Camping Dilemma.

My experience has been that with both my girls, if we were sleeping away from home, the only way they would go to sleep was to either hold them until they passed out, or to let them sleep with me. The former resulted in some very late nights and a lot of crabbiness. The latter resulted in better sleep for everybody. The oldest(3.5) will now go to sleep anywhere on her own, but the baby still requires mom.

Keep in mind that after a long and hard day of playing, running, and being outdoors she will crash a bit easier than you think :)

You could try a couple of things... first off if you have a queen mattress in a tent that can be just as comfortable as if it is in a car. That way, if you had a tent you could set up your pack n' play in it, and put her to bed as you normally would. Just a suggestion.

If you aren't interested in doing that, you could drive her around in the car till she falls asleep, then remove her (or not) from the carseat to the air-matress. Or I know if we walk our daughter in her stroller she often falls asleep.

She may fall asleep easier than you think with all the fresh air. Try not to worry about it too much, she will sense that and probably be uptight too. Have fun!!! :)

K.,

When we took our children this age camping, I set aside about 30 minutes to just lay down with my toddler when they were trying to go to sleep around the regular bedtime. When they were out, I got back up. I usually had to pretend I was asleep because they weren't used to me being there. There is no sound proofing in tents, so if your daughter wakes back up after you leave the tent, you will know about it.

Good luck,
S.

hello!

Me(and my entire family) are old pros with the camping with babies/young children. We camp several times every summer, all together, like you are planning. Last year my youngest was 11 months, and we brought the pack-n-play. We found mosquito/bug netting that fit snuggly around the pack-n-play and also fit over our stroller. Some nights we would get her in jammies, take a long walk in the stroller until she fell asleep and then covered the stroller with the netting. She would sleep soundly there, just parked close to where the adults were hanging out around the fire until we were ready go go to bed ourselves, then we just had her sleep right in with us. Another idea is putting the pack-n-play in someone else's tent (again, until the adults are ready to go to bed) and let her snooze in there for awhile. And you are absolutely right, the sun, freshair and all the activity really wears them out, so they usually sleep very well whenever we camp. Good luck- hope you have a great time!

~M.

K.,

My family just went camping a couple weeks ago with my daughter for the first time. It was a kind of second year birthday celebration! :) I was completely amazed that she went down just as easily as if were were at home!! What we did was this- we were camping with my my three in-law siblings and all their families, we used a group site and had the campfire and all the talking and stuff going on in as far from the tents as we could- (but still close enough that we could hear any of the kids that coulda needed us) My husband an I borrowed a tent and set up her pack and play inside it. When it was a little past her normal bedtime i could tell she was pretty tired so i went to lay her down expecting it to take a while and maybe to need to go to bed with her, but she completely surprised me by just rolling over and going to sleep all on her own! :)

So my suggestion would be to borrow a tent from friends, or look into if you could rent one from somewhere.. Your little one may completely surprise you and go to sleep in the pack and play with no problems thinking it's pretty much her crib... :) Good Luck!

K. - I think you have a couple of options. 1) you and your husband could each take a turn on going to bed with her a bit early, you on the first night, him on the second, if you want to keep her bedtime somewhat normal. When we went camping last year with an 18 mth old, one of us would just lay with him until he fell asleep, and then kept an ear on the monitor (battery operated) 2) hold her until she konks out if you both want to be up. But I think that with all the activities going on, she will have no problem falling asleep.

Have fun!

When my son was that age, we did the same thing (44 of us if everyone comes camping lol), the portable crib you have will fit into a decent sized tent. We put the "crib" in my mother-in-laws tent cause it would not fit in ours, the adults always stay up and talk after the little ones go to bed so we just sat around the campfire with our baby (blanket around him of coarse) and held him until he went to sleep then he went in Grandmas tent for the night. It was a happy surprise when he woke up and grandma was the first one he saw!
-hope this helps!

Why don't you rent a camper/ pop up from a camper place or an individual so you have more space and you don't have to sleep in a tent. I am not a tent person either but I also am not a blow up mattress person either. They always seem to delate overnight and you end up sleeping on the ground/floor by the morning and that would be horribly dangerous for your daughter to be sleeping on.

