Traveling/camping with a 22 Month Old

Hi Jennifer,

We love to camp too! I would start now with the sleeping...in a big boy bed (espcially if he starting to crawl out)?? :) It's a little transition moving from a crib to a bed but down the road you will be happy that you did because things like camping or visting Grandma will be soooo much easier for you.

We have also found that if the kids are playing nicely we allow them to skip their nap and then they're ready for bed a little earlier (and still get up at normal time).

Have fun camping and don't not go because of the bed. He'll be worn out and ready to sleep :)

I have not, but hope to when she is older. With tent camping as your goal you have the advantage of practicing in a familiar environment before hand ( like your backyard). I would suggest setting up the tent for some daytime play, make up some games then try it overnight in your yard. Next you could try a sleepover in a friends yard, especially close to home so you could return home if it ended poorly. Good luck! I imagine that at 22 months they cannot unzip it and get out at night if you keep the zipper pull at the top

My son went through the same thing -- he was a great sleeper at home but awful when out of his element. It took several attempts but we were just consistent in our response to him and he finally learned to sleep away from home, the same way he did at home. That said, he's not a climber, so I didn't have to worry about that while he was learning.

Could you try a pack and play with a screen topper, like the Graco Sport or Phil & Ted's Traveller Cot? For the Phil & Ted's specifically, he might get annoyed that he can't stand up in the crib, but he also won't have a way to get out. For the Graco Sport, I don't think they sell these anymore but I've seen them on Craigslist and in consignment stores. The Graco canopy is really tall and it's a huge hexagonal play yard, so it's great for sleep but could be a pain for travel and I've heard is impossible to find sheets.

You could practice at home to let him get familiar with the canopy. Then go to a friends house (maybe without other children around, so he's not distracted by playing) and tell him he's going to nap while you there, then give it a shot.

Definitely keep the routine the same. For us that means ensuring he has a fan or some other white noise in the room. He's used to this and can't handle thinking that "they're having fun in the other room without me!" If he can't hear what's happening elsewhere, he just shuts off and goes to sleep. Maybe your son is experiencing something similar? He's probably just wound up from the excitement of travel and when you respond differently than at home, he quickly learns he can get back to the action by crying or climbing out of the crib.

I hope this helps, and good luck!

Oh, and just for the record, my son is now two years old and we still haven't tried camping. He's just too light a sleeper and really needs his sleep to function properly. We're going to try to find a battery operated white noise machine and try camping this summer, but I'm doubtful he'll be able to sleep if he can hear all the noise around the campfire or from other campsites...

We have been camping with our daughter since she was 3 months old. She is now 2 and we just went last weekend. I find that a pack-n-play is just too much to deal with when camping. Instead we got her a sleeping bag and spent time at home getting use to it. She is so exhausted after playing outside all day that she just crawls into the sleeping and goes to sleep (usually about 2 hours before her normal bedtime at home). Of course, I usually lay in the tent with her until she falls asleep. All of us sleeping in the tent is kind of like all sleeping in the same bed and it works out well. Don't give up on the camping - it is great fun with a toddler!

Last summer my husband and I took our 1 year old and our twin 2 year olds tent camping. It was so much fun! we took out baby carriers and our Burley bike Trailer and did walks and hiked and looked at stuff, packing food to eat as a snack. Naps were done in the Burley trailer as they decided to nap or on our backs in carriers while we were hiking. Night time sleep happened when we al decided to go to bed. We decided that it would be too hard to instill their normal bedtime routine. I guess mostly for us we just did things as we felt they needed to be done and really enjoyed ourselves. i hope you enjoy yourself as much!

S.

Fortunately, my girl (2.5 yrs) only needs about a day to adjust when we go on vacation! Usually the biggest obstacle is getting her to settle down when she really just wants to see EVERYTHING that is going on around her (Cool New Things Everywhere)! So, we let her just have at it as long as she wants the first night (usually 10-11 pm, but we have stayed up with her til 1:30am before!). That way, she gets all (most) of the curiosity out of her system and is reassured that a) we aren't going to leave her and b) nothing crazy fun is going to happen while she's sleeping! We've stayed in hotels with multiple family members, we've slept in a guest bedroom on an air mattress, and we've crashed on a bunk bed in my parent's camper. I don't know, maybe I'm just lucky and have a very flexible kid, but it's never really been a problem.

We are big campers, and we took her on her first tent camping trip when she was only 5 months old! We were worried more about her freezing, than anything else, but she ended up being the little "space heater" that kept US warm! Now that she's older and mobile, we discuss the ground rules whenever we're at a new place:
1. This is the area you can play in (safe zone--pick trees, picnic table, etc to mark the area) If she wants to go further than that, she has to ask mom or dad and somebody has to go with her.
2. Here are some fun new toys that you can use (shovels & buckets, bubbles, squirt gun, beach ball, etc)
3. Mama & daddy will be right here if you need something (lawn chairs nearby and in plain sight, but not hovering)

At first, we tried the pack-n-play, but it didn't really work for us, because we like to walk around and explore. I also try to minimize napping in the car, that way she will be more tired at bedtime (or scheduled naptime).
I think that starting kids out young with these kinds of experiences (vacations, overnight visits with family, camping, etc) will benefit them as they get older. I think they are more comfortable in new and different environments and they learn how to have fun and explore without feeling scared or anxious! Good luck!

Last year we took a 3,000 plus mile trip across the united states, where we stayed in hotels and camped. My son at the time was 16 months. We carried his play pen and blankets everywhere we planned on staying at. The first couple of nights were tough, since he sleeps with a fan and love a dark room. He got used to it after three nights. I know that your toddler climbs out of play pens and cribs, so maybe you can take an extra sleeping bag or inflatable mattress with you. Keeps him closer to you and might make him feel like a big boy? Also having sleep close to you might make him feel more secure, where as with a crib, he might still feel isolated or not comfortable in it. Don't have much more advice. Hope it works out.:)

We go camping with our young child with a pack and play and when she was smaller, we had a plastic fence thing with a tarp if necessary. I would practice naps in the PNP if you know you're going to use it. Sometimes even kids that are old hat at camping have bad nights. You just do the best you can. Make sure your tent has the sippy cups, snacks, music, medicine and diapers IN the tent to avoid middle of the night runs to the car.

Skip it this year....it is so not worth the disruption in sleep. I tried camping with a toddler ...disaster!!!!!!!