Do camping and small children mix?

[Hilary]

Right, the situation is this - we have been offered a brilliant deal on a big tent suitable for our family. We are very tempted to buy it as ds1 starts school in September so suddenly we will need to holiday in peak times and can hardly afford a holiday in low season as it is.

Do any of you have experiences of camping with young children (4 and 2) and have you got any tips or must-haves?

Thanks,

We got some of those fleece bags for the kids first of all thinking they would be warm enough in summer and fun but they were still cold so we got the junior ones. They are great and they do look snug in them and will get plenty of use. However I do find that they tend to wriggle out of them so in some ways I wish we'd just used their duvets. Far more bulky though and not so warm. The kids love them. We also got a baby one for DD but she outgrew it the same summer - hence now pg with baby3! Buying adult ones is probably a good idea as they'd be less likely to wriggle out. The small ones are cute though.

Don't know anything about the coleman tent. Went for the Mallard as it has the optional divider although its very flimsy so doesn't make much odds in practice. The mallard also has two doors which I like (we can have one facing our friends tent and one facing the view. The smaller door also has a fly-screen. I would say that the mallard has a much bigger living area (305cm x350cm compared to 258, x 298) and the bedroom area in the mallard is much wider too. Other than that I can't really comment. However our old tent was green and it gives quite a gloomy light. One of the bonuses with the mallard is that the roof of the living area and the end door/wall are both white which makes the tent feel much lighter inside.

Sea View Campsite at Slapton Sands near Dartmouth looks good although I've not actually been yet. Almost went there last summer but ended up in Cornwall so we could go to the Eden Project.

Katharine, thanks very much. Addle

Sorry Katherine, have only just seen your question. I am afraid there is no chance of us getting away for a night or two before then as my husband works all weekend and only has Tuesdays off. But, we are deliberately not going far - Morecambe, about an hour away - so that we have short journeys and if we forget anything vital eg the tent, we can go home for it without too much hassle!

Well I can honestly say that camping at 34 weeks was great. There were a few uncomfortable moments but nothing that wouldn't have been uncomfortable at home too and it was great spending time as a family. Would also like to recommend North Morte Farm in North Devon. Gorgeous site although it got a bit crowded at the weekend. Make sure you get near the toilet block if pg though.

you are obviously quite mad camping when so preg,glad to hear that north morte is ok,we are off there next weds.any other info that it might be handy to know?

Hi Yoko - The fish and chip shop in the village does really good quality cod - and the wedges are great too. There is an excellent sea food shop just on the road to the campsite. Great "butler sink" with shower head to bath small ones in the showers. They doe croissants and french bread in the shop every morning. Kids play area is fab. Can get breezy in the evenings. We pitched at the top of the slope for the view but didn't get to see the sunset several nights as too windy so might have been better pitching behind the tent. The beach (Rockam) below the site is absolutely beautiful and only a few minutes walk away (but uphill coming back) and much quieter than woolacombe etc. Small farmers market in Ilfracombe in Sunday. Site does slope a bit so choose your spot carefully. Otherwise a really good site. Enjoy your holiday

Having asked for all your camping tips, I now have another question. Have any of you camped with morning sickness?! How on earth did you cope? From looking forward to the holiday SO much, I'm now dreading it! Would appreciate any advice...

Oh Hilary you poor thing. Hopefully the fresh air will help. Fingers crossed.

Just wanted to say that I've raved about wildday as a website for buying camping gear before. Well we bought 2 chairs from them for our last trip and one of them broke straight away (I bought the cheaper ones when I should have gone for gelert). I was not impressed. Emailed wild-day when we got home to say that I'd got rid of all the packaging so what should I do.

Anyway 2 days later parcelforce delivered 2 new gelert chairs. How is that for customer service. In my opinion wild-day are the best online camping store out there.

Would just like to echo everything that Katherine has said about North Morte Farm campsite in North Devon,we have just had a wonderful break there.Katherine your info was spot on ,thanks!I'd definately reccomend it.

Well, we've done it and LOVED it! Camping really suits us all and we had a great time. The worst bit was walking a hundred yards to the loo to be sick most mornings and doing a 2am trip for a wee - another outcome of pregnancy. But other than that, we loved it and the kids loved it too.

Katherine - THANK YOU for the waterproof trousers recommendation - we did have some hard rain and they were brilliant!

inspired by all your positive vibes about camping, i went ahead and booked a pitch in stratford upon avon for tuesday! 1 night and 40 mins away from home... so it's hardly serious but thought it would be wise to play it safe!!!

i then went a little mad at wildday and stocked up on self inflating matresses and such like!!! but had to stop myself at the Wynnster Mallard 5 as rec by Katherine!!! lovely though it looks i would have bought it in a wink but hubby who is much more sensibler than me (i.e boring!!!) persuaded me that since it's just one night and we don;t know how we'll cope yet! - best just stick with the tent that we're borrowing from friends of ours!!! (i know i know very logical!)

so wish us luck on tuesday and pray that dd doesn't find the whole experience tooo exciting and decide to stay up all night!!!

