can you camp with a 5 week old?

[KatF]

Hi all,

Im just wondering if you can take a 5 week old camping and if so any advice on what to take and seeping arrangements etc. It is just for one night and i am breastfeeding so hoping this makes it easier!

thanks :-)

I camped with my 11week old last summer. He slept in his pram - made sure he was well wrapped up at night. I was also BF so was good excuse to sit down and watch everyone else organise things It was a breeze.
Fast forward 12months and it was definitely more challenging this year with DS into everything and toddling off all the time!

DD was older when we first went. Co-sleeping on an airbed is really not good at all - far too much rolling about and I would reckon probably dangerous with a small baby. We used a self inflating mat this time and it was much, much safer. Don't underestimate how cold it gets at night even in the height of summer.

Yes definitely the cold at night. My DS had a vest, babygrow, long sleeve top, gro bag, mittens, a jacket with a hood and a blanket. He was snug as a bug couldn't move tho and slept right through.

Yup, really easy as they don't move anywhere or run off. Only thing is to ensure a firm sleeping surface (we had a roll mat) and wrap up v warm. DD we put in vest, babygro, pyjamas, fleecy pram suit and blanket. Only time dd ever slept well as a baby. Probably the fresh air.

If your baby cries in the night and you are on a campsite as a fellow camper I wuld be pretty pissed off.

I have been away camping two weeks ago in Scotland with work (assessing a Duke of Edinburgh group) on the campsite we stayed on one of the famlies had a baby and a toddler.

Everynight the baby cried for a feed which meant the whole field was disturbed. You know how noise travels at night.

You could tell all the other campers were pissed about it.
I certainly was. It didn't help when the toddler started chanting 'we want breakfast, we want breakfast at 5.30am!!!

As you can tell I am still feeling grumpy over it!!!

upahill I can really appreciate your views we are members of a re-enacting group and there is a big event on so we are camping with a large group of re-enactors for who are very family friendly, although we are very aware that ds getting up through the night may still be a wee issue. He is very good already though so hopefully not a problem.

All the advice on keeping him warm is great but how do you know hes not going to get overheated? Dont think im going to sleep this night at all!

Kat
I hope you didn't take my post in bad spirit.
I am a fellow camper with kids!!!

We camped a couple of weeks ago with dd who was then 10 weeks, it went fine. She slept in the carrycot part of her travel system (which was on the floor next to me so I could get her out to feed without getting out from the covers). We put a sheepskin in for her, and she wore a vest, a babygro, a 2.5 tog sleeping bag and a hat and seemed toasty warm. I checked she wouldn't overheat by making sure her exposed bits (face and hands) still felt cool.

We found the trickiest bit was keeping her occupied while putting up the tent.

Good luck with your trip.

Personally I don't think a campsite is the place for newborns or their mums.

But if you are comfortable with the idea, then the important thing I think is how are you feeling? Do you feel you have recovered well from the birth? Would you feel comfortable using campsite facilities (bleeding etc). How will you cope with everything being low down on the ground? Will someone else do all the donkey-work, as you should be taking it easy?

If I was camping with a young baby I would co-sleep, both to ensure the baby was warm and to be able to deal instantly with any night wakings.

I camped with DS last year when he was 7 weeks old. It was fine, lovely actually. We were on an otherwise deserted campsite so no-one to be deserted. He slept next to me in his Moses basket, although ended up tucked up next to me (BFing and cosleeping). With him next to me I was able to feed him immediately when he woke up but it wasn't a big problem really.

I would happily have camped with DS when he was 5 weeks old. If you're feeling fit and active and bf is established, and the baby settled. DS just used to snuffle and whimper when he first woke up and if I fed him fast enough - easy if you co-sleep on a SIM - he didn't cry at all.

Regarding crying, my thoughts were if she kicked off in the night, then I would jump into the car with her so as not to disturb anyone. I had the car keys & a torch to hand in case I had to make a quick getaway. As it was she didn't.

upahill, no I didnt take offence at all :-). Its just were not camping at a site otherwise that is something we would take into account friends are a bit more understanding than strangers I find and tbh I would be grumpy too!

The car keys is a good idea, may steal that. He does generally sleep from around 11-5/6ish so is really good and will be up early to get set up for the day so most people will be stirring