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Hi all, we are going camping with our little boy in August - he will be about 20 months old by then. At the moment if we go away he sleeps in a trael cot but I am thinking (to save boot space) maybe Readybed would be ok by then? Wheat do you think? Is the mattress thick enough to bewarm enough for him do you think? What does your toddler sleep on??

As usual - many thanks for your help - we love camping but it would not be so easy without you guys!!

My littlest was only 14 months old when we started camping and I used a child's shaped air bed but a ready bed would be more than fine.  My littlest was really comfortable and slept well.  You will be fine.

Hi,

The ready bed matress is fine but I found the bag not warm enough for my 2, Its just like a fleece blanket so they have another sleeping bag over the ready bed.

Our little one does not like the readybeds, as it restricted her movements when asleep so total waste of money. Luckily we have purchased a folding camper and she sleeps with her big sister in one of the beds so no need to worry now.

Karende

We took our kids camping for the first time last August and my younger son was 2yrs old then, we bought him the Thomas the Tank Engine ready bed from Argos. At home he was still sleeping in a cot but camping he was fine in the ready bed.

We put a plastic backed picnic blanket between the ready bed and the floor, then I put him in his winter tog grobag under the little ready bed blanket - he slept like a log.

My two boys have ready beds. My youngest has the junior and eldest a normal single. Because of their weight the ready bed air bed, although not as high as other brands is enough for littles.

As already mentioned they are not very warm. I have tried a few variations on blanet/mat/liner and I have found this works best:

Old thermal curtain on pod floor, then ready bed with foam camping mat on top of air bed, then covered by a blanket (these are between the airbed and the sleep bag bit). then a home made polar fleece liner inside the bag. It is a bit fiddly putting it all in but once its done its OK, I have tried rolling it all up as one but it was too bulky for the storage bag.Maybe a bigger storage bag would do it?

My boys wear socks and a jumper on cold nights and on very cold nights they also have a hat.

This set up keeps them toastie and warm.

I had a ready bed my self last year and although the principle is great: I never got in a twist in my bag, never ended up sleeping on the zip or falling off the air bed, there is loads of room inside to lay comfortably on your side with knees drawn up; I did find the air bed was not supportive enough for an adult. So this year I have made my own ready bed:

Colman comfort air bed,single fitted sheet on the underside, the bag to my old ready bed on top and stichted it to the sheet. Like the kids I have a foam mat and blanket on top of the airbed and a fleece liner inside the bag.

Sorry if I have rambled, but as you can proberbly tell my most hated thing is to be cold at night, so I have been experimenting with different set ups and think I have now got the best way of a warm and comfortable bed.

Hi all

My little one loves sleeping in her Dora the Explorer ready bed! But as all the other people have said you do need an extra fleece etc over the top for extra warmth.

The only other thing that no one else has mentioned, was a small problem for us last year when my daughter was 2. She fidgeted so much in her ready bed that some how she managed to tip it & ended up, still asleep with the whole thing on top of her! Luckily I am a light sleeper & heard her next to me. Now to prevent it from happening we kind of wedge the ready bed between my sons mattress & bags etc to make it more stable.

Happy camping you guys xx

Jasmin has just spent the Easter weekend in a ready bed, aged 20 months.

The complete set up is nothing under bed, except SIG, a foam camping mat on top of the air bed bit, inside the cover that holds the sleep bag on top. This takes some doing but helps insulate from cold air in the bed itself.

Then over the attached sleep bag a second opened out sleep bag, then depending on how cold more layers of fleece blankets or another opened out bag.

The important bit is the insulation between the body and the air chamber. Air in the chamber will 'wick' away bodyheat very quickly in the overnight cold.