We are new to camping but put our 2 in Readybeds, with a pair of pjs on and their quilts from home over the top. Lewis was 15 months last year when we first went, and Ellie was 3. Both slept well. Did the same for Bank holiday weekend, except they had a pair of socks on!! Lewis slept until 8am....totally unheard of, as he normally wakes at 630am. They do sleep in the same pod as us, which probably helps. A friend told us to take their quilt or blanket from home as it makes them feel more "at home". Works for us.
Shop around for Readybeds, we paid £15 for them. One of Fleabay, one from Dunelm/Matalan I think. They aren't warm enough on there own, but we already had them....
dont put your toddler in the cot in the porch or at middle bit at unless your tent hasa sewn in ground sheet its much colder and damp than being in the bedroom/pod .
We went this weekend for first time with kids, eek. Three year old has a ready-bed (10 squid from ex catalogue shop) with fleecy pyjamas and cover over top. She's always warm though and slept fine. 14month old had a furry snow suit and when he was asleep we covered him with my daughters old cot quilt, he slept fine. I was going to put him in his gro-bag aswell but husband said I was getting carried away!
oh yes and 14 month old slept in cot but took his proper mattress as it's same size, I think any cover is ok, such as old sleeping bag opened up, as long as they don't end up buried, maybe tuck it in under bed. Also you could put her cot mattress between two of you with mat under if you don't mind being poked in the eye etc.. I like travel cot because they can sit in it whilst you put tent up with books and also gives respite during day when you need five minutes with a cup of tea.
We gave up with the sleeping bag for our 3 year old as he just kept wriggling up and out of it and we could'nt pull it up over him. Always take his duvet and blankets now, as well as the PJ's and maybe sleepsuit and hat if really cold. Sleeps on thin SIM with foam eggshell type mat and underside of sleeping bag underneath.
Our 18 month old sleeps in a sleepsuit with a fleece sleepsuit over the top and then she goes inside a Grobag (2.5 tog) her hands get cold though so I tend to get the fleece sleepsuit a size too big and then cover her hands with the sleeves once she is asleep. She sleeps on an airbed (with a sleeping bag spread over the top) with her brother and sister (3 and 8)
the 3 yr old and 8yr old have Vango Nitestar Convertibles but the 8yr old is almost out of hers and where the zips are around the foot area (where you can zip/unzip the foot bit) she always complains of having cold feet. We will get her a full size sleeping bag for next year.
My Little one is 15 months and we've camped twice now and i had the same problem.I ended up with a sleepsuit, with a cardigan and i used 2 grobags, a small one inside a bigger one as i felt she wouldn't be safe in a sleeping bag.
She was in her travel cot and i put a fleece blanket over her matress and her fitted sheet over that. She was fine and it was freezing over the bank holiday weekend but she stayed nice and toastie. I took a dressing gown too for when i took her grobag off so she wouldn't be too cold and slippers.
I think we felt the cold much more than her. My other two children wrapped themselves in fleece blankets inside their sleeping bags
In the end, my daughter had her travel cot on a silver picnic blanket (as suggested by quite a few people to reflect the heat). She wore a vest, sleepsuit and socks with long-sleeved fine fleece top over the top. She then had her normal grobag with a cellular blanket over the top and was absolutely fine.
She also slept in longer than she sometimes does at home - in fact I think I was the first one away and waiting for everyone else to get up!
hi i have just discovered the 'junior kampa bed'. it is an air bed with raised sides all around so little ones can't go anywhere! i think i will definatly be getting one for my 2 year old. it looks so comfy too
Quote: Originally posted by wendywoo on 06/6/2008
hi i have just discovered the 'junior kampa bed'. it is an air bed with raised sides all around so little ones can't go anywhere! i think i will definatly be getting one for my 2 year old. it looks so comfy too
We tried our 15 month old out on one of these - apart from using it to bounce on he had no problems and didnt fall out - for warmth we double gro bagged him
It's been good to read all the suggestions, and it's good to hear that your trip went well, Sarah.
I've managed to find a fleecy sleepsuit (too big so good for covering up hands) and a couple of thin fleece throws/blankets so I think we'll try PJs, fleece sleepsuit, Grobag-type bag, and fleece blankets. I still don't think I've thought about what to have underneath as much as the rest of you but we may need to play that by ear. Although we have a travel cot, we'll probably have to leave it at home this time. I'm hoping that the foam mats and old sleeping bag will be enough. A friend has lent an old-fashioned blanket, so that may be good underneath too.
For the post-toddler stage I didn't bother with junior sleeping bags, but got them adult-sized ones when they were c3 and 5. I reckoned they'd grow out of junior ones, without getting a lot of wear out of them (we camp 2-3 times a year and they use them for the odd sleep-over) . Call me a slob, but my kids are now 13 and 15 and still use the same bags which have not needed washing (which reduces their warmth anyway). So good value!
For warmth, we put silver/gold "space blankets" under the mats or mattress, and I got some zip-up fleece blankets from Lidl last year which are great and multi-purpose.
We always take fleece hats as well for warmth if nights are cold.
Just a quick note to say that our camping trip went well. Our daughter slept between us on a foam mat with an old sleeping bag on top, over which I had tucked one of her usual flannelette cot sheets. For the first few hours of sleep, she was fine wearing her vest, PJs, fleecy sleepsuit and 2.5 tog grobag. I then put her fleece cot blanket over the top as it became cooler. It was perhaps a bit warmer overnight than we were anticipating but I'm now more confident about taking her camping again in the future.
She slept fine (well, it took until nearly 10pm to get her to sleep but I think that's because it was all new and exciting) and woke up at about 6.20am which is quite normal for her.... a new challenge to keep her quiet so as not to disturb the other campers though!