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Camping

Our UK Camping forum has all the information you need on finding the right equipment for your tent or caravan.

Original poster

Camping when 7 months pregnant... your tips please!

30 replies

MorningHasBroken · 19/01/2012 14:24

We're planning to go camping this Easter when I'll be 7 months pg. If we don't go then, the DSCs won't have a holiday this year as I don't fancy camping with a shiny new baby in the summer (actually, I think it could be okay but a mite unfair on other campers!), so it's Easter or never. Now, this is my first pregnancy so I doin't know what to expect in terms of how uncomfortable/irritable/tired I'll be at that stage. Would you advise us to take any particular luxuries or extra bits you would normally do without? We're fairly seasoned campers but just don't know how having a massive belly could affect things?

OP posts:
heliumballoon · 19/01/2012 14:36

Personally at 7 months there is no way I could have gone camping. Not in a billion years.

But then I do have rotten pregnancies. Camping with heart burn, pelvic pain, millions of toilet trips a night - awful.

BIWI · 19/01/2012 14:38

Don't.

HTH

TunipTheVegemal · 19/01/2012 14:39

you either need to be right next to the toilet block or take your own!

Lancelottie · 19/01/2012 14:48

I've done it, and found I was more comfortable on a lilo than I had been on my bed at home.

Umm (racks brains to remember back that far), you need:

a duvet or a sleeping bag that unzips all the way, not a mummy-style [in the Egyptian sense]
a cast-iron bladder
the phone number of the nearest maternity ward, just in case

Oh, and I seem to remember my wetsuit didn't do up very easily (we were on a dinghy-sailing holiday), but on the whole I think maternity-wetsuits are too much of a niche market to catch on.

WishIwasCherryMenlove · 19/01/2012 14:53

Hello, I went to a music festival when about 16 weeks pregnant. Obviously slightly different type of camping (everyone around me pissed or having various types of chemical experiences, festival toilets eugh) but it was fine. However by 7 months I could couldn't really hold that much wee in my bladder so needed the loo a lot during the night. I suppose just make sure you are near the blocks or be prepared to go in the bushes.

And get a super comfy lilo or campbed like lancelottie says and a duvet would be better than sleeping bags.

love waking up all cozy in a tent in the fresh air - make the most of it!

Original poster
MorningHasBroken · 19/01/2012 17:29

Thanks all - the campsite we go to has a hedgerow along the back of the pitches so will be able to wee freely all night if need be! Blush

DH and I currently use a double sleeping bag which unzips all the way down, but thinking it it may be a PITA to wriggle out of that in the middle of the night so will take a duvet instead!

OP posts:
golemmings · 19/01/2012 17:33

Lots of pillows too. I managed a night camping at 36 weeks. The camping was fine but the festival was exhausting. I got dehydrated and sick and spent the second night at a mates instead.

CavemanDave · 19/01/2012 18:39

I slept on an airbed when family came to visit last Christmas and I was 8 months pregnant. Best nights sleep I'd had in months and months. So I'd say go for it Grin Maybe invest in a She-Wee as well for nocturnal tiddles.

Backinthebox · 19/01/2012 18:54

I camped at 7 months. I went to a horse training camp, just me and my horse. People thought I was bonkers, but I was very comfortable in my little tent. I made a next of an airbed and lots of duvets and pillows.

PuggyMum · 19/01/2012 19:00

Watching this thread as I too love camping and also doing a festival this year and I'll hopefully be pg x

I always take a duvet anyway cos I hate sleeping bags and thats my excessive luxury!!

I hope the weather is nice for you x x

helpyourself · 19/01/2012 19:30

Can you get a proper camping bed like this?

I think the biggest problem would be sleeping on the ground.

MrsMc82 · 19/01/2012 19:50

think I'd have been fine at 7 months except for the weeing at all hours, take a wee bucket for the night time ones...... i went to glastonbury (for the first time) when i was 10 wks pregnant but we cheated and hired a caravan having a loo in the caravan was the ultimate luxury!

Am hoping to be knocked up again by the end of the camping season so hopefuly will see how i fair as a pregnant (proper) camper too this year!

Dstress · 19/01/2012 20:21

We go camping but as much as I love it, I think you've totally mad. Find a friend / family / random person off the street who has a caravan, holiday cottage, anything with 4 walls, a toilet and a heater. Sorry to put you off but if my hormones had played up that much when I was preggas that I thought that camping was a realistic option at 7 months then I'd hope that someone would give me a reality check. Anyway if you don't manage to find an alternative (sorry I don't have any of the aforementioned either) then here's your essentials list : potty or portable loo, tons of blankets/duvet (you might be hot now, but it can be VERY cold at night at Easter), eye mask and ear plugs.
Good luck with it all. X

EquestrianStatue · 19/01/2012 20:24

We camped a couple of years ago when I was 28 weeks pregnant. Take as many pillows as possible!

