What age were your kids when you first took them camping?

[Igottastartthinkingbee]

I know lots of people will have taken their kids from when they were babies but what about everyone else? We just had a short (localish) trial run as we've been given a massive tent. Children are 5 and 2. The 5 year old had a ball but the 2 year old was a nightmare! I had to take her home on the first night as she was too wired and then hysterical to sleep. Both kids exhausted the following day. What are we doing wrong?

First time when my youngest was just 2yo. It was HELL

took them the following year when he was almost 3 and had the best holiday ever.

I think babies/pre walkers are ok to take camping, and then again at around 2.5+, but there's a bit in-between where it's just soo difficult

Can anyone recommend blackouts for tents? Don't want to get a whole new tent as we've only just bought one. Is there some sort of insert/lining we can use? Struggling to find anything.

Thanks for all the 'rubbish camping with 2 year olds' stories - crap for all but pleased it's not just us that struggled!

Just some black fabric draped over the top of the bedroom will help

2yo's and camping = very very hard work.

It was fine. We put him to bed, did the whole routine, fresh air and activity sent him to sleep.

Mine always slept better in a tent than at home.

This thread is worrying me a bit!
Just about to depart for our camping holiday and youngest is 2 & 2 months. Last year she wasn't walking (but did bum shuffle off the pitch a few times!). She's quite, er, 'lively' shall we say. And quite fixed on the familiar. And a bit of a bolter. Hope we have a nice time and it's not a complete nightmare! Though to be fair the challenges would probably exist in some way wherever we went. At least we don't have to content with an aeroplane trip.
Good to have realistic expectations for the first night/morning I suppose though she should be knackered from the journey.

Sleeping wise she's still in a cot at home and I'm planning to still put her in the nomad travel cot with a travel black out blind draped over the top (has mesh sides and top so should still be enough air!

Ours were in travel cots as babies/ toddlers. Useful to be able to put them in buggy/ car seat while pitching. Bath them in buckets.

5 and 8 now and it's almost good fun...

It really depends whether your kids are the type who'll drop off to sleep later than usual but be ok the next day or the type who can't settle easily, need a lot of sleep but wake early and therefore grumpy.
My DC were the former, DGS is the latter.

Sorry mantasay! At least you'll have low expectations so anything else is a bonus Travel cot would've been better for us, we just thought she would be knackered and would sleep anywhere. Not so. She still hasn't got over it nearly a week later! Unless she's going through some sort of toddler meltdown phase anyway.

parrot yours are 5 and 8 and it's almost fun?!?! You're not giving me much hope!

We went for the first time in may this year dcs were 6,5 and 2 and we loved it.

14 days.

Currently they are 3 and 8 - it's 22.45 and they are still not asleep though.