2 Berth Van + Baby...Doable?

bluethunder

Myself and the missus have a 3 month old and are trying to plan a holiday for the summer. We have a 2 berth converted Ducato and have been to France/Spain the past two summers for 3 weeks at a time.

I'm doing my best to convince herself that we can do it again with the chizzler. We plan to go in June at which time he will be 8 months old so not that mobile. He can sleep in a travel cot in the van. Major concerns are lack of space what with all the extra gear (pram, bouncing chair, car seat etc) AND what to do in the case of bad weather.

My idea is to jump on the new LD Lines ferry to Nantes and possibly work our way back to Roscoff over a 2 week period. Would like to hear of other experiences with infants, particularly from people who had limited space.

MammaZita

Not sure how big your van is. We have 3 children currently 5, 4 and almost 2 and have gone to France for the last 3 Summers and have just booked again for this year. We have a 6 berth with a garage but I do tend to overpack as my husband can testify! Clothes and double buggies & prams being the main culprits.

My main words of wisdom are that as you get more experienced you find that you find you will bring less each year, e.g. Do you need both a bouncing chair and a rock a tot car seat?!

Do you have an awning? If so much of your stuff can be left outside esp during day eg playpen/travel cot, ikea Highchair etc. and indeed at night.

We've found that as the children get older we move about less when we go away though as its just not worth re-packing up all their gear!

If you cycle you can get out and about exploring during the day without packing the van to drive.

I think it's very doable especially as your son is so young. We drove from Cherbourg to St Tropez over a week or so when ours were 2 and 3 and it was fine. At 8 months he will sleep a lot more and won't be as active as they were.

I'd say go for it! You can get everything you need over there so I wouldn't bother bringing a tonne of nappies, baby food etc if you're stuck for space. You can also rent stuff like highchairs, etc on the campsites if you're stuck for a night or 2 (prob cheaper to buy if staying for a week TBH).

Can't think of anything else really. Don't stress and just go for it!

ETA: Why not do a few trips in ireland now or when the weather improves so you get an idea of space and how to make the best use of what you have? If you're going South of Britanny you should be fine weather wise in June so will be outside all the time apart from night time.

nailer8

We camped in a 2/3 bert MWB sprinter around ireland for a number of weekends with our baby from 3 weeks onwards. Definitely enough room for one child. Didnt do france in it but id say you should have no problem. Bring a massive groundsheet and they will be able to crawl around.
We even managed 2 trips with 2 babies but that was too tight and gave up and bought a bigger van.

bluethunder

Thanks guys, I suppose Nailer8 is the best answer cause your van would be similar in size (possibly slightly smaller) than our own.

One other concern: do you think we could park up on Aires or would we need to go to a proper campsite? We went to plenty of Aires last time around near beaches which I reckon would be suitable for infants. Only problem again is what do we do if it pours rain.

MammaZita

It depends what you plan on doing while you're away. Ours are older so we'd spend a lot of time at the pool etc and also we like to sit outside a lot both during the day and at night either eating or drinking wine while the children are in bed, so for us Aires are not suitable for more than a night at a time. Also there's the issue of space- everything has to be packed up.

However if you've used Aires before then you know what's involved and what you enjoy doing on holiday, and you also know your own child's routines and patterns so can probably gauge from that whether its suitable for your family or not.

With regards to rain, well for a child in a buggy it doesn't make a whole lot of difference to be honest, it's only when they're older and don't like walking around in it. What would you normally do when it rains in France? Go swimming, walking, driving, shopping, exploring outdoors in the rain regardless, eat and drink inside restaurants... All of these are possible (within reason) with an 8 month old.

Enjoy

nailer8

It depends a bit on what facilities you have in your van and/or might need from the campsite/aire

You defo need hot running water with kids, lots of bottle washing etc.
Access to a microwave can also be a huge help warming kids dinners, sterilising bottles etc. but not essential.
We always bring the baby monitor so we can sit out and close the doors, so elec or an inverter is handy.

I don't think the rain is a huge one, the problems are pretty much the same regardless of van size. If anything younger kids fare better. Ours just loved being inside the van, having parents so close. It's huge to them. Ye might kill each other though!