Full-timing with an infant

[lutzal]

Hello, Myself, my wife, and our 7 month old daughter are going to be entering back into the world of full timing. We do own a house, but live in another state temporarily for work. We have done this before in a 5er, prior to the baby, but I have since sold my truck. That being said, we are still looking at 5er's, but seriously considering class A's. I stumbled upon a beautiful 2002 Winnebago Brave 36 ft with aftermarket full body paint that I think would do the trick. The reason we are thinking of going this route is that we will not need to then purchase a truck to tow the trailer. We are looking to spend under 40, and thus are not able to afford the bunkhouse models. That being said, I am wondering if there is anyone out there who has lived a class A with children? If so, any tips for places for beds and photos and such would be greatly appreciated!

Adam

[Bea_PA]

We use a pack and play on the dinette for short trips but how long do YOU want to go to bed at the same time as a toddler. Could you pull a tagalong with your truck I saw some neat used ones at less than 30 ft that had 2 bedrooms. Some of the 1 bedroom ones have space in the BR for a packnplay. Sprinter and Keystone both make bunkhouse models under 30 feet for well under 40, in fact I think under 30 and that is for new ones. Good Luck

[crasster]

We have 5 children. I think it is 100% possible to do this without too much head ache. Simply get on your hands and knees, crawl around, and look at EVERYTHING from a babies perspective. Then you kid proof it.


Same as you'd do for a home.
Good luck & God bless

[hitchup]

BobR wrote:
The problem I had with a toddler is all the switches in a Class A. I can remember my son hitting the air horns at 2 am. Another favorite stunt was to start the generator (or at least crank it over) from the bedroom convenience switch.

We've been in many Cls A's where the slideout switches are in the hallway and easily bumped by adults.

We started out with a 5er and taking our just turned 4yo DGD with us on the road. We never had any problems with switches because they were always in a high closed cabinet. One time with the gas oven knobs were within her reach.

Luckily, the space is so small, we could keep a good eye on her.

[doxiemom11]

We have toddler age grandchildren, and it is a problem to keep them away from the controls in the driver area. That area fascinates them. I also would not make a bed in the windshield area as it is cold or hot based on the weather. You wouldn't believe how much temperature is transferred thru that glass to the interior of the motorhome. We also had a problem when they were crawling. The steps. If we put the carpeted filler board on the steps to eliminate that hazard, we couldn't have the door open as they were constantly pushing on the screen, had their mouth on it, or when big enough (trying to stand) would try to use the screen door as support to stand and the door would come open. Just too much hassle to have little kids in the motorhome.

[shaneperch]

lutzal wrote:
Hello, Myself, my wife, and our 7 month old daughter are going to be entering back into the world of full timing. We do own a house, but live in another state temporarily for work. We have done this before in a 5er, prior to the baby, but I have since sold my truck. That being said, we are still looking at 5er's, but seriously considering class A's. I stumbled upon a beautiful 2002 Winnebago Brave 36 ft with aftermarket full body paint that I think would do the trick. The reason we are thinking of going this route is that we will not need to then purchase a truck to tow the trailer. We are looking to spend under 40, and thus are not able to afford the bunkhouse models. That being said, I am wondering if there is anyone out there who has lived a class A with children? If so, any tips for places for beds and photos and such would be greatly appreciated!

Adam

One it is so nice to see a young couple RVing!!!! gives me hope that the MH tradition will live on. To answer your question, I never done it as I have no kids nor wife (which totally sucks) but the guy I got my Holiday Rambler from lived in it for 6 months with 3 kids wife and a little peek a poo type of dog. They loved the RV but he got a job in Iowa and so he didn't want to take the RV to Iowa and so they moved into an apartment the small kid slept on the drop down bed over the driver's section the other kid slept on the couch and the baby slept in the back bedroom with them they were able to fit the crib between the bed and wall. barely that is. and it worked. So I would say you could do it without issues. I say get the Class "A" and get a cheap used front wheel drive car with a tow dolly would be the way to go.

[westernrvparkow]

bluwtr49 wrote:
Perasonally, I think that if I were full-timing with an infant I would go with a 5er in a tow hauler configuration. The back being a great place to kid-proof once they get out of infant stage...which is pretty bloody quick.

Since you will need a play room in short order IMHO the wee one would be less destructive in the "garage".

That is a dang good Idea!

[bluwtr49]

Perasonally, I think that if I were full-timing with an infant I would go with a 5er in a tow hauler configuration. The back being a great place to kid-proof once they get out of infant stage...which is pretty bloody quick.

Since you will need a play room in short order IMHO the wee one would be less destructive in the "garage".

[BobR]

The problem I had with a toddler is all the switches in a Class A. I can remember my son hitting the air horns at 2 am. Another favorite stunt was to start the generator (or at least crank it over) from the bedroom convenience switch.

[jvander]

A pack-n-play on the folded dinette works well, you have to find a place to put the cushions though. When I was a baby my parents rented a class A, Mom made a bed on the top of the dashboard for me. She says it worked perfectly.