Caravan holiday with three young children - am I crazy?

[3littleowls]

Hello! New to Mumsnet although a longtime lurker. Hoping some experienced caravan owners can help me out with making a decision on whether to buy a caravan for family holidays. I have three young children (5, 3 and almost 1). We have always loved the idea of owning a caravan and family holidays but is it realistic with this range of ages? Would a 5 berth be best or could we get away with a 4 berth for three years while the youngest is in a cot? We were thinking the youngest could go in a travel cot between our beds but don’t know if this would work. Any advice and has anyone made it work? What have been the biggest challenges for you with young children and caravans and how have you overcome them? Appreciate all experience and pros and cons!

Happy to help! This thread was a huge help to me when we were in the same position. Re. your question about whether my children enjoy caravanning - the answer is a resounding yes for the two eldest at 3 and 6. They love the whole thing - the feeling of the campsite, the miniature house on wheels thing, a home from home, sharing the caravan all together and being closer to the outdoors. I’m hoping it’ll get better still as they get older and more independent. And the baby…well she doesn’t dislike it as far as I can tell. And she can toddle round the caravan quite happily. It’s not relaxing having to watch her in the awning and taking care she doesn’t escape, but it’s a fleeting phase as you’ll know with your eldest. She’s definitely the challenge with the sleeping side of things but I think that would be the case if we were in a self catering cottage too. One of the upsides is the cost per night is so low that we don’t come armed with high expectations for our holiday and for us that’s a good thing with our three young children in tow as only the six year old is just now moving out of that unpredictable phase of life. My other tip would be to draw up a costs sheet and include things like caravan storage, servicing and fuel economy. We worked out that the first few years it wasn’t much cheaper than a cheap self catering place but if we keep the caravan for several years, it starts to become a v good way of having adventures on a lower budget than we could ever have when confined to school holidays/high season.

We had a caravan but didn't get it until our two were 6 and 8. Wish we'd got it earlier really as we had to sell it when the oldest got too big for the bunk beds (he's a very tall 13 year old). We had an air awning which was great for bikes, etc. We generally used the campsite showers.
Not sure about a travel cot - in ours (Bailey Pageant) there wasn't anywhere it wouldn't be totally blocking the way.

And the most important point is - no poos in the chemical toilet.
Yes, we had this rule too!!

We took ours that age in a folding camper (caravan base, canvas top) and had some amazing trips. Its all your own stuff so no worries about them breaking anything, no TV for two weeks, we were the only people who ever slept in the beds so no stained mattresses, no cleaning/housework as everything was just wiped down when we had cooked. Didn't have toilets or shower so made sure we chose sites with excellent facilities (heated shower blocks were a bonus!) Kids loved being 'allowed' to go and wash up (supervised by dad at a distance) as well as going to the site shop to fetch the morning paper. I just loved the whole experience but never expected it to be a relaxing holiday - just going somewhere different in a different environment without the stimulus of TV and radio was enough.

One of the reasons we didn't go for a touring caravan was storage - didn't want to pay and didn't have anywhere at home! Camper was stored in parents garage.