First time family campers with toddlers and a DS in a wheelchair!!

[HairyMaclary]

Hi,
We are considering camping this year, have 2 DS (will be 4 and 2) DS1 uses a wheelchair and has no independent walking. DH used to camp alot as a youger man, pre DC, I did also but not very much. However all our experience is in the Alps or Wales, Scotland at the base of mountains before climbing them so a bit different to what we need now!
For a family holiday we have no equipment and no real knowledge of what we need, however the 2 things I really need help with are the tent and the campsite (I'm sure I'll ask lots more question once we've bitten the bullet!)

Firstly - Campsite - I would love a small, quiet one with not much going on near the sea, but think that for the first time camping and with DS's needs we should look for one that has good shower faciltities (pref disabled ones) and some paths around the site so he can use his wheelchair. We would like to be near the sea (sandy beach as pebbles too inaccessible), sussex, dorset, devon area but will stretch to Cornwall or Wales for the right place. I don't think I can hope with a Haven type place but don't really have much experience of them.

Secondly - tent - I think we need at least a 6 person one, I had a look at some of the previous threads last night and quite liked the look of the Vango Killsomething 600 (?) with the separate pods as we will need to store a wheelchair, walking frame, sticks and a stool / chair(!) as well as all of us sleeping. I thought the pods looked a bit small though and wasn't sure about space wise. It needs to be a decent one as DH won't cope with one that is too flimsy! Ideally not that expensive...

Finally - if anyone thinks we are mad please let us know, this was always the sort of holiday we thought were going to take pre DCs but DS1's disability has thrown us a bit in this regard and we can't decide if we should just go for it or not!

Thanks

I think you should go for it!

One thing that might be problematic tent wise is having a sewn in ground sheet as I am not sure how your DS would wheel in and out of the tent easily. We have the Outwell Montana and it is great for space but I think the doors are quite narrow and the SIG is a trip hazard. I did a little search and found this which I thought might be a good option for you:

www.outdoormegastore.co.uk/acatalog/Vango_Zanzibar_800_Family_Tent.html

(It is quite pricey.)

I would have thought Woolacombe would be a good option as I remember them having good beach access for a pushchair and it is sand.

www.devon-online.com/towns/woolacombe/Welcome.html

In South Wales, West Park is a lovely small site near Tenby which has a lovely beach.

HTH, and goodluck

thanks sha, that beach looks great and so does the site - 2 good options.
Tent is massive! can a tent be 'too big'? Just wondering about the practicalities on a site. I like the idea of all that space but thought pitches came in set sizes. I don't think a sewn in groundsheet will be a problem as DS will use his frame or sticks around the tent, wheelchair will be for going any distances. It does seem a bit pricey so I might look at other options but thanks!

A friend of mine loves Carpenter's Farm on the Isle of Wight. It is basic and has disabled facilities, but has also featured in the Guardian Top 50 Worldwide campsites so may well get booked up!

99www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/reviews.asp?revid=3752 reviews here]]

reviews !

I don't think a tent can be too big! The pod-tents can be problematic as their footprints can be massive but tunnel tents usually fit.

Thank you Milliways, that campsite looks great, have emailed an enquiry. Will wait and see. Would the difference between a 6 man or 8 man tent be worth going for? We are not intending to have any more children but the space is tempting, not sure about the price though. Will keep looking!

Also - approx - how much will it cost to kit ourselves out? Am slightly scared of this aspect of it! DH and I have decent sleeping bags but would need airbeds for all 4 of us, sleeping bags for the boys not to mention cooking stuff. Eek. Any tips for cheap but decent kit? I am having fun browsing the websites you are all linking to but it's hard to know what you actually need and what's just nice! I don't think DH's tiny folding cooking pots and 'bunsen burner' will cope!

When we first went we bought airbeds (since upgraded to mats), sleeping bags, a one ring cooking ring (now have a stove with 2 rings and a grill), a water carrier and a fold out picnic table from Argos.

We take plates/cutlery/pans etc from home. We have bought a proper table and individual chairs since. We also have since bought the electrical hook up, as we wanted to have better lighting and a kettle (we take the one from home), and a camping heater. Most kit we have bought in Aldi (apart fromt the EHU and heater).

