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 Due to the wonderful news of a new baby arriving in October we need a bigger tent than our Vango Killington 400 2 pod.

Our dilemma is do we go for another dome or tunnel tent for 2 adults and 4 children ages 12, 6, 4 and new baby (around 6 mths by next summer) plus the dog.

Dh not to pleased about selling his beloved vango or L200 for something bigger though.

Does anyone else camp with a young baby and what equipment do you recommend ? We never go electric hook up has dh insists on being 'proper campers' meaning he is to tight to pay for electric !!

Any advice much appreciated.

Khyam Ontario 8 XC is a genuine 8 berth tent which can accommodate 8 x 75cm wide airbeds with large bedroom pods (2+2+4) and spacious living area.
Very easy to pitch, good ventilation, large windows, SIG, standing height (225cm), fits on a standard pitch (7.5m x 3.7m) and 5000HH rating.

Not sure what your budget is but the 2010 Ontario 8 XC is around £225.
If you can find a 2007 or 2008 (identical to 2010 model - we have the 2007) then you're looking around £150.

The Ontario 8 is a popular tent and several other members on here recommend it as a great, large family sized tent.

we have a sun valley 8 by outwell which gives tons of room and is easy to put up. i would say ehu is pretty vital, we couldnt cope with our 2 year olds without the fridge for fresh milk and cold drinks plus it means we dont have to shop every day or have buckets of cold water around the place!

Top choice for me is would be to breast fed and at least partially co-sleep with the baby. The latter is safe as long as you follow the guidelines. Wen ours were small Hubby (who likes his beer) shared a pod with the older offspring and I had another pod with the baby, used a big mat (not airbed), XL cotton sleeping bag and no alcohol. I would put the baby down to sleep in the evening then when they woke in the night for a feed they would come in with me. I had a nappy changing station set up in the pod for nights too, so I wouldn't have to take them out into the colder living area and make them yell!

I used cellular blankets and a thick baby sleep suit, but Gro-Bags come highly recommended here.

I had a travel cot too, a compact standard one, that I could use at night for the baby to sleep in plus as a playpen outside. I also got one of the ultimate camping high chairs, the Antilop plus optional tray from Ikea. Washable and compact...the legs pop off for packing. Convenient height for a camp table and somewhere safe to park the baby while you cook.

Never had EHU when the kids were small but have to say your comment on your OH refusing to consider EHU makes my blood fizz. With four kids you need to go for the easiest option workwise all the way down the line I would have thought and if that means EHU would be better for you he should either suck it up for a few years or be prepared to do all the extra work himself. You can always ditch the EHU further down the line when the kids are older and you can more easily do stripped down camping.

We didn't take much extra for ours when little. Like Val, would go down onto a mat, then would end up co-sleeping with Mum at some point and would generally stay there . At that point IIRC it was on an airbed, nowadays it would be a self inflating mat. Never bothered with a travel cot or high chair. don't ever remember feeling that i missed one.

Breast fed so no issues with milk.sterelising bootles etc.  We do sometimes use hookup, but not that bothered about it, certainly don't view it as essential. But for others it is.

We even moslty used cloth nappies. Washed in the site machine. As long as you have a nice drying day it's fine.

Quote: Originally posted by scrumble on 17/6/2010

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 Never bothered with a travel cot or high chair. don't ever remember feeling that i missed one.

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With my last one we took her away for a month when she was eight months old and just starting to cruise around. The travel cot was an essential to keep her confined at least part of the time! The following year was even worse...she could get out the travel cot by then and take off across the grass. That holiday was seven weeks long. It would have felt even longer without the high chair....

Agreed though, for short stops you need a lot less kit. I had a very cheap umbrella fold buggy with a lie back position and they took naps or got fed in that, normally. Folded down it strapped to the roof rack for travelling.

you could easily do it without EHU

Sterilising : either in a pan of boiling water or using the cold water method in a bucket / pan etc or these handy bags : http://www.mothercare.com/Mothercare-cold-water-steriliser-bags/dp/B0013KC3II?_encoding=UTF8&

making up feeds : as normal using boiled water from the kettle ( on stove)

or you could buy the ready prepared formula cartons,and steri bottles ( can get the bottles cheaply in home bargains etc) and then warm in a jug of hot water if baby won't take it at room temp

of course if you breastfeed you won't need to worry about it lol

as mentioned I wouldnt bother buying a new / bigger tent yet,until the baby is older

Oh Val thats just reminded me of when my youngest was about 6months and also the year after that as well. Our tent ended up being like fort knox to get into, trying to keep our youngest in. We had 2 windbreaks all around the door hole, so as to try and give her somewhere to play but pin her in. It was working well until she realised if she lifted the bottom of the windbreak up she could crawl out of it. Only thing was it took us 5 mins to get in and out in having to undo and refasten the straps holding the 2 windbreaks together, and she was out in 30 secs. Its amazing  how fast on all fours they are isnt it. She could be half way round the camp site before we'd managed to get free of windbreaks.