzance. Great views, lovely and quiet, basic but clean and possibly the nicest loo//shower block I've seen, though only 1 shower each for men and women.

Ah pub in walking distance - this would involve a walk down a narrow single track country road and driving to beaches, but not really that much of a hassle.

Also once you've pitched, the owner turns up with a beer!!! Only the first night though!

We have 17 month old, very mobile DS in a Samsonite pop up next to our air bed. He likes it and it seems to work.

Oooh- meant to say, we don't have any inners. So to speak.

That does sound good needanewname, thanks. The beer sounds good, would swing it for DH for sure! Just have to get on with the job of calling them all and finding somewhere, the bit I hate! I always think I might be missing out on something better somewhere!

battherat, thanks, that's helpful, I am worried about the baby-zorbing - she is so into everything, likes to stand up and chat for a good while before going to sleep in her cot, but will just have to tire her out!