My husband and I camp almost every summer, but this will be the first time that we will be camping with our child (8 mo old little boy). Any suggestions for sleeping arrangements? Does it work ok to put him in-between us? He is very active and moves a lot, so I am afraid he will just crawl out from between us. But maybe that is what you have to deal with when camping? It seems to me that our parents went camping with us when we were little and didn't over think things. This day and age we get the msg that you have to have equipment for everything and it is hard not to buy into that. It would be nice to keep things simple.
We took my oldest camping for the first time when he was 11 months old. He slept between us in the tent. Besides moving around and waking us up a lot, it was fine. We put 2 sleeping bags together, so all 3 of us slept in 1 big bag.
we took both of ours at that age. at the time we had a 8 x 10 tent and we just put them in the pak-n-play inside the tent. Being in it helped w/going to sleep as it was similar to at home. If you use the pak-n-play, I'd suggest the following: 1)stuff a sleeping bag or blankets UNDER the pak-n-play to keep him warmer - air circulating underneath will make him colder. 2)layer him in as much as you can and just forget about sleeping bag/blankets - we went w/onesie, short sleeve t-shirt, long-sleeve t-shirt, form-fitting jammies, sleeper jammies, fleece jacket and then a hat on top and mittens on the hands. after they were asleep, we put a blanket around them, tucked in. that said, both always ended up in my bag somewhere around 2-3 in the morning - I nursed both and that was a feeding time and it was just easier for us both to fall asleep during the nursing and stay put. You'll want the pak-n-play for containment during the day too - once they're crawling everything is fair game - we didn't take one the first time w/our oldest and he got into dog poop and loved chewing on pine cones while we were cooking, setting things up, etc. on that first trip! Have fun!
Hi A.,
I don't do much camping anymore, but when my son was young we went often. I am going to assume you camp out in a tent, as we did. We never had a problem with the sleeping arrangements, we had double wide sleeping bags that accomodated the two of us, and we just stuck our son between us. As for a baby that may crawl out and want to investigate...our tent zipped shut (which I assume all do), and it wasn't likely he could figure out the zipper part! Hope this helps you some! Have a great summer and enjoy the great outdoors!!
Do you have a portable crib that will fit in your tent? That way he might even take a nap! I agree with you about the idea we need every little this and that but a portable crib is a great investment, we used the same one with all three kids! Have a great time!
Hi A.,
My hubby and I just came back from camping. We love to be out in nature. We did make some changes to our regular routine for camping now that we have a seven month. This was our first time camping with her. It felt like we took everything but the kitchen sink. We had a good time. We didn't run into any problems. We normally tent at KOA's and we decided to stay at one of their log cabins instead of tenting. I was not sure how well our daughter would take to the cold nights. We took our pak-n-play for her to sleep in next to us. It worked out well for us. She could tell she was somewhere else and seemed concerned at night. Once she was in her pak-n-play she didn't care. We took sunscreen and eventually also bought baby bug spray.
Good luck
Hey Alyssa,
My baby boy is nine and a half months old and he has been sleeping with me since he was a couple months old. If you're anything like me and most mom's I know, you'll wake up long before he has a chance to wiggle off the bed, or whatever you may be sleeping on.. especially if he's in between you and your partner. It may be because he's used to it but my son tends to wiggle less when someone is sleeping with him. Hope it works out for you!
We just got back from camping with our three month old. We camped in a tent that was big enough for her pack-n-play, so she napped and slept in that. We also brought her portable swing so that she could swing while we prepared the camping area, cooked, etc. The swing also provided a sleeping option for the daytime so that she could see us as she fell asleep.
If you don't have a pack-n-play, I'd just bring a twin air mattress and use a couple of extra pillows - put him down so that he is perpendicular to the mattress and put the pillows on either side so he won't roll off. I've also used a small suitcase or drawer as a make-shift crib.
Good luck!
