Message Forums

Hi there,

We have 2 children, aged 2 and 4, and they have both followed Gina Ford's 'Contented Baby' book. This requires total blackout in the bedrooms and a fairly strict routine of bedtime etc. My youngest also still sleeps for a couple of hours at lunchtime.

Has anyone else camped whilst still trying to keep the routine going, or is it just a case of going with the flow? Also, any tips for darkening bedroom pods would be appreciated. Also, would my son be able to sleep at lunchtime, or will it be too noisy for him to settle?

Loads of questions, but any feedback gladly received!! 

Hi there,

Not really advice but reassurance!  Haven't done the Gina Ford bit but our youngest has been camping since she was 2, usually a terrible sleeper but sleeps through the night camping!  You can still still to the routine but make it a bit later (I know you're supposed to stick to times but may be a tad difficult with it being so light at the moment and you can hear everything! ) I'm one for getting stressed so going with the flow is definitely the answer.  Don't ruin your holiday for the sake of their bedtimes.  The fresh air will knock them out, you can do their routine, albeit at a later time, and they'll be happy!  Can't help with the blacking out bit.

If your youngest won't sleep during the day take them for a ride in the car!  Always worked with us.

Going away tomorrow for 3 nights so I've probably now put a curse on her sleeping!

Have fun and don't get stressed!

Bev

Hi there, not sure if this will help but we've just returned from our first camping trip with 2 very lively boys of nearly 2 and 5 yrs and so totally know what you're worried about. Our 2 yr old still has a good 2 hours sleep during the day and both go to bed normally at about 7pm ..........

First night I tried to get them to settle down at about 9pm thinking that this was quite late enough ... bad idea!!! All hell let loose !!!! They weren't having any of it and in the end OH sent me off to get some more water and when I returned all 3 were cuddled up in sleeping bags giggling. At that point I decided what the hell, poured a large wine and let them get on with it, they finally started to flag at about 10pm and into their sleeping bags snoring by 10.05.

Second night I let them carry on until they flagged and they went down no probs!

Third night both were tucked up by 9pm and slept right through ........ only challenge was the 2 yr old was wide awake at 5am listening to the birdies!!! Easiest way was to snuggle him up between us and he dropped back off.

I know what you mean about routine as it's always worked for us but you have to be flexible when camping and like everyone says the fresh air'll knock em out!!!

Good luck, have fun and enjoy!!!

We haven't followed the Gina Ford book (although we have got it) but our 2 year old has a fairly strict routine of lunchtime nap and bed at 7. We took her camping last year when she was 15 months old and she was as good as gold. The routine went slightly out of the window but it was fine. Same as everyone else says: fresh air will knock them out by the evening and a quick whizz round in the pushchair in the afternoon usually puts her to sleep if she needs a nap.

The only thing we found was that the nights were chilly as it was such nice weather and she did get cold. She ended up in my sleeping bag with me and there's not an awful lot of room with a toddler next to you. This year we're investing in the Vango baby sleeping bag for her. And later this year we're also taking the new arrival who's only 6 weeks old at the moment! So fun and games for us...

Hope you have a good time

hi we have a 1 year old about to take his first camping trip sunday he is also used to total black out in his room so we went to dunelm mill and bought some black curtain liner my intention is to cover his pod with it using sticky velcro it only cost us £6 and its worth a try but as others have said about the fresh air ,running about and later nights im hoping it wont be a problem he usually has a sleep midday at home but when we camp we use site as a base and try to set off to wherever our days visit is just before his naps due as he always sleeps in car otherwise hes just too nosey and wont sleep resulting in a grumpy young man

when we took our then 2 year old now 4 for the first time 2 years ago we had similar worries as at home shes up by 6 in a blacked out room guess what we had to wake her after 8 every morning just to make sure she was still alive lol all that extra freedom running about and fresh air is like a fairy godmother for making them sleep

good luck and let us know how you get on :0) and remember if the other campers have a problem remind them we where all baies at some point

Thanks for all the replies, I've discussed it with my wife, and this year I think I'll stick to me camping with the 4 year old, so the search is on for a suitable tent. Are there any smallish tents that have standing height in them, are cheapish, and easy to put up/take down?

Mike

You know, I haven't fdone GF with mine (the eldest is disabled, albeit not severely so wouldn't work) but if you can do it at home, you can do it in a tent.  Honestly.  OK, you might need to plan a bit more (the way we camp, no watches or clocks at all, probably wouldn't do it!) but there's no reason why not. 

I also can't see why other campers would mind- from what I remember (read the book for work) the commitment to you is huge, but wouldn't affect others?  And tbh I would have thought a GF baby more likely to sleep through the night (and not irritate fellow campers) than any of my lads are.

kippax, why not give it a try just for a long weekend and see how it goes? It would be a shame if your wife and two year old had to miss out on all the fun because of possibly not being able to follow the rules set out in a book.

Perhaps you could try it out with the four year old first, see how it goes and work out how you could make things work for your family, then make a plan for all of you for  the next time? MT

Actually, now I'm not sure about that.

I had never heard of Gina Ford before but have just googled what she's about and it seems that she's a childcare guru who places top  priority on maintaining set routines. Anyway, it is not obvious to me how you could do this on a camping trip which is all about relaxing and enjoying a different lifestyle from the workaday home environment (I think). You might just drive yourself mad trying to square the circle! MT

We are not Gina fans, but went camping with two small boys last year, both of whom sleep in blacked out rooms.  We were fine while camping - okay they went to bed later, but they didn't suffer for it, and we all enjoyed it - which is surely the main thing.

At 2 and 4 I would try and stick to bedtimes, they are used to sleeping at a certain time, so are more likely to settle then than later. Try and have them out and about as much as possible during the day (not hard on a camping holiday!) and keep bed time routine as close as possible to normal especially at the beginning of the week. That said, if it all goes to pot, don't panic and chill, and sort it out at home! A dark sheet of backout material over the inner tent might help. With the older one, a blackout mask for flying will work, but the 2 year old probably won't keep it on. Most children will sleep through all sorts of noise.The hardest time is often if they get over tired and go into hyper-drive!