If you rented one you could have a dry enclosed area to set up a pack and play for her and a comfortable bed for the two of you that is way better than sleeping in your truck!

I would not camp with less than a camper with my kids, I did my time camping in tents when I was in my early 20's and after narrowly missing being hit by a tree that fell 3 feet left of my tent I won't sleep in one again. Good luck I think a rental unit would solve your problems.

My little one is the same way: he sleeps really well on his own. Our only option while camping was to have him sleep with us and to tell you the truth, the first night was a complete disaster. I didn't get much sleep at all. He was constantly waking up and wanting to nurse. However, by the second and third nights, he started to get used to it and we all got a little more sleep. So, if the first night is really bad, hang in there and hopefully you'll get more the next night and hopefully a good nap before then! :)

HI K.

We have been camping with our daugher since she was about 12 months. We purchased a tent that was big enough to fit our queen blow up mattress and her porta crib plus all of our stuff. This summer we bought her a twin mattress because she is just getting to big at 3 to keep her in the porta crib. It was nice for her to be in the crib because she couldn't go anywhere. It usually doesn't take her too long to fall asleep because she is so exhausted. We just have a hard time getting her down for nap time un less we lay with her. Also make sure that where ever you set up camp that you are the fartherest away from the fire or where everyone will congregate.

Have a great time and don't forget the bug spray, bite stick and sunscreen.

S.

You sound a lot like me! That is how we camp also--the back of a vehicle is very different from a tent! Anyway, my daughter also has a hard time falling asleep anywhere except her crib/pack and play. I was so excite dshe actually fell asleep on the couch with me the other night (it is that uncommon) so, if i were in your spot I would either take the pack and play and put it in someone's tent to let her fall asleep and then try to move her to "bed" with us. Or I would try the long walk idea--if we had time/space for that. Have fun!

We've camped a lot with my oldest, he's now 2.5. We always tent camp, and my son sleeps between us because otherwise he'd get up and try to get out of the tent!
To get him to go to sleep, I usually wait until he's pretty darn tired (this is easy with all the fresh air!) Then I lie down with him, talk quietly to him and tell him a story. I don't think it ever took me more than 20 minutes and he'd be out. I've also done this for nap time -- though sometimes I'd end up napping, too! After he's asleep I'd get back up and go sit by the campfire and hang out.
Good luck! Camping with kids is lots of fun!

All I would like to say to you is good luck! This post was funny to me because when I read it yesterday, we had just cut our 2 day camping trip short because our daughter, almost 21 months old, was so out of sorts with the whole experience. She usually gets almost 12 hours of sleep, at camp she got about six and we got even less than that because she slept in between us and she moves around ALOT. So we were constantly being kicked in the face, stomach, everywhere. Didn't eat her meals the same, barely ate anything and it was foods that we normally would offer to her. I think it was just information overload for her, she was having a good time at first, but I think lack of sleep and not eating right made her get crabby fast and she just stopped listening to what we were saying. I think we'll wait some time before we try that again. But again, good luck and I would love to hear if your experience goes better!

When I took my two and a half year old and six month baby camping, I pushed them around in a stroller (a bike attachement burley converted to a stroller to be exact) around the campground until they fell asleep. I figured out that trick the second night we were there by accident and then did it for naps and bedtime. Worked great. For naps I'd leave them in there the whole time while while I next to the stroller. Our kids also sleep with us pretty well, just snuggle in (a little too well sometimes! :) Good luck!

Sounds like you are ready for a tent. A queen blow up bed will fit into a tent plus give you room for her pack and play. This way you all have your beds/space and room to move around. If you are planning on doing more camping as she gets older now is a good time to transition all of you into a tent and the wonderful adventures it brings

We have taken our daughter camping many times. She usually does sleep well because of the fresh air and activity. Many times, she would fall asleep in her Dad's arms (he has a bigger softer lap than I do!) in front of the camp fire (very sweet). If not, I would let her stay up later than usual, take her to bed and lay down with her, tell her a story and she would be out. Don't stress out about the sleeping, enjoy the experience with your daughter and she will too.