Camping with Little Ones

[GoMamaGo]

Hi ladies,
I am a 30-something mother of 3. My boy is 3 and my girl will be 1 tomorrow! Oh my! We have a 31' travel trailer with a slide-out. As I type this, I'm on my 3rd ever camper trip! (I've done tents & cabins plenty!) My loving husband takes care of everything yucky or tank-related and I'm in charge of making the camper feel like home. Please feel free to unload all that "You-Poor-Newbie" advice you've been itching to share! I'm especially interested in where you shop for gadgets and gizmos, which gizmos I really need, and how you get a family of four through a long weekend on a 60 gallon tank of water!
My first big struggle has been creating a quiet nap space. Our bedroom only has a curtain. Do they sell anything sturdier and more sound-proof? This thing is like an echo chamber! There are concert halls that would envy these acoustics!
Anyway, I'm off to fish around these boards while Daddy-O gets the first started!
Nice to eMeet you, ladies!

[GoMamaGo]

Typos: mother of 2
And my husband was making a fire. Darn autocorrect.

[cpatinjones]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

[avalen]

welcome

[BirdbyBird]

Welcome to the forum. I was busy trying to follow the math but then thought that maybe she meant to claimnthenhusband as one of then" children". ....in some case sit can feel like that .

Looking at a camping world catalogue can always stimulate your imagination. Just know that many of their items can be bought at Walmart or on line for less. The more you camp the more you will discover what your family wants and needs. Few of us camp the same. We do steal and swap good ideas frequently but in the end we find what suits us. So don't feel you have to rush out and get a lot is gadgets. Some of those I think I need this gadgets, get given away whenwe get tired of hauling them around without using them.

[retiredhappy]

Welcome. I don't envy you camping with small children. Its hard to keep them in any routine. I used to tent camp with my daughter when she was little and we always had "our talk" before we even got out of the car. I made her recite the "list". Don't scream and yell around the campsite; don't put your hands or feet anywhere you can't see (snakes); don't go running through other people's campsites and stay out of the roadways.

[Redwahine]

Welcome! I agree with what the others have said about looking in catalogs. When you visit others camping you'll notice gadgets that look like something you could use, ask about it. I tent camped and did long trips on boats with little ones. I have one thing I did for nap time.... Put one of those tiny kids play pop up dome tents on the big bed. It provided a psychological quiet, private space. Also worked for quiet time and reading time. Have fun !

[JudyJB]

My ex-husband used to do a lot of hotel and motel traveling with small children, so we had nap-time problems also.

One trick we used to try, was to sit outside the hotel room on the balcony while the kids were getting to sleep. We could hear them, but they could not see or hear us because we were very quiet, but we were right nearby if they needed anything. Once they got to sleep, we could tiptoe back into the room and read books.

You might try sitting outside on the patio with one window cracked just enough so you could hear the kids. Bedtime is a little more tricky if it is dark, but you can do the same for night.

I occasionally camp with my sons and their families, with very young grandchildren. They have just gotten past naps, but we find bedtime works better if we really wear the kids out during the day and extend their bedtimes a little. Even the most energetic and noisiest of the bunch was out cold in 5 minutes last trip! The three-year-old took about 20 minutes and the 6 year old took half an hour.

[BarbaraRose]

. They have just gotten past naps...

There is a point where you get past naps??? I guess I haven't gotten there yet.



(I also assumed you were including your husband in with the kids!)

Camping World and Walmart are two good places for gadgets and gizmos. Check out the 'Gadgets and Gizmos' thread on the main page for more ideas.

[MelissaD]

Friday we got back from a 3 week trip (about 2,400 miles in all) with a 2.5 year old. (yes, I will post pictures ). She is not one to take naps but when she does she just drops where she is. She'll sleep 10-12 hours at night and then it's "go" and if you don't, it's "go now" not your standard beginning words. She'll watch the scenery or nap and is good for 250-300 miles a day.

We started in cabins and quickly learned we needed a separate room for her and thus it was on our list when we bought our camper. Down the road you might look at bunkhouse style campers. One thing we found was she need to make her room her own. Some Disney Princess stickers that won't muck up the finish and she was good to go. Allowing the children to clam a space might help with naps. We have a floor level cabinet that I store pots and the dish drain board in while traveling. She'll sometimes crawl into it like a little hide-a-hole or fort. when older they might curl up under the dinette like little fort for a nap

We pick CG's which cater to kids and have playgrounds and normally request a site near the playground so I don't have to walk as far with my chair and book. An hour or so of running around and she'll sleep at night. Bubbles are cheap and she'll play for hours making and catching bubbles. Wal-Mart even has a little bubble machine that will blow them and she can case them around the site.