This is so unfair. We should be going camping today. Thought this bump would be 2 weeks old at least by now so had planned a trip to either Dumfrieshire or North Wales for the last week of the summer hols. And I'm STILL PREGNANT! So fed up. This bump has a lot to answer for. Just hope we get some decent weather in September so we can head off for weekends.

Bea I am so very jealous - even for just one night! Hope you have a great time though.

Hilary - I used the kids potty rather than the 2am loo dashes! Have to say though that maneovering myself over it at 35 weeks was quite a challenge

cannot reccommend wildday highly enough... very quick delivery and very good customer service... fingers crossed if the trip goes well! (think of me on tuesday night!!!) will definitely be using them again!!

potential camping with a two week old!!! Katherine are you mad???

Hope all is well!!!

Right guys wish me luck - we should be off camping tomorrow night or Sat morning for the weekend. DD2 is 2 weeks old today! Am I completely potty you ask? Probably but its better than staying with my parents - this is the duty visit. So everyone sned sunshine vibes in the direction of the Lake District please!

Good luck Katherine - hate to tell you this but the weather forecast is not good for the weekend, esp the NW (wet!!) - so pack accordingly.....

Extra potent sunshine vibes for the Lake District have been dispatched - have a great time - and don't overdo it

Just thought I would share my experience of camping with a 2 week old. It was OK actually - she's not much trouble. But I would like to say that sleeping bags and breastfeeding DO NOT MIX!

Apart from the fact that I had to sleep with my bra and breast pads on to avoid soaking the bag with milk which I hate (usually just shove a cloth on the other one when feeding) I ended up in a bit of a pickle!

Had DD2 in with me so she wouldn't get cold. First feed was fine. 2nd feed needed to swap sides so shoved her over then tried to turn over myself and ended up in a total knot with the sleeping bag so tight around me had to wake DH to release me

2nd thing is that I really wish I had dug out the old moses basket and taken that. The other two were charging in and out of the tent and I was terrified they would stand on her especially when she was in her sleeping bag.

But apart from those two details it was great. Bit chilly in the evening but I'm glad we went. Think we'll wait for spring now though.....

Katherine, I can't believe you went with a 2 week old. You are truly incredible and I'm very impressed!

And she didn't even mention the weather, did you notice?

Well done, Katherine! Hope your parents appreciated the effort?

Yes, mind you the forecast was totally off for the w/end here (NE) - dismal on Saturday (wet wet wet) but really lovely yesterday.

It was wrong, wasn't it? My niece got married in Morpeth on Saturday and although we were lucky with the timing (it only rained when everybody was indoors) the downpours were a shock!

It was wet here (E Lancs) Sat morning so was assuming the Lakes were too but they have their own microclimate so maybe it was OK there.

Sorry forgot about the weather. Irt was OK actually.Sat was fine although it was chilly later on. DH and I sat there with baby blankets wrapped round us

Sunday morning was very murky and then we had a shower just before we got the tent packed away but nothing too bad. Didn't even need waterproofs. Just wish we had a bit more evening - it gets dark so early now!

And.... we managed it with cloth nappies too! Although granted it was only one night.

Ooh you;re just like my aunt. She went camping- in october!! with a 2 week old!!!! It was her 4th child mind!

We took DS camping in Scotland last year age 4 months and then 2 weeks in Wales this year age 16 months and it was great. Tips follow:

With babies under 12 months take sterilising tablets and a big tupperware box for sterilising bottles.

Choose a campsite with launderette-style facilities (rather than domestic size washing machines) - they are tons faster and save loads of time.

Take the baby/toddler with you when doing the washing up as the bowl and pots can be put under the push chair.

Excellent tip for a comfy night - use a blow-up bed, top this with a carrymat for warmth and then top this with a duvet - take your pillows and then sleep under your normal duvet. Bit bulky (that's what roofboxes are for) but you'll sleep very well! Put the baby/toddler in a Grobag - ideally the one they always sleep in.

Pick a tent with big bedrooms so you can sleep with your young children. We have a Wynnster Satelite 12 which has 3 bedrooms off a massive central living space - it's huge but somewhere to put all the other clobber.

Get a camping fridge for milk etc (runs off car or mains) and take ready-made formula for babies if not breastfeeding.

Keep one set of clothes as "dirty clothes" for toddlers and don't bother washing them.

A campsite I can thoroughly recommend is Bryn Gloch campsite in North Wales. It's immaculate and has excellent facilities. There's a mother and baby room (baby bath) and also a family bathroom. We didn't discover this until the day before we left. There's also the new branch of the Welsh Highland Railway running through the campsite and if you are in fields 5 or 6 then it will run right past about 5 times a day which must be the most exciting thing possible for a Thomas the Tank engine fan. Even DS at 16 months got the hang of waving every time he heard the train coming up the valley! Also the showers are immaculate - and there's a lovely nature reserve for taking dogs for a walk. I'll stop now and give the link instead! \linkwww.bryngloch.co.uk{}.

Hmm - am clearly a bit pants at inserting URLs (and I'm a sodding computer programmer as well!!) but you get the gist I'm sure.

Forgot to add another tip. Take the children/child off for a nice walk with a beer in hand whilst DP/DH cooks dinner every night - much safer!

next what I'd like is a special fold-up high chair...