Tips for camping with young kids.

[troy]

Could someone point me in the direction of the best forum to search through on tips for camping with kids? This has to have been covered before. I've been unsuccessful in my searches.

The wife and myself have done our fair share of car camping and backpacking, but we haven't gone since we started a family. We currently have a 2 year old and a 2 month old. I would love to get out at least a couple times this summer.

I have a fairly well set up XJ and a full set-up of backpacking gear. The problem is we can't all sleep in the Jeep, and my backpacing tent is a 2-3 person. The spousal unit is suggesting a trailer, so I'm on the lookout for something small.

Any tips on making this an enjoyable experience for wife and kids? I'm open to any comments on how to make my current gear work, or what I should look for in a trailer, size, etc.

Thanks,
Troy

[Corey]

I posted this same info at YotaTech a few months back when a guy asked a similar question about taking kids.

Well, since I was conceived in Yellowstone National Park, start 'em off young :D
My X and I took our oldest son camping when he was only a few months old in our first tent trailer, same as in this pic below of my youngest son camping with me and the older one.

http://www.pnw4runners.com/pics/old_camping/old_camping3.jpg

I would say he was less than two years old there, and as you can see, he already knew his part of the chores.

Kids are very resilient, and they love camping.
Youngest again with the new trailer.

http://www.pnw4runners.com/pics/old_camping/old_camping4.jpg

Start them when they are young, as long as you have a good feel of first aid should they require it from some cuts they may encounter.

http://www.pnw4runners.com/pics/old_camping/more/camp6.jpg

http://www.pnw4runners.com/pics/old_camping/more/camp5.jpg

http://www.pnw4runners.com/pics/old_camping/more/camp1.jpg

Wish I had scanned in some photos of our oldest son from a trip when he was just a few months old.

[1leglance]

I love my wife & I love my kids but the trips I love are not the same as what they love :)
My boys are 18 & 11 and I have been taking them outdoors either through backpacking or 4wd for their entire lives.
The key for the 2yr old is freq stops and lots of dirt time, you don't mention gender and I don't think it matters at that age, just time to touch, feel, tear up, walk on/through/under things. However if you aren't the kind of parent that can let them get dirty, fall down and take risk then your trips will be nightmares.
When I say freq I mean at least every couple of hours if not more. Go slow, backroads where they can see trees, cows, barns, rocks, mines, and more.
The little one is all about nap time and engagement.
Absolutely do not spend any money on electronic distractions, instead talk and engage your kids in what they see. Spend time researching your route and area. With the web there is no excuse for not knowing some kind of history.

You don't have where you are in your profile or mention it, nor do you mention where you will be going. You can get a decent 4-6 person tent off of craigs, ebay or goodwill, you might even be able to ask around to borrow before you buy. Spend the money as time off work with borrowed or used gear vs working more to have more.

Camping spots are all about shade, water, dirt and rocks so take your time to choose a good one away from others.

For your wifes sake get a PETT or similar port toliet and a little tent to have it in if there are any mosquitos,plants that could be a problem.

Get out there and let us know what worked for you....I know I posted some threads in the past on kid friendly travel and there are others here also.

[XJINTX]

Recently took my grandson to Big Bend here in TX for a trip with some others here on the board.

Only thing I can say is make them leave the PS2's Ipods and such at home. He missed most of the sites while driving :smiley_drive:. I know he may not be as interested as us adults but ... his face was constantly either in the ps2 playing games or watching movies on his Ipod :Wow1:


edited: opps did not see children's ages

[Brian McVickers]

We have been camping with our kids since they were 6mo old.
Daughter 4 and Son 2.5 now.

Keep in mind that as backpackers and backpacking campers you guys are already well experienced and it should easily translate over.

At two years old and 2 months old your kids will merely want to be entertained and need to be comfortable.

Since your just looking to get out a few times over the summer my biggest recommendation is to keep it simple. Don't worry about the trailer rig now, maybe if you guys were going to spend a month or more in the field but at this point just pack your lightweight backpacking gear and go.

Get a new 4-6 person ground tent, waterproof with a good footprint cloth and a good rainfly.

Get a little camp chair and camp table for your 2yr old.

Pick out three of their most favorite toys/books.
Bring along a plastic bucket and shovel!

Consider a refrigerator!!!!!!!

Get a kid carrier backpack.

Find some kid safe sunscreen and bug repelant.

Consider mosquito suits for the kids if you think you will run into them in swarm.

That's off the top of my head, hope it helps.

