Camping With A 2 Year Old

How Do I Get My Toddler To Sleep In A Camper

While there are some really great child camping mattresses available for purchase, not all of them will be compatible with your RVs interior design.

Have A Plan To Stay Cool

This one hits the top spot for a reason. And you dont even have to be camping with toddlers for this to apply. This is for literally everyone going tent camping in the middle of the summer or lets just call it temperatures above 80 degrees. You need, need, need a way to stay cool. Whether thats a portable fan or a blow up pool or a lake front campsite. It doesnt matter. If there isnt room in your car, move something out to make room. Our campsite was in a wooded area with lots of shade so we thought wed be good. Turns out, we thought wrong. Full disclosure: recency bias may be playing a role here as all I can remember is the blazing heat.

We had planned on bringing our inflatable pool, but didnt have room so we left it behind. And that turned out to be our biggest regret of the trip. We actually had to leave one day early because we didnt want the kids to overheat. If you have a toddler or baby that naps during the day, bring a fan to put in the tent during the day because they get SO hot. We had to put our 1 year old in the stroller for nap time to walk around and create some breeze because we didnt have a fan. Plan ahead! And bring lots and lots of water!

What Are Fun Things To Bring Camping

Camping Gear That Is Both Fun and Practical

• The Cooler Chair is a comfortable chair with a cool design. This particular chair is referred to as the TravelChair Anywhere. Other items include a teepee tent, a Matador pocket blanket , a GoTenna, a smart phone-charging speaker, a Pico bottle opener, and a Sawyer Products mini water filtration system.

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Consider The Camp Site

Christopher Kimmel / Aurora Photos / Getty Images

All camping is pretty much the same, right? You pitch a tent, start a fire, roast some marshmallows? Well, yes and no. Even if you choose a campground, there are many different types of campsites within the same campground.

If you can, check out reviews of the campsites so you can hear what sites work best for families. For example, if you’re using a tent and won’t have access to a bathroom, you may want to choose a site that is nearest to the bathroom if you’re traveling with a potty-training toddler.

If you are using an RV or another camper, you may want to make sure you’re closest to the beach or playground so your little one can stay entertained.

If you book a site in advance, you can look at the campsite map and gauge what might be best for your family. Also consider the shade and sun of your site, which might sound like a small thing, but I can guarantee you that’s most certainly a very big deal indeed.

If you have a tent without shade and choose a full-sun spot in the summer, you may all end up sweltering and constantly worry about sunscreen. On the flip side, an overly shaded area can be a magnet for bugs and mosquitoes and make for a miserable, itchy camping trip.

A partially-shaded site is ideal because it will have fewer bugs and will provide you some relief from the sun, especially if it’s hot weather when you’re camping.

Toddler Camping Essential #: A Travel Crib Or Bed

As a mum of three children, my main concern when camping with young children was how much sleep everyone would lose, especially while camping in a tent.

Even if your toddler is a sleeping champion, a disruption to their routine can result in several rough nights. This is why its essential to find a comfortable toddler camping bed to provide them with the best opportunity possible for a good nights rest.

One of our camping essentials has been the Shrunks Toddler Travel Bed, as it is inflatable and has elevated sides to keep your toddler from rolling out during the night. The KidCo P3010 Peapod Portable Indoor Outdoor Travel Bed is also a good option for younger toddlers.

You could also just use a standard inflatable mattress with a toddlers sleeping bag when ours were all quite small we could get away with three of them sharing a queen-sized blow-up mattress, but everyone now gets a better nights sleep with their own beds or camping mats.

Tip: Keep your toddlers nighttime routine as close to normal as possible. Read them their bedtime story by the campfire or within the comfort of your RV, and do make sure to pack their security blankets or essential stuffed animals .

We would only suggest using a pack n play style cot for your toddler if you will also be used as a playpen area during the day. Otherwise, it simply takes up too much room in the tent, there are better, more portable options.

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Keep Activities Away From Your Campsite Short And Sweet

One thing about tent camping that you may or may not anticipate is that it can be tiring. You wouldnt necessarily think that about an activity that revolves around sitting by a campfire. But with toddlers running around exploring and a hot sun beating down on you, it can wear you out. Another camping with little people tip we learned from the start is to plan activities that are short. Whether thats a hike, a trip to the lake, a stroll around the campground try to not make a day of it.

