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Could you please advise an absolutely novice on which sleeping bags are recommended whilst camping?

I've read various things and like the look of the mummy ones but is 100,200,300 the thickness and what would be recommended.

I also have a two and a four year old and would need to purchase for these as well. Any ideas?

Anyone know of any good sales running at the moment as well?

Buy the best you can afford.
We have 3 season bags which were £35 each and we have always been snuggly warm!
Our youngest son has the junior version.
Personally I like the recatngular shaped bags - I find the mummy style too restrictive.

We also take a fleece blanket each just in case and wearing layers in bed also helps to keep you warm.

Some people suggest buying an adult bag for children and tying the end to prevent them from slipping down. Doing this will save you having to keep replacing the bags as they grow - you just move the string!!

Hi, same here. the mummy ones do keep u warm but they are quite narrow and restrictive.

The number rating means the higher it is, the thicker / warmer it wil be. You will need at least a 300 for our climate but if you can id go for a 500 and you can always unzip it if ur too warm.

Our kids aged 10 and 5 used mummy bags and loved them, my wife loved hers, i hated mine cause im a fidget in the night and i couldnt move about enough!

Argos do some 500 gsm mummy bags and also envelope bags which looking at the sizes u will note are slightly wider. (whether they are on sale at argos now im not sure, may have to wait for next catalogue) 

Hi Stacey & welcome to the forum

It's a good idea to use a sleeping bag liner (available in silk, fleece or cotton) as it means that you don't have to wash the bag so often. However, a liner can add a season to your sleeping bag so, providing you're not a really cold blooded person, I'd advise a 300 sleeping bag with a liner. Best to buy a bag with a hood, shoulder baffle & zip baffle for camping. The envelope style (without hood) are more for caravaners. You don't have to use the hood if the weather is warm, but you may need it for early or late season camping.

My wife and I have lovely down mummy bags (from the backpacking days - I would generally recommend against down fill for general family camping use because it can be tricky to look after).  If you're used to the mummy style, and can put up with the restriction, a mummy bag (with liner) is great.  Having said that, there are great rectangular bags out there and we are considering trying one next season.

As for the kids - we bought vango mummy kids bags which are great (and cheap, too!) - when the kids decide they want to sleep in them.  I think they find them a bit restrictive and so will probably move them to rectangular bags soon.

Lastly:  Make sure you have decent mats underneath you - when we first went backpacking, we forgot our mats and despite our £100+ lovely down sleeping bags we were flippin' freezing!  We use thermarests now, although there are loads of opinions on what is best - which is an entirely personal decision.  You should do a search on the forums to see what's available.