first time camping with young children - help!

[FuzzyDunlop]

we're taking our 7mth old and 4 yr old dds camping in august - part music festival, part camping in the welsh countryside. Frankly, i'm scared its going to very hard work!

What the heck do we really need? Any handy tips to stop this being hellish? Thanks!

Stick to the same rules about bedtime at least the first few nights. This will give them security and give you some peace. When you chose a tent go somewhere that has them set up and go in the rain. That way you can see what it will be like in the rain trying to play with the kids. Tunnel type tents and the easiest to put up remember you only have about one and a half people you can count on to put it up so practice before you go (the children still need to be looked after) Its great fun

oh it will be great
good ages - 4 year old can help a bit, 7mnth old will be fairly immobile
go for a one nighter somewhere as local as possible as a practice before the main event - will give you an idea about things your might want or need

thanks castleonthehill - i think i'm probably the half when it comes to putting up tents!

We've just got back from our first family camp and we had a blast. We pitched within sight of (but not right next to) the children's play area so while we were pitching the tent DS could run off and play on the slide and we could keep half an eye on him without him being underfoot (he's 4 in June). He made a friend while we were putting up the tent - hence he was happy running off to play with his new friend every time we needed to light the stove or something - result!

We put a lot of effort in to make sure that we were keeping him warm enough (such miserable weather...), but with all the tips I've picked up on the internet we were all actually toasty warm the whole time. And he had a great time - he keeps asking when we're going again.

As for what you need... I have a huge camping checklist which I could post if you want? Warning: It's enormous... but I'm a 'well, what if we need it?' kind of packer! We did fit it all in a tiny Toyota starlet with the three of us inside though!

please do post your list - am going camping with my 4yr old for the 1st time this summer!

Our secret weapon is warm fleece pyjamas (sleepsuit for the LO). DS's ones are so out of season they have snowmen on , but it keeps them warm in the tent/sleeping bags and if they run out first thing in the morning, they don't have to get dressed. I then threaded elastic through the ankles so they don't drag in the wet grass but stay above wellies.

I could only find them on ebay at this time of year.

You got it

Camping Checklist

Tent
Extra tent pegs and guy rope
Mallet
Peg remover
Screwdriver
long cooks matches
self inflating mattresses x 3
Camping & Caravan club membership cards
Double sleeping bag
Single sleep bag for DS
Camping stove
Camping gas canister and regulator and hose
Extra blankets ? as many as will fit
Camping kettle
Water carrier
picnic set ? includes thermos flasks, plates and cutlery
Large frying pan
Non stick saucepan with lid
One good small sharp cooking knife
Camping knife
Two shockproof waterproof battery powered torches
Battery powered camping lantern and extra batteries
Windup torch
Cool bag
Freezer blocks labelled with our name in permanent pen
Duct tape
Windbreak
Antibacterial hand gel
Wet wipes
Micro aluminium table and bigger table to eat at
Backpacks for all of us
Potty
3 x compact shower towels
3 x beach/picnic towels
Ziplock plastic bags
Reservation for campsite and directions/routeplanner and road atlas
Pocket packs of tissues
Corkscrew, bottle opener, can opener
Camping pillows or ours, depending on space
Playing cards for snap etc
Travel board games suitable for DS
Fire extinguisher
Portable radio and spare batteries
Washing up liquid, scourer sponge and tea towel
Foam earplugs
Insect repellent ? communal ? suitable for children and sensitive skin
Sunscreen ? communal ? suitable for children, sensitive skin, Factor 50
Aftersun ? communal to work as my moisturiser too ? unperfumed, sensitive skin
Shampoo/Showergel in one suitable for all three of us.
Antiseptic cream
Plasters
Sting & bite relief
Antihistamine tablets
Paracetamol and Calpol
Picnic blankets
Toilet roll
Whole roll of bin bags
Extra ground sheet/tent footprint
Clothes pegs and bungee clothesline
Foldable chairs
Kitchen roll
Individual Juice boxes, individual uht milk, cereal bars, dried fruit and nut mix, 500ml bottle of water each to refill, teabags, coffee bags, sugar, canned/instant meal to heat up on arrival
hot chocolate sachets
My phone
Charger for my phone from cigarette lighter
Tweezers, nail clippers and little sharp scissors
Mini hot water bottle for DS and bigger one for DH and I?s sleeping bag
Emergency foil blankets
Spare big blanket
Washing up bowl
Dustpan and brush

DS LIST
Travel pack Crayons and colouring book
Bedtime bear
small selection lightweight books and magazines
sunglasses
sunhat
Wetsuit
Pyjamas
sandals for shower
waterproof trousers and warm coat
Wellies
Kagoul type jacket
Fleeces that can layer up and warm jumpers
Warm hat (to sleep in and wear in evening)
Cotton long sleeve tops
Cotton t shirts
thermals
trousers
shorts
Wreckable shoes
Toothbrush & paste in little wallet
Football
Socks and pants including pair warm socks

