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Camping

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

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Original poster

Would you camp with an 11 month old?

21 replies

memoo · 29/03/2010 12:49

We always go camping every summer but I'm worried about it now we have DD who will 11 months by then.

How do other people manage with a small baby? Especially when putting tent up etc which takes us a good hour as we have 4 other children so a big tent

We never went camping when the other DC were babies but I'm gutted at the thought of not going this year

OP posts:

Peabody · 29/03/2010 13:40

Yes, definitely. I know someone who camped with a two week old baby - and that was their fourth child. So it can be done!

You could:

Leave her in the car seat (works best if child is asleep, but toys can be a distraction)

Get her out of the car but still in a contained environment eg pushchair, booster seat on the ground

If the weather's nice, put her on a mat with a selection of toys and keep an eye on her (or detail an older child to keep an eye on her)

I took DS at 11 months and DD at 8 months and they both loved it.

redllamayellowllama · 29/03/2010 13:45

Without a doubt.

We went away with a group of friends, all with DC's under 1. When setting up the tent etc, we put DS in his travel-cot with an array of toys.

This lasted for about half an hour and then he went into a rucksack-carrier and enjoyed himself hugely.

Sleep was all over the place as he insisted on sitting wrapped in a blanket on Dad's lap round the fire until 10-ish, but that was fine.

troutpout · 29/03/2010 13:58

Yes I would
Those are some great ideas from Peabody for keeping her contained whilst you both put up tent.
Perhaps a small new toy might do the trick when she starts to fuss ?
What tent do you have?
There are some great films on YouTube made by some guy at yeomans showing how to put up well known tents singlehandedly . Dh can now do our largish tent ( Montana 6 ) by himself in about 17 mins. Might be useful to have a look see if there is something similar for yours? We don't have 4 kids but one of ours has autism and hasn't quite mastered a long wait yet.... It's easier if I'm about. ( plus I like to time dh and take the piss when he starts to lag behind the man from yeomans

dreamingofsun · 29/03/2010 14:30

Please can you not shunt her out of your tent at the crack of dawn and let her run round and round mine whilst you lay in bed! Or shout really loudly whilst you are breakfasting at 6am. i'm sure you are much too nice.

Wiggletastic · 29/03/2010 19:31

We took our 11 month DD camping last September and had a fab time. We took her travel cot for her to sleep in and we used that to contain her whilst putting up and taking down the tent. She was quite happy in there with some toys for nearly an hour (you will have the added advantage of other DCs to entertain her too ).

Dreamingofsun, are you sure camping is the right sort of holiday for you??? I recommend wax earplugs if you want a lie-in....

Original poster

memoo · 29/03/2010 19:32

That would do my head in too dreaming, We're always hushing the children if they wake early or at night time.

One site we were on there was a family on the opposite side of the field who were always noisy. I used to jump out of my skin when the mum started screaming at her DC! think some people forget that when you're in a tent other campers can hear every word you say!

OP posts:

JaynieB · 29/03/2010 19:36

WE took DD camping at 4 months which was easy, but not so easy when she was crawling, which for her was about 16 months (she was a bit late getting moving!) so we only managed one weekend that summer. We've got older kids too which meant extra bodies to help put up tent and keep baby amused.

Original poster

memoo · 29/03/2010 21:30

Thanks for all the tips, it definately seems a lot easy after listening to your advice!

Will pack the travel cot last so that we can get that out first at campsite and put DD in with a few new toys

OP posts:

dreamingofsun · 30/03/2010 08:48

wiggle - many of the sites we've been to have a no noise policy before 8am. most people are very considerate - you might like getting up at the crack of dawn but i don't see why that means everyone else should - especially when on holiday

mzmum · 30/03/2010 09:33

Errmmm, feel I have to defend Wiggle here...

dreamingof, isn't that what camping is all about? - the beautiful early mornings and getting to enjoy the whole of the day with maximum sunlight? Anyone who goes camping absolutely must expect to hear kids in the morning, surely!! That's why lots of people don't do it....

Though I certainly wouldn't be shouting first thing in the morning at my 3 year old, I'm afraid I can't gag him and chain him up inside the tent when there's the beautiful outside to explore.... Now that would be wrong.

Getting big deja vu here of similar comments from someone last year, was it you dreamingof? Are you on a mission to make tired stressed parents who choose to go camping for their kids, guilty when their little ones are having fun??!!