Or make a day of it, but come back to the campsite for little rest breaks. Your kids may want to keep going like little energizer bunnies, but they really need those time outs to recharge. This is actually a general rule we have for our family on all of our trips . It really makes a difference in moods!

Lower Your Expectations Of Cleanliness

You might work really hard to keep your baby clean and out of messes at home. Thats most likely not going to happen while camping. They will roll off the mat into the dirt, or big brother will toss dirt into their pack n pay for them to play with . Bring extra clothes to plan for this, and dont panic. Honestly, even if baby ends up eating the dirt, theyre gonna be okay.

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What To Pack For Tent Camping With Kids

Jimmy enjoying some iced coffee and putting his legs up after setting up our second camp!

There is no camping with toddlers checklist that will fit every single family, so here are some things to consider when deciding what to take camping with a toddler:

Although it was still near 80 during the day and about 65 at night in Northern Alabama, we chose to pack mostly long pants for our kids so that they could play and not worry as much about bug bites. We also knew that it was likely the camp toilets didnt have adequate toilet paper , but dont forget to bring some! You will have to made the final decision on what to pack for camping with toddlers, but Ive including a list below to help you keep track.

Extra Tips For Camping With Babies

If you are camping with a nursing baby, remember to wear some discreet nursing accessible clothing. It would be a shame to hole up in your tent every couple of hours for feeding sessions. My favorite nursing wear that is excellent for travel and exercise is from Love and Fit! Check it out!

And if you happen to be pumping, you have a couple of options to continue during your family camping trip. You can consider a manual pump, or purchase either a car adapter or battery adapter for your electric pump.

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Toddler Camping Food To Pack

Camping, to me atleast, is all about having fun, and spending the least amount of time prepping!

And if you have a picky toddler like mine, that probably means alot of snacks if you cant prep like normal!

I do reccomend having atleast one solid meal a day. Snacks are awesome, but I find they definitely dont sustain a little active body for us, thats the only meat he will eat, which is a certain brand of chicken apple sausages!

Lots of finger food, with an emphasis on non sticky items

Here are some examples of easy prep food to bring camping for the kids!

• Breakfast Scrambled Eggs, Oatmeal, Pancakes, Cereal
• Lunch Hotdogs, sausages,
• left overs , or the kids dont mind eating the same thing again!
• SNACKS Squeeze pouches, nuts, dried fruit, cliff kid bars yogurt, SMORES STUFF!

If you notice, the list gets easier and easier as the day progresses! Also, there ISNT a giant menu!

This means less food to pack, and that just makes everything way easier if you have a limited amount of space to store it

Smores are the magic they are hyped up for a reason!

Besides making a fire smore time is his favorite!

Heres how to make the perfect smore + other fun smore stuff!

Find And Create Moments Of Wonder And Imagination

As you hike, walk, explore, try to see things through your childs eyes. I spotted this caterpillar on the ground and just told my son to look around that area for something special. He was so excited to spot it and we spent 15 minutes just watching that caterpillar, which he then talked about the rest of the day.

You can also turn the simplest things into a game. For example, bridges are very special, and made for stomping. I just had to say that once, and every bridge the rest of the weekend was a stomping bridge that he was just thrilled to cross.

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Our Favourite Top 3 Toddler Camping Toys:

If youd like to skip the reading and just get to the top 3 suggestions, here they are!

Inside toys: As for inside the tent or trailer toys. well, thats up to you. How much do you want to pack, haul to the campsite, clean up while youre camping, re-pack, and haul home again?

We tended to bring just a few items. Usually Id just pick a few small imagination play toys whatever they happen to be enjoying at the time: a handful of cars or animals, a few little people, a mini board book, and an interesting container to put them in like an old purse or tin box. This little package of toys usually ads enough of a diversion when needed.

Extra Tips For Camping With Toddlers

I dont know about you, but my toddler gets bored more easily than she used to! She can only take so much chill time with Dada in the hammock these days.

Dont be afraid to pack some of your kids favorite toys and plan for a few of these toddler camping activities.

