Advice please about camping with baby

[Cattia]

We are going camping at the weekend and my youngest is 4 months old. I never camped with the older two when they were babies so unsure how it will work. We have a three bedroom tent and DH and I usually go in one room with the older two kids together in a second and the third room spare. I don't really want to put the travel cot zipped up in the third room. I'm used to having her next to me and being able to see her all the time and I'm also worried it will be too stuffy and not enough air. I could leave our bedroom unzipped and put the travel cot next to me in the main bit, or put it in the third bedroom and leave both that and ours unzipped so I can still keep an eye and it won't be too hot.

Also, I'm not sure what to dress her in. At home she sleeps in a vest with a 1 tog sleeping bag. Obviously with camping it's going to be colder at night but gets hot early in the morning when the sun comes up. Would a babygrow and 1 tog be OK? Or thicker tog sleeping bag? I'm probably overt-thinking this but I worry a lot about safe sleeping conditions and at home she is in our room with the fan on all the time.

 

[MindUtopia]

I found the first time we went camping with our daughter to be incredibly stressful as I had really unrealistic expectations for how it would all go. She's now 2.5 and we go camping all the time and really enjoy it. A few things, if you can get your hands on a wrap or an ergonomic carrier, if you don't already have one, it will be a lifesaver. When we first went camping I had this expectation that everything would work just like it does at home and we'd keep the same routine with a 7pm bedtime, etc. Nope, totally didn't work. It's completely blazingly bright still at 7pm and the campsite was busy with other kids running around and after 2 hours of misery trying to settle her to sleep the first night, we gave up and just put her in the wrap. After that, that's what we did for the evenings. She slept in the wrap and then we took her to bed when we went to bed. We did that up until she was about 16 months. Now she just stays up with us until we go to bed around 10 and has a nap during the day. Basically, make it enjoyable and stressfree and don't worry about keeping the same bedtime or having her sleep in a certain space if it's not working. If she's the sort of baby that will sleep everywhere in bright sunlight with lots of noise, great, no reason to keep her with you, but I'd have a plan in case that doesn't work so you don't spend all night in the tent trying to settle her instead of eating dinner. A wrap or a carrier is also just a great thing to have for walking around the campsite without having to lug a big pushchair.

As for sleeping, we always co-sleep when camping as we just have a big bell tent (no interior rooms). So we sleep on sleeping mats (basically like thin cloth futon mattresses, not like the inflatable kind). We each have one and they zip together to make a big three person sized bed. (We also co-sleep part-time at home). I would be inclined to just bring a cot mattress to put on the floor next to wear you sleep as I think the travel cot would be awkward as you'd have to be fully standing up to reach in and comfort her (hard to do in a tent). It should be as easy in the tent to make a safe sleeping surface as at home. It really depends on the temperature how you dress her, so you might just check the weather before you go and then plan accordingly for the coolest overnight temps. When we went the first time in was in June (so still cool) and my daughter was in a vest with a sleepsuit and a jumper over top and then all inside a 2.5 tog sleeping bag. It was that cold at night. More recently she's been in short sleeved pj's with a jumper over top and a 1.0 tog duvet (obviously, much older than your LO now). When it starts to warm up in the morning, she's usually waking up anyway, so I just strip off a layer then.

 

[LoraLoo]

Oh we love camping! We've taken all of ours from babies. Hubby and I sleep in the main bit and then the kids have the pods (or bedrooms) we put the baby in a travel cot with it just partially zipped so we can see them.
It's also handy to Pop the cot up n put baby in whilst putting the tent up.
It can get very cold at night and I think layering is the best way here- I would put baby in vest, baby grow and sleeping bag. If cold add a thin cardigan and blanket etc x

 

[Cattia]

Thanks ladies, I think that I will put the cot in the spare bedroom compartment and leave the zip to that and to our bedroom undone. Layers is a good idean;;t Hopefully the sleep thing will be OK, she is a brilliant sleeper and generally settles anywhere. Last weekend we took her to a wedding and she settled for the night in her pram in the middle of a really loud disco! I expect my other two will be up later than usual though so if she doesn't settle it isn't too much of an issue (apart from the fact that I like to give her the last feed of the night before having a glass or two of wine!)