Advice on baby sleepwear for a camping pod in May

[Slightlyanxiousmummy]

Going to a camping pod on a campsite in the Lake District in May. We’re big campers but have also stayed in pods in winter before. I’m an anxious FTM and safe sleep has always been my nemesis. Baby will be 9.5 months at the time of the trip.

At home he runs hot so currently sleeping in a 1.0 tog sleeping bag with zip (tommee tippee grobag ones with the poppers on the arms) and just a long sleeve bodysuit vest for his room being between 18-21C at the moment. He’s never slept in a sleep suit but will occasionally have long pj trousers on if it’s really cold eg 16C in his room. Anything above 17C and he just had the vest and bare legs with a 2.5tog.

The pod does have a heater but I’m of course anxious about maintaining a constant temperature and it not being hot that he overheats and dies. Likewise I’m concerned about not dressing him in enough clothes and he is cold.

I was planning to take the room thermometer and then both sleeping bag togs, long pjs and vests and then maybe some soft jersey type jumpers and just layer him in clothes. Is this ok or is there something else I should buy? He will be sleeping in the travel cot in the pod itself.

For info it’s a bare bones style pod with just a mattress supplied, not “glamping” with actual beds and things.

We have a Reiff wool sleeping bag which is excellent outdoors. Our baby slept outside at nursery from 5 months in it, all through the winter. We also put him in a knitted wool hooded cardigan because he doesn't like sleeping in hats but will tolerate hoods. The cardi buttons up high and is hand made with quite a loose knit so no risk of suffocation.

For me, the main thing would be how to ensure the mattress is completely dry. The normal travel cot base matrass should be fine, but I wouldn't use anything else on top.

Good point about the mattress being dry. Even when we’ve camped in pods before it had got slightly damp. Ours is a synthetic mattress which we don’t usually use a sheet for, it has a black waterproof cover integral to it so I guess we could just take it outside to air out if it isn’t raining.

Thanks for the recommendation, I will look it up. Would he just have normal clothes in the sleeping bag? I’m very jealous of your nursery, it sounds fantastic.

I'm not in the UK, but similar climate. At nursery they sleep outside in rabbit hutch type cots. The matrasses are those wipe clean institutional ones. I think they actually use them for the indoor sleepers too, for obvious reasons. When he was little he slept so long for them.

In May, I'd put him to bed outside in leggings, vest, will jumper and socks, inside a thick sleeping bag and maybe with an extra blanket. I'd guess it will be 8-10° overnight. He'll tell you if he's cold. I think the worst bit for him would be drafts in a travel cot. You might want to peg some sheets to the sides. They're normally big enough that it won't really compromise the air flow.