Brian

[pskhaat]

Patience
Treats
Glow sticks
Rooftent (worked wonders for us) or the largest ground tent you can buy as you need all the room possible especially in inclement weather. Would love an off-highway popup trailer though.
A set of toys that are only used when camping/off-hwy keeps the interest up at least for us. We carry 3 dump trucks that are played-with religiously.
Patience
Food that can be consumed by the wee ones on-the-go (mine can never sit at a table when there is so much exploring to do).
Many dozens of books.
Patience

[chet]

we have a 3 yo boy and changed from a small tent trailer to a 12' travel trailer this year. nice to have heat and dryness (tent trailers suck int he rainy area IMO) One thing we do is we took some of his toys and leave them in the trailer that way when we go camping its like he has new toys every time! Lots of outside stuff and usually I will put on his boot, mud buddies(pants) and a rain jacket and let him fly at it and not worry about him getting wet into his clothes. In the dry summer the main thing to keep in check is heat stroke and bug bites we've found. Keep those 2 away and any trip for kids that age will be fun.

One thing to remember at the age they are at a tent in the back yard will be the same as a trip 10 hours away so no need to make it fancy. We will split our camping trips between somewhere special and fun for our kid and somewhere special and fun for us!

[Hilldweller]

We camped with Nashvillerover & Dieselandmud with their kids over Thanksgiving in the mountains near Gatlinburg. Since there were little ones on their first trip, we made it a Yogi Bear campground with showers/potties/electric/water. Easing the kids into it.

Dendy with all the kids:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v352/billpearlman/100_1612.jpg

My wife with them:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v352/billpearlman/100_1547.jpg

Campground:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v352/billpearlman/100_1587.jpg

[6Pins]

I have 3 sons, and just keeping them involved is a big help. Last time we went camping, I put the 10yr old in charge of putting up the tent and together they hammered in the spikes. I recently bought one of those balls that you roll around to make ice cream. It actually worked and it kept them occupied for a half hour easy.

Hilldweller, it looks like the JK is hiding in those trees there :)

[Hilldweller]

Hilldweller, it looks like the JK is hiding in those trees there :)They were ganging up on me...

[troy]

Thanks for all the replies.

I should have mentioned that we're located in MN, 2yr old son, and 2 month old girl. I will keep it simple and will look at another tent option. Trips will be just weekenders close to home.

The wife does not share my love of the road trip, so I'm grooming my son for it. I just want to make it fun for all and not set myself up for failure.

Particulary good tip on the bathroom considerations and toys only for capming. We'll be potty training soon.

[discodisco]

We have had three kids and currently the youngest are 2 and 7 months. I totally agree with everything that has been said so far. Lots of dirt time and patience. One of the first problems we with multiple kids is how to contain them especially when both of you need to be doing something...like when the baby needs fed and food is being cooked over a roaring fire. Don't get me wrong kids learn a lot about discipline and listening outdoors but sometimes they don't alway listen or they can be overwhelmed. For these situations we got a cheap, very cheap 2 person tent. This tent has a rain fly and when the rain fly is off it only has mosquito netting sides. it is a great little play area. Now that the little one is crawling it makes a great space for her to crawl and prevents her from putting the entire forest in her mouth. :elkgrin:
Now I say this next part, not for sympathy, but as a warning to another parent. We have all heard about West Nile Virus, but what the news doesn't warn people about is that children under the age of 7 are susceptible to many other mosquito born viral diseases. Our oldest son was 2 and a half when he was bitten by a mosquito and a virus similar but no the same to West Nile, started to attack his brain. After a two week coma he woke up severely brain damaged. Long story short, he had all of his memories but couldn't move, eat or basically anything. Roller coaster six months later and he died a month before turning three. I am not saying this to turn families with small children from the outdoors, but instead I ask that you take precautions and join me on my war against all mosquitoes.:ar15:

Cheers
Mike
---------------------
2001 Land Rover Discovery II
- DI CDL
- 2" OME
- Hannibal Roof Rack
- JUMBO CUP HOLDERS (Best Mod)

[Maximus Ram]

They were ganging up on me...

Naw, looks more like it's setting up for an ambush:sombrero:..gonna get those rascally rovers.:smiley_drive:



As for kids, wait til they become teens. mine is 18 and can sit and read while camping, but the 13 y/o stepdaughter all she wants to do is her stupid ipod. tried to get her interested last time out in fishing, but a think she's to "citified". eally wish i could "break" her of that "bad habit".

[Sergeant_V]

Take a dog with you. Kids and dogs together in camp sites entertain each other.

[kerry]

We've been camping with our daughter since she was about 6 months old. Camping with a kid is little different than living at home with a kid. Most our camping is on river trips so I designed and built a floating car seat in which my daughter rode either in a canoe or a raft. We always attached the seat with a quick release buckle to either my wife or I so that if anything happened one of us would be close. I mounted the car seat on a flat platform mounted to the canoe in front of the bow paddler or next to the front seat above the thwart on the raft. We used a four person low profile tent.
We did purchase a small motorhome after she was born for road trips. Have had one every since.

