How to get 17 month old to co sleep while camping when she's used to a cot

[teaandkittehs]

Hi all,
Looking for some advice as we want to go camping and it will probably involve me having to co sleep with our 17 month old who is used to sleeping in her own room in a cot. We've got a camper van with a bed in the back for me and her, and her dad and my stepson will be sleeping in a tentbox on the roof. Stepson is nearly 13 and not ready to be left alone in tentbox yet, so I'll be dealing with all toddler sleeping issues alone. I'm not sure whether to accept bed sharing with her, or to see whether I can safely perch a travel cot on one side of the bed. She sometimes goes to sleep very well but when going through a bad phase or regression (which she is at present) she will often stand up in her cot and cry when we are trying to get her to sleep, so if she's not in a travel cot she will perceive a lot of difference with no cot sides and nothing to pull herself up to stand if she won't sleep or wakes in the night. However, it may not be safe to put a travel cot now the bed as i guess there is the possibility that she will tip it over if she stands up in it.
I realise she will likely go to bed later than usual, and the bath or shower part of her bedtime routine will have to be skipped (it's a basic camper conversion with only a bed) and i already used white noise and sleep bags. I have a Spongey bed barrier/ divider thing for toddlers to stop them falling out of bed, which i can either put between us or against her side of the van. I've got blackout blinds etc. It's really just about getting her to actually go to sleep and stay asleep in an unfamiliar environment!
I suffer from chronic insomnia so having to deal with her sleep stuff alone in these conditions is causing me a bit of anxiety because any night wakes or early morning wakes will be down to me to deal with and when she has a bad night on my watch at home (usually during a regression or developmental leap or illness) I sometimes only get about 2 hours sleep and spend the next day fighting back tears and dizziness so camping is going to be a bit of a nightmare for me until my stepson is able to sleep alone in the tentbox. Unless of course she miraculously sleeps well and easily. . . .
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Camping with toddlers you just have to accept that they probably won't sleep until about 11pm and not bother trying to do bedtime routine and normal bedtime because it will just cause hours of stress. Let them play until they're worn out.
I have done a lot of camping with little ones and learned this the hard way!

Surely your problem will be how to get her to sleep in her own room on her own when you get back?

No she's sleep trained and it took minutes to do it and whenever she has a hiccup due to regression or developmental stuff etc a couple of nights sleep training will get her back on track. So my problem is how to get her to sleep while camping in a completely different environment and bed set up!

Like I said I expect a later bedtime and not being able to do the normal routine, but am looking for advice on how to deal with getting her to sleep and how to deal with night wakes etc if she has any.

Hopeful bump!

Another hopeful bump.

I don't think there is a magic solution aside from RagsRebooted very helpful post above! She probably won't sleep because it's different; you'll be there right next to her. One of those situations where you probably just have to deal with it as it comes. Sorry not v helpful x

I have camped with mine as young as 6 months. I try vaguely to have some sort of settling down routine about 2 hours later than normal with warm milk and a story but basically you need to accept that camping just means very little sleep for anyone. It's great fun and exciting for the kids but all the strange noises and early light means they're up, you're up. I love the memory making but am always SO pleased to get back to my bed.

You might have to just accept that you will go to bed when she does.

I brought my almost 18 month old son camping in a tent at the weekend. He had never stayed anywhere overnight since coming home from hospital and we've never coslept.

I bought bedding from home and an ipad, despite never having let him near my ipad before I knew we might need some emergency screentime. Falling asleep was fine, actually earlier than normal, as he was so tired from running around and only having a short daytime nap. We had a little cuddle and he fell asleep in my arms and I just lay him down. Unfortunately we are also experiencing a regression and the campsite was loud on Saturday night so he woke up around 1.30am. He hadn't eaten as much as normal during the day and asked me for a snack. We sat up and had a snack and some water and watched some Bluey on the ipad with cuddles and then I said it was time for another "nap" (he understands that nap means bed). Took him a long while to settle the second time, and he flipped all over the place and landed on my head, but eventually settled down and slept for another few hours. I was exhausted from it but hey, it was a new experience and we survived!

We camped with her at 6 months and it was easy as the travel cot would fit in my old camper van, she actually went to bed same time as usual and was asleep in minutes! The main problem this time is the new van is smaller and won't fit a travel cot on the floor so the problem is that a baby who is used to her cot will suddenly be next to me. And as I said, my partner will be asleep in the tentbox on the roof with his 13 year old son, so it's actually only me who will be affected by this until his son can sleep on his own. I think most kids could by age 13 but apparently not this one. I guess I was really hoping for this message to be seen by someone who had faced almost exactly the same situation that I will be in, but that wasn't likely was it! ! I suspect my husband will be fine if I sleep during the day at some point to make sure I stay sane, but its not much of a holiday for anyone when it's all about sleep, is it. My insomnia makes it unmanageable. My partner can fall asleep in less than 2 minutes whereas it can take hours for me to fall asleep so it's just really shit that we aren't in it together because he will be sleeping separately with his son.

Sounds like we are in a similar situation! Can't wait for the regression to pass, 3 weeks ago she was sleeping through the night 95% of the time.

Yeah our regression is along the same lines, but he has slept through the past 2 nights so hopefully the end is in sight for you soon too.

I get that it's intimidating but honestly the anxiety about it is probably the worst bit (especially as you struggle with sleep) and it probably won't be as bad as you think.

I don't think I'd like to sleep in a roofbox tent on my own while everyone else was in a campervan and I'm in my thirties, so can't really blame your stepson there. It makes sense to take a child each even if it seems daunting now.

Hope you have a lovely holiday.

She slept through last night so who knows whether the end is in sight! She was awake chatting for an hour at 4am the night before, and had done 3 split nights before that (they were the worst bit) and some 5am starts for a few days before that.
I slept in a tent alone from the age of 11 but I was very independent and I guess I can't expect everyone child to be like me. I suspect as he becomes more teenaged, the idea of sleeping with dad will seem less appealing, but I expect I'm on my own with the baby for now. I haven't minded how past camping trips as we could use the tavel cot and there were no regressions taking place. Hard to win really as it can partly be a matter of timing!