Think you need to go "adults only"....
As you can tell, your comments have niggled me somewhat!!

bobblehat · 30/03/2010 09:42

Find a family friendly site and go for it! Both of my dc's had their first camping trip at about 3 months. How old are the other children? Just leave the lo in the car seat to 'contain' them while you're putting the tent up (if the other children are older, a lot of campsites will have playgrounds that they can go to while the tent is going up).

Have fun!!

dreamingofsun · 30/03/2010 10:59

mzmum - can't do adults only as have 3 kids. so you are quite comfortable with people shouting all night? if i've picked a site with a quiet rule so i can sleep it seem not unreasonable for people to comply with that.

Wiggletastic · 30/03/2010 14:03

dreamingofsun, I totally agree that other campers should be respectful of 'quiet rules' and we like campsites that have them, because we like a good nights sleep too, but young children do get up early and there is only so much you can do to keep them quiet. I wouldn't allow DD to run about shouting and I certainly wouldn't shout at her, any time of the day. We are always up quite early when camping and find that most other people are too, even those without young families. Agree with mzmum, its part of the joy of camping, being up with the dawn and appreciating being out in nature...

I was being serious about the wax earplugs, they are great!

ArcticRoll · 30/03/2010 14:05

To the op -no way!

dreamingofsun · 30/03/2010 15:16

wiggle - i've used spongy earplugs. Is that what you mean or are wax ones different and better? Do you get them from the chemists? I think my children must be strange as they've never got up early since they were babies - prob take after me

ChairmumMiaowGoingItAlone · 30/03/2010 15:35

memoo : We went quite a few times with DS, from about 3 months old. Generally I watched DS and H put up the tent, but if you need to help you've still got options!

By 11 months you could easily get yourself a good back carrier and carry her around while doing the setup stuff - she'll be safe out of the way but still have a good view.. She'll have a great time, so long as you don't mind a bit of grass eating.

mzmum · 30/03/2010 16:50

Aaaah, now me sees the issue here. dreamingof, you are one of those luckyluckyluckypeople whose kids don't get up early.........

So it sounds like you have no idea what it's like to deal with early risers - this is precisely why we go camping so the kids can go wild and crazy and burn off all that excess energy as early as they like in the morning when we chuck them out the tent door!!!!!!
Yes, I absolutely agree with a quiet rule at night but I reckon most parents do have to deal with early morning risers (particularly when camping as no such thing as blackout blinds!!!) so in my opinion all campers just have to deal with that.

My jealous streak says to me "tell dreamingof if she's never had to deal with early mornings then it's good she gets some while she's camping...." Sorry!

By the way, OP, sorry to turn your post a bit sour but yes, absolutely go camping with your 11 month old. We took our 7 month old last year and it was fabulous, all that fresh air etc etc. Go for it.

Wiggletastic · 30/03/2010 17:51

dreamingof, these are the ones you want. They are amazing, much more comfortable than horrid foam things and block out more noise, ideal for campsites with early rising kids!

Memoo, you should go for it, you will have a great time, we found that the tent was a really good safe place for DD to crawl about and all the fresh air every day helped her to sleep.

brockyg · 30/03/2010 18:00

Definitely. Travel cot is ideal. For crawling babies, worth taking an all in one waterproof suit with feet/shoes so they can crawl around to their hearts content in the field, whether there's dew or not. Take lots of extra clothes. Warm baby sleeping bag a good idea. I always need to sleep in a hat if it's cold, but our kids never have, as long as their bottom halves and toes are warm, maybe socks over the babygro inside the sleeping bag if it's a very cold night, and a few blankets always useful. We've been to a campsite in St Ives with a baby bath, not just a shower, which was a godsend after days at the beach. Might be worth planning to go straight out for a walk, maybe find a cafe for coffee or breakfast, if baby wakes early. Also have a torch handy in case of night frights in the middle of the night - our kids haven't done it, but friends kids sometimes woke in the middle of the night wondering where the hell they were and screamed blue murder. We also had milk warming equipment because our babies all loved cups of warm milk at night and morning, very soothing when it's cold and dark and strange.

dreamingofsun · 30/03/2010 19:06

thankyou wiggle. they send them from the US - i'm guessing you live in the UK?

Wiggletastic · 30/03/2010 19:22

Yes, we are in the UK, but they don't take long to arrive usually.

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