UK overnight train + 1yo?

[BlueChampagne]

Has anyone travelled in the UK on a sleeper train with their dc(s)? We have the prospect of going to Cornwall and West Highlands this summer, when ds will be 11-12 months, both of which could be accomplished by sleeper. If you've done it, would you do it again, and what tips can you offer? Have also posted this on travel section.

I'd like to know too. We used to get the sleeper back from Prague sometimes, and I really enjoyed it. The last time was when I was pregnant. I also have a 1-year-old, but the bunks would be pretty narrow for us both.

We used to travel by sleeper all the time up to Scotland but we've never taken the dcs. My sister brought her (at the time) 5mo up for Christmas, in one of those pop-up mini cots you can buy. Otherwise the only other option is to have your ds on the bottom bunk with you which I would think would be mighty cramped.

Just looked at those cots, and he's too big.

But thought, you could leave him on the bottom bunk once he's settled and have a cosy time with yr dp on the top. It can be done ...

ooh yes, I'd like to know too!
From what I remember (from a long time ago)I think it's pretty cramped, so there wouldn't be room for a bigger travel cot (we've got one of the nomad tent things) would there?
Would it be insane just to take bedding and lie DC on the floor? (and all go to bed at the same time)

PeatBog, can you seriously get into the top bunk WITH your partner? I can hardly get me alone into one of those bunks.

Anyway - what I did when travelling with a 1yrold, which worked OK, was top-to-toe on the bottom bunk. Baby goes in his/her sleeping bag down at your feet (on the wall side) - your feet also acting as a buffer so no rolling off.

You could also make up a little bed on the floor with rugs etc. - the floor space is so small (I'm sure too small for a travel cot) that it would be quite neat. Or even empty out a suitcase & make up a bed for him in that (left open of course!!!)

Either way, you will not, I think, get the sleep of your life, but so long as you are going on somewhere where you can catch up on sleep it's fine.

yes, littlefrog, the normal travel cots are too wide to fit in the tiny standing-up bit you get.

Wouldn't be insane to take bedding, but quite bulky to carry around if you haven't got a car at the other end.

We wondered once about taking a large flattened cardboard box, putting it up with parcel tape and putting dd in there. But I think in the end we were beaten by the amount of other stuff we had to take up, plus dds new little sister, and chickened out.

yes, Bink, we could just about do it - cuddling most of the night! (well it was early days)

And it sounds as if your top-to-toe idea is the best.

But with a big baby beware of novelty ...

I have abiding memories of a Continental sleeper (one of those couchettes with bunks on both sides of the cabin) with dh snoring peacefully up high, me on one bottom bunk & ds (aged 14 months) carefully barriered in with suitcases in the other - and through the journey, a delighted little round head appeared over the top of the suitcases and jollily said "Mama!!" Every 10 minutes. The whole night.

lol Bink. They get sooooo excited by new stuff.

I did this a lot, with two dc's, to/from London/Inverness. Having the baby in with you is the best solution, I found. It's not the best quality sleep you'll have, but at least it's sleep. When ds2 was tiny I put him in a carrycot on the floor but managed to stand in it when I stood up! Luckily I avoided leaving a footprint on him, poor soul.

Sounds fun!

Do you need to go on the sleeper though? Where are you travelling from? We regularly go from Edinburgh to the south east by train and that length of journey (7-8 hours)is perfectly bearable if you bring plenty of distractions with you. Last summer when Ds2 was 8 weeks old we went to the south of France by train (all in a oner on the way back) and it was really good - plenty of room to run around (DS1 used to crawl up and down the train before he was walking), plenty of friendly people to talk to and interesting things to look at out of the window. I'd recommend not taking a direct train so that you get a bit of a change of scene. Sleep is a bit tricky though so we take backpack so that you can put ds in that and walk up and down if they are tired and not dropping off (standing in the bouncy bit between carriages works for us!).