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Don't panic, Both mine have been vanning since 6 weeks old, The eldest first went in January in freezing temperatures but was toasty warm in the van.

You will most likely find your baby sleeps better in a the van, with a mix of all the fresh air in the day and total darkness with the blackout blinds he/she will sleep better.

Anyhow, bed guard is essential, also we have one of the ikea £12 high chairs as the legs come off and they are very lightweight for feeding, (buy the optional tray with it)

Ours both had a sleeping bag with the built in pilllows which they still use now (4 years and 18month olds) and they sleep great, all snuggly and warm.

Honestly don't worry, its a huge adjustment when you have been used to just being the two of you but before long you can get away for quick weekends no problem.

We have an excel spreadsheet list on the laptop that I still use and check and also can add stuff in and take out as needed.

Im sure you will be fine, and as long as its not long periods of high pitched screaming from your child then im sure that everyone understands and accepts it as part of family life.

We sometimes take our grandaughters with us who are now 5 & 2, and for this summer we may have a newborn visit us for a couple of weekends on site, and have never had any problems in the past. We do take one of those bucket style baby baths with us for longer stays where we fill it half full of warm water and the little ones can stand in it whilst on the shower tray to have a wash down rather than trying to shower them, which they are still a little uncomfortable about, especially when it comes to hair washing.

I hope you enjoy your first time away together as a family, and take some lovely pictures to keep to look back on in the future, they grow so quickly and in what seems like no time at all they will be having children of their own!

Julia  

Hi,

We started caravaning last year when our baby was 6 months old and had no problems. We found a small(ish) travel cot that would fit over where one of the seat cushions were. I remove the cushions when we get to site and slide two pieces of board over the wooden slates to from a nice base. We then sit the travel cot on this which the baby sleeps in and we can put him in there in the day time as a play pen while we are cooking.

The only other things we checked was to make sure the high chair fitted in the van for cold days and also found a full awning was essential as he got older as he wanted somewhere to crawl around. The OH also got a blow up baby bath off amazon which is great as it takes up no room and meant we could bath him in the awning in the summer. We also tend to stay at CC club sites that have family bathrooms as this makes things easier and the quality is normal very good.

As others have said we found he sleeps better in the van than at home. So we don't disturb him at night we set the TV up in the awning along with a small fan heater and once he has gone down we sit in the awning for dinner and then relax out there with a glass of wine! The plan next year is to get a van with a seperate bedroom at the end we can close off with fixed bunks and then we will be able to sit at the other end without disturbing him.

Good luck and I am sure you will be fine

Darren