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Tips for camping with your baby
Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks | August 12th, 2008 - 9:00 AM
Camping? With a baby? Are you nuts?
Possibly, but that’s beside the point, isn’t it? Camping is one of the best budget-savvy vacation options around, and if you can master it while your kids are little, they will grow up loving it (and so will you). While it’s true that camping with a non-walking, non-toilet-using person poses a few challenges, a deep breath and a little planning can go a long way.
Parent Hacks readers recently sent in a slew of smart tips for camping with babies and kids. Here are a few highlights geared toward the under-two set:
Start simple. As in, pitch-your-tent-in-the-backyard simple. That way, you can practice using all of your equipment (the tent, the stove, the lantern) but still have easy access to your stuff. In the process, you can figure out which bits of baby gear you actually need, so when you head out on a real camping excursion, you’ll know what to expect.
Bring a jumper seat and a Peapod travel bed. Speaking of gear, think about bringing a jumper seat (such as a Jumperoo) so your active pre-walker can bounce away some of his energy. When it comes time to put your baby to bed in the tent, a Peapod travel bed gets great reviews, is more compact than a port-a-crib, and folds up easily when you’re ready to break camp.
Keep baby warm at night with a sleep sack. Think of it like a wearable sleeping bag.
Pack bandanas. The ultimate “multitool.” Tie them into hats, use them to wipe up spills, wet them to keep baby cool and shaded, etc.
Invite another family along. The higher the adult-to-child ratio, the easier it will be for everyone. Just having another pair of arms can make the difference. What’s more, another family is liable to have packed the sunscreen you forgot, and vice versa.
by Asha Dornfest, Parent Hacks
This is funny. I just posted about a backyard camping experience that my son and I had two nights ago. As I have been camping with my son since he was little I would also suggest that parents bring a baby carrier of choice. This helps with a lot, such as when the little one needs some snuggles at the same time that you need to chase the racoons away from the food!
We have found having a carrier is very helpful. We have also found that having a good attitude and giving the whole family a little bit of grace is important too. We LOVE adventuring with our son (soon to be two kids). Thanks for posting this for us adventure mommas!
Katie
http://www.brabson.blogspot.com
As the mother of three, I have to say that you’ve just got to bite the bullet and DO IT! We’ve camped with all of our kids (in spite of my need to maintain control over our situation to the point of avoiding just this sort of thing!), and all I remember are the great times. I would agree, though, that the best tip is to camp with another family. It makes is just that much more fun–to trade off cooking, to sit around the fire after the kids crash out in the tent, to let the kids run wild in the woods together while mama cleans the fish…
Thanks for the great tips Asha!
Here’s a way to make camping easier with a baby. Get a PopATot, http://www.popatot.com. A totally portable baby activity center. It has a floor to keep their feet clean too! It’s folds completely up and goes in a bag!
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