Camping with 14 month olds

Shari - posted on 06/17/2009

Wow Dawn, sounds like quite the adventure. Sorry the weather didn't cooperate! My husband bought some floaty things that have canopies and we used them in a pool last week. We will definately take them if we go to a lake...still haven't heard for sure where we will be camping this year. We have an old qeensize air matteress that has a slow leak, maybe we will take that for the kids to play on. Thanks for the update. :-)

Dawn - posted on 06/16/2009

We managed with one pac-n-play while the other slept with us. We didn't use the stroller much-one of the girls did fall asleep in it. We had a major storm come through w/ 50 mile an hour winds, so we were only there for one day. The winds did crush our brand new tent poles and tore the top cover, but our old one that our friends were using was fine. Guess we are going back to that one. We grabbed the kids and high tailed it home. My husband went back the next day and retrieved everything. The comforter housed mainly the ants, so it was a bust. My husband did purchase another queen size blow up mattress, and that entertained them for a long time. They loved being in the water. Do get a floaty that has the little canopy for the babies. The baby bath tub is a great idea. It was so hot, the mosquitos didn't dare come out. The girls stayed in shorts and those white gerber tee shirts. Maybe we'll venture out again in October. The weather here could still be in the 90's at that time, you just never know.

Shari - posted on 06/14/2009

Hey Callie thanks for the tips. We just bought two umbrella strollers but hadn't thought about using them as camp chairs...what a great idea! Thanks. :-) I was wondering about bringing a samll "Play tent" but wasn't sure if they would like being closed in it...perhaps we will give it a try.

Shari - posted on 06/14/2009

Quoting Dawn:

We are taking our two boys and 13 month old twin girls camping in two weeks. We know the mosquitos will be bad at night, so I am bringing footed pj's that are long sleeve-light weight. I will bring my pack-n-play, and probably borrow my friends. We have a larger play pen, but don't think we will have room to pack this. Mine don't walk either, but I plan to keep shoes on them. Lake Texoma has rocky/gravely areas. Once they realize this, they wont crawl on it. Between the p-n-p's, stroller, and family and friends that will meet us there (to help hold), I think we will be ok. One of my twins likes to take 3 hour naps, so I am greatly counting on this. We have an outside comforter we use for the girls to crawl on outside, so we will bring that, too. I let you know how things go.

Thanks for the input.  I will look forward to hearing how your trip goes.  I like the idea of the outside comforter, we hadn't thought of that.

Marne - posted on 06/12/2009

We have tent cmped every year since the twins were born. They were 3 monthes old the first time. The most effective sleeping arangement we did was a pack-n-play and 2 pair of footie sleeper jammies on each of them. In our case niether of ours would leave the blankets ON when they were little and then would wake up screaming about the cold. The doubled sleepers seemed to handle that.They do make small sleeping bags but they are really designed more for the 2-6 range. Even at 2 mine would still kind of get twisted up inside them. I know they're not popular anymore because they can be dangerous around stairs but when mine were not mobile I would put them in walkers while camping or just playing outside in the yard. If they really work at it they can make them move, just not terribly fast because so much stops those wheels from turning well :) They are mobile enough to stay happy but not mobile enough to get into trouble. The only other suggestion I would have is a super yard baby fence but they are kind of expensive unless you find one second-hand. The best thing I ever took camping with me though was my big old baby tub,like the one in your photo. It is absolutely amazing how fast they get dirty in camp. Having that thing handy to dunk them in so I didn't have to trudge back and forth to the camp showers was invaluable. If I hadn't have had that I think I would have had to use a drywall scraper to get the accumulated crud off of them after a trip. They are quite capable of getting black again just on the way back to the tent after a shower!

Jennifer - posted on 06/04/2009

Hey Shari,

We have been camping with our twins since they were 2 months old they are now almpst 15 months, we however have not done the tenting thing with them yet. We live in Alberta and the nights can be pretty chilly even in te summer. We have a trailer. Hailey and Raiden do sleep in thier pack and plays though. If your tent is large enough I would suggest using them, it can be a bit drafty on the ground or an air matress.



As for blankets, my kids have never really slept with them because they also liked to cover thier heads, so we have been using sleep sacs since they were 2 months old. They do however make child size sleeping bags but they would probably kick them off so you are better off with the sleep sacs.



The whole not walking thing really scared me this year. We went out May long weekend and they weren't walking yet. I was going to buy one of those outdoor dog play yards and place a tarp under it, but then I decided it was a waste of money (they are about $150). So instead i bought them a wind/rain suit from WalMart ($14.97 each) and let them crawl around. They had a blast, they loved the fact that they were free to roam, and I wasn't worried about them wearing the knees on their pants because they were cheap.



We brought them lots of toys, and their bikes and sand toys. I hope you have a blast and good luck. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask.

Dawn - posted on 06/03/2009

We are taking our two boys and 13 month old twin girls camping in two weeks. We know the mosquitos will be bad at night, so I am bringing footed pj's that are long sleeve-light weight. I will bring my pack-n-play, and probably borrow my friends. We have a larger play pen, but don't think we will have room to pack this. Mine don't walk either, but I plan to keep shoes on them. Lake Texoma has rocky/gravely areas. Once they realize this, they wont crawl on it. Between the p-n-p's, stroller, and family and friends that will meet us there (to help hold), I think we will be ok. One of my twins likes to take 3 hour naps, so I am greatly counting on this. We have an outside comforter we use for the girls to crawl on outside, so we will bring that, too. I let you know how things go.

Sindi - posted on 06/03/2009

We took my twin girls who were 3 and my niece who was 1 camping. My girls used an air mattress made jsut for lil ones it came with a sleeping bag attached and we used the pck and play for my niece and we just layered their clothes at night althought one night it was really cold so we heated up rocks by the campfire and placed them under my nieces pack and play to warm the tent up nad it seemed to work. We also had the playyard we just put a large sheet under it seeing it does not have a bottom and it folds flat. We had gotten it when my twins were babies cause I thought the pack n plays were too small and this was bigger it could fit an adult and two kids.

Hope you have fun!!

Callie - posted on 06/02/2009

We took ours camping at that age.. the pack in play is a good idea.. just put a blanket under them and layer them in footie pj's... we contained ours in the tent.. zipped them up with toys inside.. they think it is a blast.. just clear the other stuff that they could mess up.. we also used the umbrella strollers as their camp fire seats.. just strap them and and line them up with the rest of you..



hope this helps..