My mother is thinking about getting an RV and letting my husband and i use it to take our 1 year old on weekend trips to local parks. My question to you ladies is what should i do about the sleeping arrangments for my son. He is a great sleeper but he has to be in HIS bed and will not sleep with us in our bed. He is aslo a wiggle worm when he sleeps. I do not want to get a pack and play for him to sleep in 1) because he hates to sleep in those and 2) they take up to much room and you need as much space as you can get in an RV. Would bedrails work? I'm out of ideas and was hoping some of you moms are more experienced at this RVing than i am and can help me out.
We love to camp. My oldest has been going since she was 6 months. It's an experince that will stick with them a lifetime. What about a kindermat? The kind you get for the kids to go into kindergarten with. Put it on the floor and then get him his own big boy sleeping bag. Good luck and have fun.
We love camping, have been taking our kids since the first one was 1!! We used to put down the cushions from the kitchen table, squeezed in a small area so that he couldn't go too far. We are now using the pack and play for our youngest (almost 1), but the two older kids are using the small blow-up mattresses. They love them!! We also have space beside our bed in our "bedroom", we will probably put the baby down there once he is a little larger.
Good luck with the camping. We always have a wonderful time, the kids love the great outdoors!!
We made little tents for our kids out of sheets or blankets! The boys loved it and slept great.
Bedrails do work fine. We used them.
My daughter went through the wiggle phase when sleeping. We don't go RVing, but do enjoy a condo on the beach. She has a princess blow-up matress that is special for those trips. I also fold up a blanket and place on the side so if she does roll off it's soft. You can buy character blow-up mattresses at Wal-Mart. I hope you enjoy your trip(s)!
J.
Have you maybe considered an air mattress that will wedge between bed and walls (twin size)?
B.
Go to www.onestepahead.com they have an inflatable bed rail. It is adjustable to any type of bed and has worked wonders for my son. We used it on his crib when we removed one side and now on his toddler bed. Because it folds down, we'll be able to pack it and take it on vacation with us. If you need help finding more information, let me know!
We have a very small travel trailer. Believe it or not, my kids sleep in the bathtub for the first two years. After cleaning them up from the dirty day at the campground, I dry out the tub and place a folded quilt in the bottom. They can't roll out. It is a small tub, so it only works for 2 years. Oh - but turn off the water pump so your kid can't accidentally turn on the water at night! (yes, learned that from experience)
A bed rail probably won't work because the mattress is too thin to hold it in place. My father-in-law made a rail for one of our beds that attached to the wall, but walls are also thin in RVs and not designed to hold much weight.
Don't know how large the RV will be. Ours has absolutely NO floor space once beds are made out -except a small walking path. But my in-laws have a "bedroom". There is a small path on either side of the bed, my kids love to put a sleeping bag down there and sleep - they just have to remember not to get out of bed on that side. Some RVs would actually have space to roll out a small air mattress or sleeping bad, but many would not.
Overall, I would accept that you son probably won't sleep as well in an RV - different rountines, different bed, everyone in the same place - but those great outdoor memories will make it worth being a little sleep deprived.
Our neighbors just got an RV, but they can't use it right now because the price to put gas in it is more than it would cost to drive their car and rent a hotel!!!
As far as beds, I recommend an aerobed. They make a toddler version that has slightly raised sides so they can't fall out. It comes with a removable flannel cover in case of accidents and a plug-in pump that is super fast. It also deflates super fast, so you could deflate it every morning and it folds up into a bag like a sleeping bag. We use ours all the time when we travel with our son. He loved it once he got used to the idea that it wasn't a trampoline! You can find them at onestepahead.com and amazon.com and possibly Bed, Bath, and Beyond stores.
We have been taking our son since he was 1 month old, and our camper is only 24 ft. He sleeps on the couch, which folds down and we put pillow and cushions around him. Now that he is almost 11 months, and starting to move around more, I have started putting our suitcases on the edge of the couch with pillows on his side of it so that if he gets to close to the edge the suitcase will fall first and wake me up before he falls. He doesn't usually sleep as long as normal, wakes up a time or two, while we are camping, but he only because he has played outside and is so tired by the time he quits that it is restless sleep. But I know that he has enjoyed his outdoor time and can't wait to go at it again the next day. My husbands family usually go camping all together, 6-8 campers, at a time, so we love the weekend trips. He will have lots of pictures and memories of his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins that more that make up for the crowded space we have for now. Enjoy the camping, I know that we love to get away even for the weekend.
i know in our camper which is 21 foot, we fix the kitchen table/cushions for our daughter who is 6...the cusions are tall enough layed down she don't roll over them...i would either do something like that or look into bed rails. Not sure how large your RV is but i think rails would work good. Good luck!!
