Camp Baby Sleeping Setups

[doc holiday]

what does everyone do with their infants when just hanging out at camp? out door playpen of some sort. My daughter is 8 months old and we just let her hang out on a blanket but she moves so much we would like to have something we can lay her in to play.

 

[fowldarr]

We always start with a playpen, but thy always end up playing in the dirt anyway

 

[skibum315]

Check this out: http://philandteds.com/us/Products/Sleep/traveller#.UeRAl3efPeQ

We've got one for traveling, haven't used it camping yet, but plan to when we get to that point. I love how small it packs up and it's got both a zip-out side screen (for either ease of access or to make it more in-out friendly if kiddo's playing in it) and a zip-in top screen (for bug protection, or if kiddo's a climber). Haven't got any experience using it with an older/bigger kid (ours is 9 mo., now; and last used it in May, at 7 mo.) ... but it sure seems sturdy enough to stand up to a bit of abuse.

ETA: Looks like I originally linked to the latest version, the one we've got is this one (pre-2013): http://philandteds.com/us/Products/Sleep/traveller-pre-2013#.UeRBvHefPeQ

 

[keane]

We did a 10 day road trip / car carcamping trip about 5 weeks ago. Our 12 week old camps like a champ. He sleeped in a laundy basket in our tent between us. He was almost to long for it so for our next trip in a couple weeks we made a frame out of pool noddles for his bedding and him.

For keeping him warm we pickup a ursus bunting suit from MEC for him. http://www.mec.ca/product/5016-361/mec-ursus-bunting-suit-2-infants/?h=10+50084&f=10+50086

And for hanging around camp we picked up a go pod from babies-r-us. http://www.toysrus.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=11892144

I will try and remember to get some pics of his sleeping setup on the next trip.

And our way of thinking is keep it simple and have fun with them. If you start camping with them now then it will only get easier as they get older.

Also we cloth diaper our little one, but on the long trips without laundry facilities they can get a bit funky so we found compostible liners for his shells.

 

[sblanken]

Great thread! It is January and I have awful cabin fever so have been obsessing over how to go camping with our two year old and three month old come spring. We have an Xterra and not enough money for a trailer. I wanted a rtt, but have decided against it because even if we buy a big one, it won't last us long. My plan is to go for a canvas ground tent- either a Springbar vagabond or the Kodak 10x10. We have two adult cots, will place the two year old's regalo cot ($25 on Amazon, purchased for hotel travel) next to husband and a Phil and Ted travel crib (picked it up used off Craigslist, they are pricey) for the baby next to me. It will be a tight squeeze. we are all used to sleeping in the same room, but are accustomed to having our own space (shared sleeping bags would be tricky). I'm thinking the canvas will stay warm enough for the baby who will have a wool sleep sack and perhaps a bunting suit. Not too worried about the two year old, he's a great traveller. Can't wait until things that out! I hope people will post pictures of successes and even less than!

 

[Arclight]

great thread. We have a 3.5 month old. We would like to camp this summer and we wondered about sleeping arrangements.

I am also concerned about cold temps at night.

We started taking our kid out at around 2 months. The cosleeper bed was OK, but pretty cramped in the tent. Now that we have the Flippac (queen-sized bed area), we just put him in a little fleece sleeping suit in between our sleeping bags. We put another blanket on him if it's cold.

Arclight

 

[calicamper]

Sleep sacks and warm clothing!
http://www.sleepsackstore.com/ example I'm not recommending them as a source. In our case all the sleep sacks we had were given to us or bought second hand given the kids out grow them pretty fast but they keep them warm!!!

We didn't do shoulder season trips till the kids were old enough to communicate with us. Primary reason that they can tell us if they are cold etc. Oddly enough it was our Red Doberman who nearly froze one night and woke me up standing over me shaking and nearly froze. Spooning with your 75lb Doberman half the night to get him warmed up makes for an interesting camp story. Took him 45 minutes to stop shivering. Wife never woke up she sleeps through anything and everything. Next morning I woke up to my wife asking if there was something she should know about regarding me and the dog. HA!

Poor dude was cold! Had him 16yrs he was an awesome dog! I have our Red Dobie #2 crashed out behind me he'll be 2 in June. Hasn't been camping yet should be interesting this summer.

