First time camping with kids aged 2 and 3 - do we go for sleeping bags / proper bedding / something else?

[FannyPriceless]

They will be on an air bed. I like proper bedding myself, but what should we use for the kids?

I'm not a 'camper' but dd1 always just had her Grobag & a blanket or two at that age.

Oh dear, both of mine are too big for grobags! They both use duvets at home so I wondered whether we should just take that.

Get something you can get into a washing machine/drier if it gets wet/muddy/weed on/vomited on.

We use sleeping bags as I think they pack down better for the car. Eight year old has an adult bag, but we have a vango wilderness junior one for DS (5) and an aztec swallow midi for the two year old as they suit their length better. I didn't mind buying smaller bags as I have every intention of passing them down or selling on.

Got the aztec from here

Ooo, thanks. Will have a look now. :)

Its a space thing for us Fanny. Will you have much car space? If so, I would give it a stab with the duvets, and splash out on sleeping bags later maybe.

We put them in sleeping bags, with loads of blankets. They love snuggling up in them. I'd take duvets if we had space though.

It's a matter of not wanting to buy things that aren't going to work out!

I currently have two of the midi sleeping bags that old teacher recommended sitting in a shopping basket, and I'm just too nervous to click 'buy'. Maybe we should just make do the first time camping with existing bedding, and work out the longer term later.

I think that sounds like a good plan Fanny. Suck it and see and then invest in the sleeping bags if you get the bug.

remember that the ground under the air mattress will be cold, so if you only use a sheet under them, they will need some sort of insulation between the airbed and the groundsheet. I have used blankets, space blankets and even newspaper when desperate! (a broadsheet works best! )

I did use those 'readybeds' with my two when they were little, but as the sleeping bag was attached to the air matress, as they turned overe, the matress went with them, and they ended up sleeping on the floor with the matress on top of them. They looked like beached turtles...