[Hilldweller]

My first camping trip with Dad and his cop-buddies was what got me hooked. Peeing outdoors, snakes, M-16's, steak, and all the belching I could manage?
Fond memories; thanks, Dad.

[pskhaat]

Mike, I am so sorry to hear about this. Would you mind sharing with us the virus that caused this so we can all prepare ourselves as best we can?

[James86004]

We took our daughter camping with us for the first time when she was 3 months old. We camped near town so it wouldn't be a big deal if we decided to pack up and come home in the middle of the night. We brought her pack and play as a cage.

The tent worked well for the first year and a half. Then one time, we were camping in the Chiracahuas. The weather forecast was for a weekend of sunshine and warm temperatures. There was not a cloud in the sky. The kind of weather you can get for 3 weeks in a row in Arizona. We set up camp. That night, the wind picked up, it started raining, and then the temperature dropped below freezing. Grace would not stay in the sleeping bag - she kept kicking it off. We were afraid she was going to freeze. So we were up all night keeping her warm, and absolutely miserable.

So we bought the littlest tent trailer we could find, and having been using it ever since. It has a heater. It is always packed, so we go camping way more often, and we go out now even if the weather is questionable.

Now we have the Dormobile, too, which has advantages and disadvantages, but it is still way better than a tent.

[discodisco]

Mike, I am so sorry to hear about this. Would you mind sharing with us the virus that caused this so we can all prepare ourselves as best we can?

Thank you for your thoughts. Problem with Mosquito borne viral encephalitis is that of 1000 or so mosquito borne illnesses the medical community has tests for 22... so I can tell you the 22 my son didn't have! unfortunately we will not ever know the exact name. Also, they told us that it still "might" have been west nile but thy're weren't enough markers to officially call it that and they did not want to risk mis-labeling it west nile as it tends to cause panic
As far as preparation, watch out for kids with flu like symptoms combined with a persistent headache if they're old enough to vocalize that. Also kids who have had recent boughts with other illness are especially susceptabile . So really cover them in anti-skeeter stuff. Personally we no longer believe in over kill and take the mosquiter-deleter by coleman to the woods with us it runs on a full size propane tank and is supposed to to keep a 1/2 acre mosquito free. WMD weapons on Mosquitoes is still allowed by the UN. Another issue with detection is that it effects everyone differently. A co-workers kid was bitten a year after mine and he had head-aches that lasted a week prior to diagnosis where-as my son went from 0-seizure in 10 seconds flat. The problem is it attacks different parts of the brain for each person. Sorry I know that every parent wants clear signs but there just aren't any.
Mike

[VPirates64]

Figured I'd jump in on this thread with a question of my own if no one minds. My daughter just turned one and my wife and I decided to take her on her first camping trip. The problem we are running into is with sleeping arrangements. I figure I'm gonna have to buy a pretty large tent for the three of us. Problem is that my daughter moves around a lot in her sleep and so do I. I'm wondering what kind of sleeping arrangements other people have used that have worked out. One idea I have is to just get a two room tent. Another idea I have is a small tent like portable bed. It's called a Peapod, made by KidCo. Does anyone have any experience with this product or something similar?

[shogun]

Thank you for your thoughts. Problem with Mosquito borne viral encephalitis is that of 1000 or so mosquito borne illnesses the medical community has tests for 22... so I can tell you the 22 my son didn't have! unfortunately we will not ever know the exact name. Also, they told us that it still "might" have been west nile but thy're weren't enough markers to officially call it that and they did not want to risk mis-labeling it west nile as it tends to cause panic
As far as preparation, watch out for kids with flu like symptoms combined with a persistent headache if they're old enough to vocalize that. Also kids who have had recent boughts with other illness are especially susceptabile . So really cover them in anti-skeeter stuff. Personally we no longer believe in over kill and take the mosquiter-deleter by coleman to the woods with us it runs on a full size propane tank and is supposed to to keep a 1/2 acre mosquito free. WMD weapons on Mosquitoes is still allowed by the UN. Another issue with detection is that it effects everyone differently. A co-workers kid was bitten a year after mine and he had head-aches that lasted a week prior to diagnosis where-as my son went from 0-seizure in 10 seconds flat. The problem is it attacks different parts of the brain for each person. Sorry I know that every parent wants clear signs but there just aren't any.
Mike

A friend in Tucson took his family to the "dunes" in SoCal (where ever that is, glamis?) for a weekend. His son (4yrs) felt sick on the way home, flu, fever, nausea etc). They figured food or something. Condition deteriorated over next few days, doctors unable to diagnose. Eventually coma and medevac to PHX where they diagnosed some sort of virus that is very rare. Weeks of waiting and eventually turned around. Brain damage, complete physical inablity, had to relearn walking etc. Slowly recovering two years later, probably not fully. I dont know the origins. Dont know the lesson here, except hope the medical staff can diagnose.

