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Just purchased our lovely Oakland XL and pleased I just erected it the garden solo but still lots of space . However, my only critcism of Outwell is how light the bedrooms are. We have 2 small children and it is going to be difficult getting them to bed and then they are going to be up at 3am! Even if I let my 3 yr old run til she drops in the evening she will be up at the crack of dawn and she is hideously cranky and whiney without enough sleep. I have a travel cot with the blackout option but she is too big for that now. 

I have seen people at festivals draping tarps over their tents. I wondered about draping black cotton over the sleeping compartments, underneath the outer skin. Wondering if it will take the weight and if we will be able to breathe!

We may just have to put up with it but would be interested to hear from anyone with any ideas :-)

We've got a 5 and 6 year old, the 6 year old is Autistic and gets on average 4/5 hours sleep a night at home- it's generally harder to help him switch off in the summer months and he's awake again as soon as the sun comes up.

But we've spent most summers in caravans and all of the fresh air seems to do him some good - one year he slept for a massive 12 hours for 2 nights running!

We camped last year (our tent is pretty light too) and he got a solid 6 hours which is really good for him.

Our daughter, who is 5 is like me though and can sleep anywhere and for as long as she's not disturbed by an alarm clock.

My advice would be to test it out quite close to home before you make any adjustments because you might be surprised at what the fresh air can do :)

Oh no, shame the fresh air hasn't worked for you. In that case then in good weather I'd hang a tarp over the bedroom sections and maybe even something between teh bedroom pod and tent roof- newspaper or something that can be picked up on site and then recycled would mean less packing :)

I don't cope too well with little sleep, it has to be said. I've got Rhuematoid arthritis (blimey, we sound ready for the tip, don't we?!) which leaves me shattered a lot of the time. But fortunately for me, my husband has aspergers (which is also on the autistic spectrum) and also requires hardly any sleep-he does the majority of the night time bit :)

safety pin some dark sheets to the inner or dye it (messy but works! altho selling on might depreciate its value)

chain saw massacre

finished inner (and yes is makes it slightly darker but really cosy at night)

Hi, We had the same concerns about our kids but they pretty much kept to their normal sleeping patterns when we were away last weekend. I had considered the breathable lining they put on slate roofs. It's a lightweight black sheet. I was going to attach it to the bedroom inner using velcro. You would get it at any buildes merchant,

Hope this helps and good luck!