I wee'd in one of DS1's nappies in the middle of the night rather than go to the toilet block Grin

I found it FAR easier camping while pregnant than camping with a 7mo baby.

GwennieF · 19/01/2012 20:25

I went when I was about 6-7 months and it was fine. I love camping and have very easy pregnancies though....

IwishIwasmoreorganised · 19/01/2012 20:31

We went when I was 36 weeks with ds2 and I neede crutches to walk any distance due to a fall a couple of weeks earlier!

We only went because DH and DS1 were so keen and we went with a large group of friends who entertained ds1 and took care of the cooking and washing up. I also had said that I reserved the right at any point to come home (we were only an hour away)

I think I slept on a lilo which was surprisingly very comforable and I fitted nicely into my mumy style sleeping bag, even with a pillow between my knees to help my rickety pelvis - I'm usually a bit of a chilly soul but one of the advantages of being so pregnant was that I was warm as toast throughout!

I did limit my intake of drinks as the evening went on and went to bed pretty late (due to be away with friends) then was up again with ds2 pretty early (It was May so light mornings!)

I enjoyed myself but was essentially well apart from the pelvis - if I was suffereing with heartburn or getting up loads in the night I might not have felt the same!

neolara · 19/01/2012 20:36

I camped for a weekend when I was 6 / 7 months pregnant. Bizarrely, I slept better than I had for months. I think the slightly saggy air mattress supported my bump better than my normal bed.

sillymillyb · 19/01/2012 20:50

I am 7 months pregnant now, and have had an easy(ish) pregnancy so far but I am also bloody knackered and I think you really have to take that into account.

The idea of weeing in a bush in the middle of the night, while not normally a problem when camping, would make me cry pathetically right now. In fact, just the idea of having to put up a tent would make me cry pathetically.

Can you book it closer to the time when you will be able to guage how you are feeling a bit better?

Lancelottie · 19/01/2012 22:54

Ah yes, the essential thing to take, now I think about it, is someone else to get the tent down (fond memories of my SIL standing (wo)manfully clutching ours in a gale as the rainwater coursed off the saggy roof and down her neck...)

TunipTheVegemal · 20/01/2012 11:09

I LOVE camping when I'm pregnant because I get very severe nausea all the way through my pregnancies and the cold air at night reduces it so I sleep better. Peeing in a hedge is a small price to pay.

Original poster
MorningHasBroken · 23/01/2012 20:10

Thanks all for your feedback! Luckily DH goes all action-manly when we camp so is quite happy to take over doing everything, so I should be able to take it pretty easy and not really do anything. I'm finding my bed agony at the moment (back/hip pains), and from what a lot of you have said an airbed might actually be more comfortable! A wee bucket has gone on the list of essentials, and Iwish's tip about not drinking late in the evening.

Am skimming through all the people saying it's a mad idea as we will simply have to make it work somehow or the other kids won't get a holiday at all this year!

OP posts:
melrose · 24/01/2012 22:45

I did it last year when I was 35 weeks and it was fine. Asked to be nearish to the loos when I booked (told them I would be pg!) and did have to go most nights

I took a couple of extra pillows but was generally v comfy

Was actually lovely to have some time with my older DC before the baby arrived.

Andie20521 · 30/01/2012 10:14

I went when I was 6 months, and yes I had to take it easy, but most definately a bucket with lid was essential!

I'd planned on a long weekend with DH and 2 dogs, and I enjoyed it so much that I got my brother with my neice and nephew to come up when he was going home and stayed for the full week!

If you are seasoned campers, you should be fine.

Sensible precautions as mentioned are to take your maternity notes, find out where the nearest maternity unit is, and have a small hospital bag ready, but really that applies to any trip in late pregnancy.

Enjoy!

GnomeDePlume · 30/01/2012 22:11

I went camping at around six months pregnant. We were in France. I strongly recommend avoiding hole-in-the floor type toilets!

timetosmile · 02/02/2012 21:48

I camped at 38+weeks with baby no 3 and it was brilliant!

Airbed was utter bliss, for the first time in months I wasn't super-hot in bed and watching me try to get up unaided in the morning was the best fun DH and Dcs had had all summer!

Take your hand held records and the local maternity unit number, and a big duvet rather than a sleeping bag, and lots of midge repellant..you'll easily be the tastiest of the group for them!

Hope you have a lovely trip x

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