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 I am Desperate to take my baby son camping! has anyone got any tips on making this trip easier and warmer!! - i have only just caught the camping bug!! 24yrs to late my bfriend took me last year jus before i fell pregnant since then i have been desperate to go again, with my four month old!! AM I MAD?? ANY TIPS WOULD BE FAB!!! xxxxxx CHEERs ...and words of comfort as i am a little nervous!

I`ve taken all my three camping from about that age or less, and it`s probably less difficult than from when they start to crawl, belive me.

First question....do you breastfeed? If so, you`ve already got half of the extra work sorted. If not make life easy for yourself...one shot cartons of formula, plus disposable bottles and get your baby used to drinking this at room temperature. (Babies don`t like very cold milk, but most will accept it at room temperature and it`s perfectly safe straight from a new sterile carton.)

Secondly, consider sleeping with the baby. I did...I had an airbed to myself (Hubby likes a couple of pints, so I would never share a bed with him and baby together) and an extra wide sleeping bag. Easy for feeding if you`re breastfeeding, and the baby will sleep warmer and sounder with you. If you don`t fancy that though it will have to be either an old carrycot or a travel cot....make sure the carrycot has some insulation under it if it`s on the ground. Vango Nitestar Baby sleeping bags are great, or a fleece sleepsuit/growbag plus a couple of fleece blankets.

It`s often easier to get the baby to have daytime naps in the carseat in the car, because it`s quieter and not so unfamiliar.

Washing? at that age, I bathed them in the washing up bowl. And no matter how committed to cloth nappies you might be, disposables are easier on campsites.

Top piece of equipment though is a supportive OH. He`s probably going to have to put the tent up himself, and there`s not much opportunity for sitting around reading the papers....one of you will be looking after the baby while the other one does the chores, whichever way round you do it.

Layers on your baby is going to be easier to adjust than one layer of extra warm clothing.   
As Val says why not try sleeping with the baby in with you.    If your baby is one who does not like being in bed with you, just keep him next to you.    When Alice was a baby she did not like being in bed with me,  wish I could say the same now.   Not unusual for me to have them both in with me.    I'd bring her in with me to feed, and would have to put her back in her cot before she would settle again.   Her brother on the other hand just used to fall asleep and stay with me.

Make sure you take a supply of things like Calpol with you.    Hopefully you will not need it, but better to have it handy than be tearing you hair out at 2am with a crying baby, and nowhere to get any.

I would say go for it.    I've seen loads of young babies on sites.    Try going to a site fairy near home, then if you can not cope, it's not far to travel back.    For our first trip we went to a site about an hour from home - just for the weekend.   We worked on the theory that if the kids did not like it one of us could run them home, leave them with my mum, and then come back for the other one, and the euipment.    As it was they took to it like a duck to water.

Dont you worry about it crying in the middle of the night & waking neighbours up , or does it sleep through?

We had a baby next to us on our last trip , they must of left it crying for at least 20 mins each time it woke . Surely it doesn't take that long to warm a bottle !

Quote: Originally posted by kellie123 on 18/8/2007

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 Thanks for the advise! He has slept all night since he was six weeks! so shouldn't be a problem for the neighbours. Defo get one of those sleeping bags and the only other thing is STERILSING BOTTLES - HOW am i going to do that! do they still make sterilising tablets ?????? am i being stupid........ xxxxx

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Well, you can get disposable one-use sterilised bottles. Or you can get plastic bags with a sterilising tablet in them...add water, add bottles and hang up. Or you can get Milton or sterilising tablets and use a big Tupperware box. Or...you can do what they did in the olde days, and boil the bottles etc for ten minutes, leave the lid on the pan and just fish the bottles out any time over the next twelve hours. (Take a pair of plastic tongs.)

Quote: Originally posted by kellie123 on 18/8/2007

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 Thanks for the advise! He has slept all night since he was six weeks! so shouldn't be a problem for the neighbours. Defo get one of those sleeping bags and the only other thing is STERILSING BOTTLES - HOW am i going to do that! do they still make sterilising tablets ?????? am i being stupid........ xxxxx

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