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Our UK Camping forum has all the information you need on finding the right equipment for your tent or caravan.

Original poster

vw camper van - how do you transport children safely

26 replies

ksmum · 31/03/2009 20:16

DH is keen to buy one of these and so was I and then I started thinking about seats and seatbelts and beds for babies. Now am a bit worried - I know some have seat belts for back seats but these are just lap belts so how do you get car seat in? Also not sure where would put 1 year old to sleep - we have a 4 and a 1 yr old. It is not the classic type sadly a more boggy T25. Anybody got any experience?

OP posts:
FrannyandZooey · 31/03/2009 20:19

we had to have seats fitted and it was hard tbh - there are so few places you can do it safely. ds ended up in the front seat - not ideal!

we ditched it before ds was a year old - found it didn't work for us with a young family

DorisIsAPinkDragon · 31/03/2009 20:31

If you really want the camping aspect of the camper, rather than the VW "cool" aspect why not try a bongo, my sis has these as part of her camper hire business, and regularly has child seats etc in them.

ps if you do want the vw cool, run to the sun in newquay is usually a really good laugh!!!

Original poster
ksmum · 01/04/2009 10:12

Well I might want to be cool but given that I am over 40 and live in Surrey it might be a bit tricky.

Bongos are a lot more expensive than the ones we are looking at - I don't want to buy an expensive one in case I don't like the whole thing.

Can you fit a travel cot into these things? Would be happy with daughter in top bunk but not sure where can put baby without fear of night time escape.

Also on the car seats - anybody know anything about these - can you fit proper 3 point seat belts to anchor the car seats in properly?

OP posts:
musttryharder · 01/04/2009 11:37

We bought a VW in Jan, we've got two kids DD 3 and DS 5, the van we bought didn't have any rear belts fitted, the rear seat is a full width, you can fit two 3 point seatbelts one either side there are (usually) mounting points on the rear wheel arch to fit the belts to and a point on one of the rear pillars, one of our mounting points on the wheel arch looked a bit ropey so we had a local bloke weld some plates in to make sure it was safe, as for fitting a travel cot in it you can get a hammock style thing that goes over the front seats, both mine sleep in the roof so they're ok but have seen the hammocks and they look pretty comfy! alternatively get an awning....plenty of room for everyone...

mileniwmffalcon · 01/04/2009 11:40

justkampers sell the seatbelt kits - we fitted ours, 3-points - and the cots that go above the front seats. i made a curtain-thing that poppered onto the cot sling so it was impossible to roll out. dd1 never slept in it though, always squidged in between us (difficult sleeeper at best of times).

FannyWaglour · 01/04/2009 11:41

Look into getting a Ford Transit Autosleeper conversion. We fitted three point seat belts in the back our ours. We had 2 3 point seat belts at the back, and 4 lap belts just in case.

mileniwmffalcon · 01/04/2009 11:44

btw sleeping in a van is much colder than sleeping in a tent - i was shocked.

trixymalixy · 01/04/2009 12:00

DS(2) went camping at the weekend with DH and DFIL.

DFIL had fitted 3 point belts in the front of his splitty so DS' car seat could be fitted. Most car seats I have seen at shows have been fitted in the front of vans.

You can get over cab bunk beds and a guard to stop them falling out. Think just kampers do these.

trixymalixy · 01/04/2009 12:04

guard here

skramble · 01/04/2009 12:08

If they just have lap belts you can get car seats that can be secured with just lap belts but have 5 point harness as part of the seat.

What ever you do make sure the belts are attached to proper anchor points.

I have a LDV van with 3 rear seats with 3 point belts attached.

tallbirduk · 01/04/2009 16:26

We have a T25 which we love. When DS was imminent DH & FIL replaced one of the lapbelts with a 3 point belt and that has been fine. Not sure how you would fit a second one though if your van is the most usual layout with furniture down one side.

We have also been debating where DS will sleep. We did take him away when he was 6 weeks old (he is 9 months now) and just put him on a counter top in his pram baby nest - that wouldn't work now - so we are going to try putting him in the roof (we have a hi-top) and constructing some sort of barrier to stop him climbing out! Not sure how well this will work, but we have to give it a try.

As for "It is not the classic type sadly a more boggy T25" - how could you? The T25 is a classic in it's own right!

Fennel · 01/04/2009 20:11

We had a VW camper with 3 small children. DP put in three seatbelts in the back using the DIY kit. He's very good at that sort of thing.

For sleeping, we had a double bed at seating level, and originally 2 small hammocks above, but DP changed that to a large bed up top which slept up to 3. Then DP and one or two toddlers would sleep up top (with a hatch to come up and down through) and me and whichever new baby would sleep down below.

We tended to co-sleep anyway so didn't really need a separate cot space.

It was very warm and snug.

But it was like (noisy, restless) sardines in a tin with 3 under 5, we sold it at that point and got a Sensible Big Car and Family Tent. Boring but works better for us.

springlamb · 01/04/2009 22:24

You can get seatbelts fitted into any VW camper, we do this job regularly. I would have this done professionally TBH as the quality of anchorage points is of course crucial.
You could have a canvas bed which fits across the front seats in seconds for LO. It is slightly U shaped so falling out not much of a problem. They only cost about £20.
However, the camper itself will not be cheap.
Used with an awning (I have a three room awning) there is plenty of sleeping space.

