Camping With Toddlers

[longislandcampe]

I bought a 26' rear living trailer from my parents a few months ago. While it's a great camper for a couple, it's a bit of a challenge for a family such as mine.

We used it once last summer when our son was 2 and he slept in a pack a play. We now have a baby girl and aren't quite sure how to handle the sleeping arrangements.

Naturally, our girl will be in the pack and play as she'll be about 1 by the time we go again. Our son will be 3 but still too young for the fold out couch or dinette. I was wondering if we should get him a sleeping bag with a possible air mattress underneath or perhaps a cot. He does sleep in a cot at his day care.

We'll probably have to remove the couch and put both kids to sleep where the coach was or remove one of the rear seats and put one kid there and one kid in the middle of the floor. We're open to either scenario.

I even looked at getting rid of the couch and getting one of those modular kid sofa things like this. Kids couch

Any thoughts?

[Veebyes]

Small children adapt well to anything. Our daughter spent her first night on our 21' boat at 6 days old. She was overnighting on that boat every Saturday for the rest of her first summer.

Second was overnighting on the water at three months old. Bigger boat now. A 27'er but no special sleeping arrangements for them.

[opnspaces]

I pulled the dinette table off and slid it down behind the folded out couch. The pack and play sat on the floor between the dinette seats and the other kid slept on the folded down couch.

[dedmiston]

One issue we had with our oldest at that age was dealing with a little human who is eager to move around but you're camped in the dirt. We were on a trip through the Southwest when our oldest decided that she was sick of crawling and she was ready to stand up and see the world. The problem was that we didn't have any shoes for her and we ended up having to stop at a cheesy tourist trap trading post and buy her some moccasins as her first shoes. They did the trick for the rest of the trip until we got home and were able to get her some real shoes.

We never had any trouble with the sleeping arrangements though. All three of our kids would just go-go-go until they ran out of gas and crashed in place. And then we could pick them up and bed them wherever we wanted to.

[spoon059]

We used a rail for our kids. Worked out fine.

[StirCrazy]

cm11599ps wrote:
I bought a 26' rear living trailer from my parents a few months ago. While it's a great camper for a couple, it's a bit of a challenge for a family such as mine.

We used it once last summer when our son was 2 and he slept in a pack a play. We now have a baby girl and aren't quite sure how to handle the sleeping arrangements.

Naturally, our girl will be in the pack and play as she'll be about 1 by the time we go again. Our son will be 3 but still too young for the fold out couch or dinette. I was wondering if we should get him a sleeping bag with a possible air mattress underneath or perhaps a cot. He does sleep in a cot at his day care.

We'll probably have to remove the couch and put both kids to sleep where the coach was or remove one of the rear seats and put one kid there and one kid in the middle of the floor. We're open to either scenario.

I even looked at getting rid of the couch and getting one of those modular kid sofa things like this. Kids couch

Any thoughts?

when my second daughter was born I built a adapter out of plywood that converted one of the dinet bench seats into a homemade crib. so it was one piese of plywood to go under the cushion, then one long side and one end side, the back of the bench seat and the trailer wall did the other sides and it worked great.

[JRscooby]

Matt_Colie wrote:
One extra recommendation that has nothing to do with sleeping accommodations....

Put some kind of a look on the camper door that the kid can't reach or manipulate.

A friend's eldest decided to go for a midnight walk. Fortunately things were contained and there were no real issues except to the parent's nerves.

Matt

Not saying this is bad idea, because I think it is necessary. But while thinking about the type of latch to use, remember there might come a time you need to open that door while panicking.

[AllegroD]

Use the couch or table bed.

Bed Rails

[ktmrfs]

if your concerned about the kid falling off the dinette, just take the dinette cushions and make them into a bed on the floor instead of the dinette.

[Crowe]

PhilipB wrote:
We used the dinette when ours were young and just got a safety rail that slid under the cushions.

X2

[Matt_Colie]

One extra recommendation that has nothing to do with sleeping accommodations....

Put some kind of a look on the camper door that the kid can't reach or manipulate.

A friend's eldest decided to go for a midnight walk. Fortunately things were contained and there were no real issues except to the parent's nerves.

Matt

[KD4UPL]

Just put him on the couch. I had my boy sleeping in an overhead bunk with a safety net. He still managed to fall out and hit the floor about 6 feet below. He's fine.

[longislandcampe]

Thanks guys.

Our concern with being off the floor is that he’s an active sleeper and is all over his crib during the night. We still haven’t converted his crib to a bed but I guess we’ll have to donor soon anyway.

[PhilipB]

We used the dinette when ours were young and just got a safety rail that slid under the cushions.

[toedtoes]

If he can sleep in a cot without falling off, he can sleep on the dinette or fold out couch.

Many people put the pack n play on the dinette (in it's bed position). Do that and put your son on the fold out couch.