 

[calicamper]

Phil and Teds travel bed think of it as a fancy dog crate designed to house a kid. Works great packs up into a small bag also keeps em secure. But whole keeping them warm is still a challenge.

 

[calicamper]

Great thread! It is January and I have awful cabin fever so have been obsessing over how to go camping with our two year old and three month old come spring. We have an Xterra and not enough money for a trailer. I wanted a rtt, but have decided against it because even if we buy a big one, it won't last us long. My plan is to go for a canvas ground tent- either a Springbar vagabond or the Kodak 10x10. We have two adult cots, will place the two year old's regalo cot ($25 on Amazon, purchased for hotel travel) next to husband and a Phil and Ted travel crib (picked it up used off Craigslist, they are pricey) for the baby next to me. It will be a tight squeeze. we are all used to sleeping in the same room, but are accustomed to having our own space (shared sleeping bags would be tricky). I'm thinking the canvas will stay warm enough for the baby who will have a wool sleep sack and perhaps a bunting suit. Not too worried about the two year old, he's a great traveller. Can't wait until things that out! I hope people will post pictures of successes and even less than!

I picked up a really nice Kelty with huge screened and floored front porch at Costco a few years ago its about 10x14 GREAT tent!!! BUT!! finding a large enough flat spot for it is a huge pain and not easy. You almost need your own D9 to scrape off a flat spot to put the tent. As a result we hardly use it. We use our Life Time Tent trailer lots! Also check out Jumping Jack trailers they are like the bigger brother to the Lifetime trailer idea

 

[sblanken]

We actually looked at lifetime and jumping jack, how long is the set up for lifetime? We own a landscaping business, so the utility trailer would be used all year round.

 

[calicamper]

No gear on the deck 8 min on a flat parking spot. 10min with minor leveling efforts. The way you pack gear on the trailer impacts your set up time. In our case we put all our gear in a large roof bag so quick un strap drag the bag off the trailer then set up. Vs lots of untying / unstraping stuff to get to set up mode. The utility aspect is a big deal. Weve made more runs to the dump between house reno projects and yard mess clean up this yr than camping. Wife commented lastvweek about its a good thing we can haul stuff with it vs having a tent trailer collecting dust in the garage. If the financial expert wife approves its a win.. lol

 

[AxleIke]

Sleep sacks and warm clothing!
http://www.sleepsackstore.com/ example I'm not recommending them as a source. In our case all the sleep sacks we had were given to us or bought second hand given the kids out grow them pretty fast but they keep them warm!!!

We didn't do shoulder season trips till the kids were old enough to communicate with us. Primary reason that they can tell us if they are cold etc. Oddly enough it was our Red Doberman who nearly froze one night and woke me up standing over me shaking and nearly froze. Spooning with your 75lb Doberman half the night to get him warmed up makes for an interesting camp story. Took him 45 minutes to stop shivering. Wife never woke up she sleeps through anything and everything. Next morning I woke up to my wife asking if there was something she should know about regarding me and the dog. HA!

Poor dude was cold! Had him 16yrs he was an awesome dog! I have our Red Dobie #2 crashed out behind me he'll be 2 in June. Hasn't been camping yet should be interesting this summer.

How cold did you guys get with those? That is exactly what I've been looking for, as I'm thinking of doing one of those, plus a blanket of some sort wrapped and secured with a small bassinet for the tent.

Looking to get out later in the CO summer at 3-6 weeks (if the wife does okay). Likely, it'll be 40-50 at night, but sometimes it can get down in the 30's, and I'd like to be prepared if it does.

Do you guys do the little tent-type beds to keep the dogs off? That is also a concern for us.

 

[TwoTrack]

We just went camping for the first time with our 7 month old. She slept in her carseat and we layered her with 2 onesies and a jacket with a hood. Covered her carseat with a blanket to keep her face warm.

I kenneled the dogs for the first time this trip. It worked out much better as they weren't able to get up and kick off their blankets. They stayed warm as well and everyone slept great.

It was in the 30's.

 

[OffaRex]

Doggy Bed from Wal-Mart

We used a doggy bed when our kids were little. It had foam sides and fit fine in our RTT. If it was cold enough, we could throw the blankets over us and the kid, but still not get kicked in the head every five minutes.

 

[skibum315]

The dog bed is a fantastic idea ... thanks!