Not to be alarmist, I still take my kids camping, but info transfer is important.

[Brian McVickers]

Figured I'd jump in on this thread with a question of my own if no one minds. My daughter just turned one and my wife and I decided to take her on her first camping trip. The problem we are running into is with sleeping arrangements. I figure I'm gonna have to buy a pretty large tent for the three of us. Problem is that my daughter moves around a lot in her sleep and so do I. I'm wondering what kind of sleeping arrangements other people have used that have worked out. One idea I have is to just get a two room tent. Another idea I have is a small tent like portable bed. It's called a Peapod, made by KidCo. Does anyone have any experience with this product or something similar?

One idea is to get your daughter a small bassinet and get yourself a mummy bag to keep yourself contained. One think to remember with Large tents is that they can be cold and stay cold in cold weather. A six man tent with two people in it will not warm up the same as if it had six people contributing their body and exhaled heat. Same goes for the height of the tent not just the footprint size. It all depends where you will be camping and when.

Then again I am currently sleeping the four of us, me 6', wife 6', daughter 4 and 37lb, son 2.5 and 37lb, all in a Maggiolina Airland RTT --- size Small intended for two adults.

[RgrBox]

Firstly, Mike so sorry to hear of your lose.. man that just kills me inside.. so sorry.

I've been camping for many years, and we try to take the kids with us when we can. We were in the UK traveling around several years ago, and camped when we could. The kids loved it, but the weather wasn't always great.. When we are in the States we go with my parents camping, and again the kids love it.. we have them bring what the need. Toys, books etc.. because we travel with them often, they are used to using their back packs, and carrying kit with them. My wife uses the train to travel up to Germany with them so they are use to it.. We will be camping out this Summer for two weeks. But on a camp ground. Now European Camp grounds aren't like US ones. Here they are cramped often, and load. I remember going with friends to camp grounds in the States and they were always very nice.. with lots of space.. I was probably the only guy in the Army who would go 2 months in the field, then come home and bring the wife camping.. I just love being outdoors. Anyway, back to bringing the kids.. I think that because kids adapt so well to everything, that I would just go for it, and they will like it.. You have good weather, and they can play outside like they do at home.. I have a friend who has a portable fence he would carry and put it up so the kids when they were small would stay inside and play.. He even though about getting a bigger one to put around his camp so he could bring his family dog..

RB

[troy]

Mike, sorry for your loss. Also, thank you for posting. I will definately take additional precautions for the skeets.

Troy

[bob91yj]

Our first grandson (Gage) just turned one year old last weekend.

I managed to get my daughter and her husband to go trailer camping (primitive campground) last summer. It's just not their thing.

My wife and I are looking forward to taking him camping with us in the near future. I'm determined to give him the chance to enjoy the great outdoors. Being new to the whole idea, this thread, and a couple of others is great info for me. Keep the experiences coming. I've got a steep learning curve here.

One rule I've already decided on...no electronic toys in grandpa's truck or Jeep! I'll make sure that whatever the seating arrangement is he has a decent sight line to watch the surroundings.

[BIGdaddy]

I've got three kids, and honestly I have to disagree with some of these posts.

My kids do not play video games, but they LOOOOVE disney movies.

They also LOOOVE imaginitive play, the outdoors, riding bikes, etc.

I do not see a reason why the outdoors and the other (electronic or otherwise) things they love have to be mutually exclusive.

If I take them for a hike, bring them back to the tent for a snack and part of a disney movie before naptime, and then have them working on crafts for 2 hours after nap before dinner time, I see absolutely no problem with it.

They're kids. Let them have fun. If music or a movie during a rainstorm or before bed is fun for my kids, they'll certainly be able to enjoy them on a camping trip. If you've got a teenager, why not listen to some music with them on their ipod and ask them what they like about it. Maybe take EXTRA time to invest in what they find important.

I work with kids A LOT, in the jr. high and high school age, and its amazing the response you get from them when you take them seriously and listen to whats going on with them.

Seems like a lot of you are taking camping VEERRRY seriously with your hard and fast rules. I mean, who would want to go camping with a dictator? I certainly wouldn't choose to do a trail ride with a person like that...

To the OP, I think its all about compromise. I think you'll make the right decisions since you care enough to post about it here. Good luck!