Original poster
ksmum · 02/04/2009 12:05

Thanks everybody for your help. We have managed to get in touch with owner and it has 3 point belts. it also has an awning - think DH and I will end up in there otherwise some improvisation with travel cots or something.

Sorry for callign it more boggy - I recognise it is becoming seen as a classic.

I am quite excited about this. We already have a big family tent and sensible car - but having had too many rainy outside cooking experiences am keener on this now.

OP posts:
maxybrown · 05/04/2009 19:42

We have a T25 and she is lovely. We love bays too, but they are much smaller (they have the same chassis as a classic beetle!) and bit more work!!! We only have 1 Ds and he kips with us in the big bed . His car seat goes in the front as we have lap belts in the back, but it's good as it means it doesn't get in the way when we're parked up

daisydub · 06/06/2009 23:26

We seem to have a problem with our 1972 type 2 vw, thr full width rock and roll bed and the need to put 2 children in the rear. How does anyone else manage it? We have one 2 year old and a baby on the way. The rear of the bed seems to be at a slight angle rather than upright and so leaves a gap which gives too much movement behind the child seat fro it to be safe. Where do you mount the 3 point belts from? Any pictures out there? Would be really grateful for assistance as is fast becoming a stressful issue and is threatening summer camping trips!!

Thanks :-)

paisleyleaf · 07/06/2009 00:15

We have a 1976 bay window and when my DD was in her group 0 seat, I had her rear-facing in the front next to me. When she went into the next seat up I had her in a britax eclipse car seat that can be fixed with just the lap belt.
We're just now starting to look into fitting the diagonal seat belts, and this is what we've found out so far....

Apparently "the three points of contact are already there and are standard on all the vans. You would have to get a specific seatbelt that can be fitted at any angle as the rill has to be mounted under the side window. On a bay there is a pre tapped hole underneath the side window, one on top of the wheel arch tub (if you have a rock and roll bed, look down the side of it) and one in the centre of the bulk head. There should be enough holes for two 3 point and one lap belt" (JK)
(we've got little black rubber grommets where they mean).

Camper & Bus article says a middlesex based seatbelt experts Quickfit (0208 2060101) or www.quickfitsbs.com will find a way to fit them whatever the bus. It also says that Legally seatbelts are not required on fold down seats on Camper vans as long as it's not over loaded. It does say that there are some models that do not have anchor points for the seatbelt but you can buy mountain plates from jk or Brickwerks so you can self drill the holes.

paisleyleaf · 07/06/2009 00:16

Funnily enough Daisydub, our bus is called daisy too (yellow and white)

jude2009 · 28/06/2009 19:57

Hi can anyone help, we ve just bought a t25 Volkswagn campervan and have a 10 month old who has just started to crawl and is very wrigley. We re going away next weekend and don t have a travel cot that will fit into our van. I think he s just clinb off the sling/hammoch type ones which can fir over the front 2 seats. Any ideas ? thought we might try and doctor a cheap one from Ikea, but there must be a standard one you can buy?Any help would be much appreciated

Plonketyplonk · 28/06/2009 20:15

We've had a T25 for a couple of years now. We have travelled and camped all over the place in it with 2 dds, us and 2 dogs. For a while we were in the top, dd1 was in the back, dd2 was in a tent on the floor, and the dogs go in the front. We have been trying to get the girls to go in the top, but dd2 has rolled out twice. The tent is a fantastic thing - so so much easier than the travel cot (which will fit in, but it's such a bugger to put up and take down).

Can't comment about the seatbelts. We had a child seat for a while. Food for thought!

NoFurtherQuestions · 28/06/2009 20:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Torkijo · 21/06/2010 21:51

Hi
Anyone got suggestions of how to fit/improvise a bed guard for the upper bed in our 'Classic' (not Boggy) T25 Westy Hitop?

blumama · 22/06/2010 16:39

Hi we use a mesh fold down toddler bed guard by BabyDan which fits our conversion perfectly. Great as DS1 and 2 can see through it but keeps them safe up there. Also means we can store light stuff like bedding up there and it stops it from falling out(wouldn't trust it for heavy gear though as only mesh).Hope this helps.

CarGirl · 22/06/2010 16:42

I've got a kit that converts a lap belt into a 3 point belt - it's in the loft somewhere, I also live in NW Surrey if you want to come collect it?

If you think it would work I can dig it out, have a look and see if it would do the job etc it's a UK one so you could probably buy another one one line etc.

Iggisonthesofa · 28/06/2010 00:09

Used front seat for rear-facing carseat (up to about a year if I remember correctly) as although I'd had a 3 point one fitted in the rear (at great expense) the belt has too far to come to fit round the car seat! It's fine with the forward facing seat he has now.
It's harder to get two 3point seatbelts in the back if it's a 3/4 width seat, like mine.
Have never tried sleeping with him in the van so far, got an awning and have used travel cot in there. Good luck!