Camping with baby

Knit wit

Hi. We're thinking of going camping next weekend and bringing baby who is almost 5 months ... Would we be mad to do this? I am nervous about having her in the tent overnight as it gets very cold so we may resort to either myself or hubby taking her home while the other stays with the other kids in the tent.the campsite is about 45 minutes from home.

Has anyone ever camped with a baby and if so your advice would be very welcome.

How Strange

I haven't camped with a baby but if you've got a good tent then I don't see why it would be a problem. We went sailing down the Shannon last year when our son was 5 months and it was freezing at night. We didn't want to turn the heating on in case there were fumes. I just slept with him in my arms every night to make sure he was warm enough.

His hands were cold but I breastfed on demand and kept him close to me and it was fine.

Hannibal Smith

We've been camping with the a one year old lots of times, but not with a 5 month old. Most camp sites have excellent facilities so there shouldn't be any problems.

Bring a cooler box because the tent gets so warm during the day, if you're bottle feeding you'll need to keep them cool. It gets freezing in the mornings so a gro bag to keep baby warm. It also gets brighter literally at the crack of dawn so be prepared for early starts.

bring travel games for yourselves or a pack of cards it something for the evening. Chances are you'll get chatting to your neighbours and won't news them, but you its always handy to have them.

No, you're not mad to do it. I absolutely love camping, we would do it every weekend if we could! There are some really great sites out there and you will love it!

Knit wit

Thanks so much for the replies ... I think we will give it a go. There is always the option to come home! I'll report back after the weekend to let ye know how we get on ... Unless it's pouring rain on Friday in which case we won't be going!

Tabnabs

Whatever about the air temperature, make sure to invest in a good quality mattress/pad for baby (and everyone else) to sleep on. The cold coming up through the ground can be worse. A warm person is a happy person.

Knit wit

Just back from our first camping trip ... Just stayed one night as the weather was miserable. Baby had a ball ... She slept like a log in her carrycot ... Put her fleece sleep suit, vest, tights and hat on her going to bed. Put her in her grow bag with 3 knitted blankets ... She was as cosy as toast!

I would say it's a good age to bring baby ... B4 they are mobile and can escape! We were prepared to stay longer but the neighboring tents were a group of phillipino families who sang and danced until 1am.

We will venture a little further next time and maybe do 2 night ... Thanks for all the advice ... We had a lovely time ... I would recommend camping with baby to anyone!

kastasia

Just piggybacking on this old thread in case anybody has more tips. Baby is 12 weeks old and we've been invited to join some friends for a night on their family camping holiday. We're still breastfeeding so from what I see the main thing really is to have loads of layers to keep him warm? And to bring enough nappies!