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Quote: Originally posted by cdsmiler on 23/5/2011

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Oooo I'll watch this with interest. We were thinking of getting one of those 'My first ready bed' things for DD next year (still in a travel cot this year!) but as OH mentioned, can the sleeping bag come off for washing??? If not, then we need to look at another idea, including washable child sleeping bags....

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ready beds are not very good for camping IMO.. they are not very thing bags and are specifically designed for 'sleep overs' in houses... the air bed side is also very thin.

although, of course, kids will tend to sleep through anything and will sleep even though cold.. but will be grotty the next day of course!!! i would panic all night and keep checking their temperatures if mine were in ready beds!

much better to get a decent bag.. that way they are easy to wash (HAVE to tumble them on not hot setting) and will last longer!!!

Hi,

Ive got a ready bed to take this weekend for our 2 yr old, but intending to put him in a sleeping bag in it or on it depending how it fits. The covers do come off for washing on the ready bed though.

Will have a blanket under and over airbed too, as recommended on the forums.

I like the ready bed in that he can't roll off which i think he would on a normal airbed.

Will update you next week anyway!

J

the kampa junior bed has raised sides and is a lovely base for LO's .. i put a blanket on it then a lambskin.. then a vango babystar sleeping bag.. still have loads of blankets at the ready for when he gets out of the bag though!!

unless we have the woodburner , then i dont worry if he is in or out of the bag lol

its not so easy for a little one to get back in a bag as it is for them to pull over a blanket if they are cold

My kids used Vango Nitestar Junior sleeping bags. These went through the washing machine many times and came out as good as new. Good warm bags too.

They slept (still do!) on self inflating mats. SIMs are far warmer to sleep on than airbeds or ready beds. If you're worried they may roll off onto the cold floor at night then floor the pod with cheap foam camping mats cut to shape. SIMs on a floor like this have the added advantage of being a good play surface which is useful if you're all stuck in the tent on a wet day. Just throw the sleeping bags into the adults' pod and you've got the whole of the children's pod to play in.

Incidentally one of the main problems with kids (and adults) getting cold is down to using full sized pillows with a sleeping bag. If you've got a bag with a hood and shoulder baffles then use a pillow on top of the hood it spreads the neck of the bag open and cold drafts get in. This is even worse if you just have a square topped bag with no hood. Best combo is to use a camping pillow inside the hood so the bag closes up properly round the shoulders. If you want more pillow height put a big pillow under the hood. TBH though if you can manage without big pillows it saves a lot of packing space. Kids don't seem to miss them anyway.

The above combo did my kids for proper 3-season camping in a tent, in Scotland. The only extras they ever used were a couple of small fleece blankets left over from cot bed days, which were cosy to pull inside a sleeping bag to block off dead air space. Putting blankets and duvets over the top of a sleeping bag actually makes the bag less effective by squeezing the loft out the filling. It's better to use fleece, silk or cotton liners inside the bag if you need more warmth.

The way I see it, is try washing on a delcate wash - if they don't turn out then you've lost nothing, but you may find that they do wash.     Over the years I've washed alsorts that say Hand Wash Only - just ude common sense and use the gentlest setting your macnine has.