BECSTARLITSEA?S PACKING

Flipflops for shower
Warm jumpers to layer ? fleeces, cashmere etc
gloves
Warm hat to sleep in
Compact thermal underwear ? tshirt and longjohns
PJs
warm socks
T shirts
Jeans
Reef shoes
Wreckable trainers
Kagoul
baseball cap
Comb
clean undies
Disposable razor, toothbrush and paste
leave in hair conditioner
Deoderant
Waterproof watch
Make up kit and mini perfume sample
Wellies

becstarlitsea - yes please post your list, i'm also a what if we need it type!

tootootired - like the idea of those pjs and the elastic idea is inspired!

oops x-post!

good lord! lol i was thinking 'but we've only got a nissan micra' and then i saw the sub - heading 'ds's stuff!' rofl

i suppose i did ask for it... some brilliant ideas in there, dh is on at me to pack light. he'll be lucky

becta's list is good, but I would leave out all the furniture, potty, washing up bowl, fire extenguisher, radio, screwdriver and wind break. Not necessary imo

Remember, with kids and camping, you can relax all your usual rules about bedtimes, cleanlinness etc. Don't make a battle out of things that don't need a battle, for example if your DS sobbs at the thought of using the shower don't make him shower. Nothing wrong with dirty kids.

Also, altohugh keeping bedtime routine the same is good (i.e brush teeth, pjs on and then story or whatever you usually do) don't even try to make it their normal regular time. Better that they are really exhausted. You will know if they are tired and you need to step in and put them to bed. If they are happy there is no rush.

forgot, dustpan and brush also definately not necessary, imho

Bedtime bear is my favourite item - I'm so glad that becstarlitsea packs like I do!
I'm sure I put some people off camping a couple of years ago with 'my list'

Mind you the list is shorter when we camp abroad - no wellies, hot water bottles or extra fleeces!

considering there is a large Tesco within driving distance of pretty much everywhere in England you do not need half the stuff on that list, if you really need something like duct tape you can go and buy some.

Seriously, why give yourself extra stuff to pack and unpack that you probably won't even use??

Also, you don't need a clothes line, unless you're camping for more than a week

DO take a fire extinguisher!! even just a little one that you use in the car. Have you seen a nylon tentgo up in flames?!!

relax though - dirty kids on holiday are de riguer at that age....and just hope you 7 month isn't crawling - then it gets tough.

you don't need a specific tent peg remover either, you can use a tent peg to remove other tent pegs

Lucycat if you're sensible a nylon tent will not be put in a position where it can go up in flames!

Campsites have buckets of sand you can use to put fires out

But obviously, if you can fit an extinguisher in your car, or just have one in your car all the time (like my parents) then obviously it could help in the event of a fire

and no, in all my years of camping I have never witnessed a campsite fire

Put all cutlery, knives, utensils in one box - we also put disposable lighter, s-hooks, the screwdriver, length of string (you have no idea how many times that string has proved to be useful!) freezer bags & clips in there too.
So although the list may look long when yu come to pack it it won't be.

No I haven't seen one first hand either but small children and unstable cookers have the potential.

eek!! I think I remember seeing this and vowed always to take the extinguisher!

betcha our toyota is same size as your nissan micra! You wouldn't believe what you can fit in a tiny car...

like I say I am a 'what if?' kind of packer, so there's a lot on there you don't really need. Or you hope you don't need! But we were really glad of some of it. The radio tuned to Classic FM helped us to chill out when the tent was roaring and dancing in the wind during the wee small hours (sunday night was just 'beastly weather' to quote DS - and he's never even read the Famous Five...) And we needed duct tape at 3am - oh, it was so very eventful!

But we had a great time.

It's worth checking out the nearest decent camping shop to your site. We realised our tent (not used for ages) could do with some extra guys and had to go and buy pegs and guyropes.

I've never camped with a baby (although we're planning it with our 10 month old for the first time this summer and will probably regret it since he's newly mobile...) but camped with ds last summer when he was 3 1/2 and my top tips would be...

• take lots of home comforts - we took ds's own duvet and pillow as well as a v. warm sleeping bag and blankets - snug as a bug in a rug springs to mind!

• if you intend to put your ds on an airbed and have room, make it a double so she won't roll out (but you can see our tent from the moon so ds has a double bedroom to himself )

• cream crackers and peanut butter mean instant food at all times when camping stove / campfire cooking takes hours longer than it should.

• don't stress about bedtimes - our ds was asking to go to bed by the second night he was so shattered, and slept til 8.30am for the only time ever - he's usually a 6am riser. Result!

Have fun - we love it!

wow - i'm so grateful for all your advice! spesh thestuff about bedtimes - i'm usually a bit of a stickler for routine but will be nice to chill out for a change.

mamaduckbone - good tip about peanut butter and crackers... what are some other fool proof camping foods?

and do any of you ever worry about the kids waking up early and unzipping the tent and sneaking off whilst your still snoring? i only ask as dd1 has a track record of being a bit of an escapologist!

oh, and is there anything wasps really hate that i can ward them off with?