We use a cool box which we already had but you might want a fridge. We tend to buy meat from a local farm shop and BBQ for evening meals and buy food day to day.

I would go for an 8 man. We have a HUGE 12 man!! We have one pod, kids share one and all stuff stowed in the third, with room for table & chairs in the main bit if needed. However, it has had 13 teenagers sharing it, and last May Bank Holiday some friends tents leaked so we had extra kids move in with ours.

The self inflating mattresses are good, or airbeds. Our airbeds are Argos cheap ones and do fine. DO get an electric pump that runs off your car battery though - saves a lot of effort!.

We have a small gas Barbeque that is great, a portable charcoal BBQ (you don't need both, we accumulate stuff) and an ANCIENT 2 ring gas burner which cooks faster than any of the new one! Always the first kettle to boil.

Can you borrow some stuff from friends? We go in large groups so we all just share and new campers only need a tent & sleeping bags/mats.

A table is good for cooking, preparing, washing up, eating off of. Friends have a fab light weight large roll up one fom Macro. Aldi & Lidl have good camping stuff as well some weeks. We take a fold up decorating table (plastic topped) that we got from Aldi.

hairy Hi

Tent- definitely minimum 6 man, 8 man might be best as space for chair.

Sites-think about caravan and camping club membership; several have disabled facillities and will suit. I e-mail sites and say 'look, this is us, 2 of the boys have SN, is your site suitable'- always wotrth it. Sandy balls know us and get us a pitch close to the disabled facillities (after the year ds3 took a horror to any other facillities and we all had to move pitch).

Pod tents can takle a few minutes more topitch and need a alrger pitch sizre buit tbh with a wheelchair its worth it anyhow: if it's a pod you want may I suggest the first decent tent we ever had, here? Great quality and a really nice tent.

With 2 ds's I'd think it'sbig enough for you all TBH. Pod tents tend to have more space by nature of the central bit anyway; we foud ours fine for 5 of us and the centre is easily large enough for the chair no p[robs

Oh a size bigger if you wanted a spare pod just for ds's stuff. they'recheap as they re last years model, dont think gelert are doing it this year.

If you're hading south wales way stop by and we'll be happy toloan you a cooker to trial (we have two) as there are som many types out there.

You could look for a tent with a big porch for storage. We get practically all our clutter in the porch of our Vango Diablo 600 if we use the side door, and that includes ds's Major buggy without having to bother folding it up.

Definately borrow as much stuff as you can first time - you'll be amazed at how little you'll need to buy, and at what friends store in their garages!

We've camped when our kids have been toddlers, and found taking a pop up goal (small cheap one), football and a set of plastic golf clubs invaluable for entertainment!

I put my toddlers in fleece nighttime suits to sleep in - usually from Primark at this time of year. That's on top of vests, pj's and socks, then they get into their sleeping bags, and sometimes have a blanket or coat over the top - it's cold at night in the UK! (I take a hot water bottle for myself, and although I get the mickey taken out of me ALOT, I'm always nice and warm...)

We have upgraded to an Outwell Arkansas which is a great tent. Chosen because it's nice and light inside, has a really wide porch to sit under and plenty of space inside. I'm sure it will come into it's own when we camp in the rain for a week, but on dry holidays we really don't need that much space, so could have gone for a cheaper one.

Have got the extra footprint ground sheet which is very useful. We do have a problem drying the tent out if we come back with it wet though, as it's bigger than our downstairs space..... Maybe we should live in the tent?

It's a good time to buy a tent now as they are all on offer - we were at Go Outdoors after chrismas and they have a load of tents up to wander about in - lots of places do that now, but this one had them all up inside. Much nicer in December.

Good luck and Happy, Happy camping.

Wasn't expecting this to come up again! We went for the Montana 6 in the end and had 5 camping trips last summer, incl a 2 week one in Aug. It was brilliant! We are now looking for somewhere else probably in Dorset for this summer.
Riven - we bought a Mummy sleeping bag for DS and soon realised what a bad idea this was, he can't turn over easily at the best of times and just got so tangled so now we nest him too! You could always get an electrical hookup for DD's monitor? Would that work?