Camping with 8-Month-old

I recently went camping with my baby, who was at the time only four weeks old. We slept together in the sleeping bag, and everything was fine. The biggest complication to have to plan around is how to handle the diapers. I switched to disposables during the camping trip and brought plenty of scented plastic bags, which kept the wildlife out of the diaper messes and enabled me to pack it all out with me to be thrown away in the trash at the first gas station, rather than trying to bury them as we went along. Of course, if you're camping at a campground rather than in the woods, there will be trash facilities and probably even laundry facilities available to you. We tend to camp much wilder and more primitive than that, however. My oldest is 12 and has always loved our camping trips, which also began for her when she was about 4 weeks old:) Campground camping is a completely different matter, and of course every child is different. You don't mention if your son is used to co-sleeping or if he's accustomed to a crib, or how dependent he may be on nightlights, or any of those kinds of issues. I find that glow sticks make excellent night lights when camping with kids. We hang them inside the tent. Makes it look a bit like a UFO from the outside:) You might want to bring a travel crib or playpen of some sort, depending on how your son is used to sleeping. Keep him on your lap or otherwise confined when there is a campfire. Fire is pretty and babies don't understand how hot and dangerous fire is. Those beautiful glowing coals that keep flickering for hours after the fire goes out are also perilously tempting to little ones, so be careful about the fire safety and everything else should be fine, even if he winds up eating a bug or a leaf or something;)

When we took our little one camping, we put him in his pack-n-play at sleep time. I took the nice cozey footed pj's for him as I knew he would not keep a blanket on. Then once we knew he was sound asleep, I drapped a queen sized quilt completly over the p-n-p and under the feet to secure it, to help keep the cool air off of him.

Have Fun!

He will do fine. Pack warm and extra clothes. You will have alot of fun. The families that camp together stay together.

Actually, this is the best time of the year to start camping! It isn't all hot an sticky and it gets colder at night so you are actually comfortable in a hot sleeping bag. I think your little one will do a lot better then you might think. I would recommend packing warm pajamas and some not so warm ones just in case. If you have a pack and play or something like that, that would be the best thing for the baby to sleep in. They are easy enough to set up anywhere but it will still give him the comfort of being in a crib. Also be prepared for him to just come sleep with you. Don't forget the bug spray and the sunscreen. Don't be afraid to let him explore. Just put clothes on him that are ok to get dirty. Have fun!