Stacking cups, blocks, shape sorters, etc. make great camping toys because they are mostly made of plastic with minimal nooks and crannies and can even be tossed in the dishwasher when you get home.

My favorite camping toys for babies are small gardening tools like this set. Let them have at it at the campsite so they leave your flowers alone when you get home

I hope these tips for camping with a baby or toddler have been helpful, but keep one thing in mind, whenever you travel with a kid it is going to be harder than before, but more rewarding than ever.

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Make Your Toddler The Sous Chef

The cool thing about cooking over a campfire is that a lot of the cooking duties are kid friendly. In most cases when youre tent camping, you have limited utensils to prepare and cook food. What better time to teach and involve your kiddos in the process.

Midway through the trip our daughter asked if she could help with lunch, which was a total yes from us. We let her assemble her own pizza using the classic sandwich cooker . Its a great opportunity to talk about fire safety, cooking skills, and the added bonus of making them feel like a super big kid.

In Your Travel Bag In Separate Packing Cubes:

• Toiletries for you and your kids .
• Warm clothes for each person
• Shorts, t-shirts, and hot weather clothes per person
• Underwear for everyone
• Swim/water play outfits for everyone
• Clothes each person will wear after they shower : This is such a savior keeping this in a separate packing cube! I knew not to touch this cube until we were all showered and ready to go.
• Extra packing cube to put dirty clothes in

Having packing cubes have saved us packing sanity when we travel normally, but it was also great to have for camping! Especially for the clean clothes, where we didnt touch it until everyone was showered/wiped off with wipes and ready to leave the campground.

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Buy A Suitable Size Sleeping Bag

If you dont have a sleeping bag for your toddler yet, then our guide tobuying the best toddler sleeping bags is a good place to start.

Always choose a sleeping bag that is the right size and age range for your toddler and the right thickness for your trip. No one knows your kids better than you though, so also bear in mind how big they are for their age and how they like to sleep .

Every child grows differently, our 3-year-old is the same size as our 5-year-old, as the younger one is big for his age and the older one is small for her age! This means that when we bought them sleeping bags, we used their age as a guide, but we actually measured their heights as well, so we knew exactly how well theyd fit into their sleeping bags.

The Ultimate Guide To Camping With Toddlers From Planning Your Camp Trip To Packing Up

I remember that feeling the first time we decided to camp with our toddler it was a mix of excitement , nervousness and a sort of leap of faith we had no idea what to do with a tiny person while camping!

Many, many camp trips later, as well as two more kids after our first, we have learned a thing or two about camping with your babies and toddlers and its ALOT different than what youre likely used to if you have camped by yourself prior to bringing the kids!

That isnt to say it isnt awesome it is, just in a different way!

Anyways, most of the guide I read gave really general tips. Looking back now, I wanted to give a VERY in depth guide to camping with toddlers so that you can feel secure every step of the way.. because I sure as heck didnt!

What do you bring?

What the heck do toddlers do all day in a campground?

How in the WORLD will they sleep somewhere new ??

Dont worry, all these questions and more will be answered! And my hope is, after reading this, you wont wait until theyre older. Because when theyre older might never happen if you dont get in the habit now!

Here we go!

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A Few Tips For Feeding Toddlers At The Campsite:

• Consider bringing along a toddler seat or portable high chair that they will be stuck in so all they can do is focus on eating and drinking.
• Have healthy snacks available for them to graze on throughout the day
• Make sure their water is easy accessible for them and give them opportunities to eat other high-water content foods especially if it is hot out.

Lastly You Might Read This And Wonder What Age Can Kids Start Camping

ANY age! Heck, we went camping with our twin babies at two months while they were still on supplemental oxygen!

To be honest, the baby stage is a little easier just because they can be carried everywhere and dont often object.

They are also easier to contain they can be put in pack n plays, carriers, jumpers, high chairs they dont need too much!

Toddlers though?

They are just learning their independence, and everything is new and excitiging! They want to do everything for themselves, but at the same time still need alot of reassurance from you and honestly, its a magical time!

Camping with a toddler will really bring back the magic of getting outside they notice little things like caterpillars, pretty rocks, the sounds the birds make, the way the sun looks on the water so just know, all this prep work will be worth it!

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