Camping with a toddler? HELP

[Handyman]

Brand New trialer camper. My family just purchased a used 92' Coachman Camper in really good condition. We've got the trailer hitch installed, the trailer is cleaned and every thing tested seems to work ok. We have a 16 month old son and I'm wondering if anyone has any tips or suggestions for us camping the first time with him this weekend? Any good stories or tips would be of much help to us. I guess we're going to learn ourselves for our specific situation but we'd love some help from the veteran campers. Thanks from the totally excited first time trailer campers. YEAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! :canada:

[OC Campers]

Welcome Hnadyman.  

It is not the easiest thing to camp with a toddler.  Unfortunately, they don't have a lot of boundaries  and there schedule is not the same (no matter how hard you try).  Sleeping is one of the hardest.  We had our youngest sleep in a pack and play on top of the dinette that we left folded down for a while but when he was able to climb out he slept between us in the sleeping bag.  He thught this was great but my husband and I were not thrilled.  Oh well.  
 
Next thing is bring lots of toys.  We always kept a small bucket of toys in the camper so that they were alwayss "new" to him.  He was always excited to play with ihis "popup" toys.  
 
Eating was tough too.  They just aren't big enough to sit at the picnic table without falling backwards.  We would bring one of those seats that clamped onto the table.  Sometimes it worked sometimes it didn't (do to the thickness of the table).
 
Take lots of walks!!  Tire him out.  The best time of day for us was nap time.  Daddy and son always took a nap together.  It was great.  
 
The first couple of trips will be tough until your toddler gets used to the camper.  If you can, set it up in your driveway and sleep in it once or twice so he can get used to it.  Bring along his favorite blanket and snuggle toy. We almost stopped camping through the toddler years but we stuck with it and now our youngest is the first one to ask "when are we going camping again?"  When he was real little (2 years old) he would even go out in ther garage and talk to the popup.
 
Enjoy the new camper.  And take lots of pictures.
 
Jacqui

[Handyman]

Thanks for the tips Jacqui,

Our little guy seemed to like the trailer in the driveway but that was only for an hour or so. I guess we'll see this wknd how he does. Being the proud daddy that I am I'm looking forward to playing on the beach and playing soccer the field with my little man. Let's hope we can keep him interested for the whole wknd. Sleeping hopefully won't be a problem cause he's been sleeping great for months and months now, but who knows how the new surroundings will be for him. We also have one of those strap on chair things and we love it, we take it everywhere we go. I'm really excited for this wknd and I thank you for the helpful input. cheers

[RCA]

What a luck boy to belong to a camping family!  My kids are older (9 and 11) and we've only been at it a year.  Wish we'd started sooner.

Anyhoo, an important safety consideration:  Keep your sweetie away from the emergency exit zips by the bunks (the zippered window screens at each end of the pullout sections).  It's EXTREMELY easy for a little one to unzip these and take a nasty fall... friends of ours had a close call with their toddler recently.

[dkutz]

camping with a 2 4 and 6 year old for the first time in a PU this year, I can tell you they love it.  Naps for the 2 year old are tough, but I believe last time we took him for a ride in the car and he fell asleep.  The PU's aren't very quiet as you know.

Also keep him out of the trailer until everything is set up and zippered closed.  The owner we bought our trailer from told us of the time their daughter was in while setting up and went over the side where the walls velcro together.

[Kelly]

Also keep him out of the trailer until everything is set up and zippered closed.  The owner we bought our trailer from told us of the time their daughter was in while setting up and went over the side where the walls velcro together.

The rule around our camper is no kids inside until the step is put out.  And that's Mom's job!

Mine are well past the toddler stage, but have been camping since the youngest was one.  (She'll be 7 soon.)  There are some great suggestions here.  Keeping them busy really helps with any sleep issues.   The youngest has always slept with me while camping ... so I would lay down with her until she fell asleep.  We also had one of those bed rails so she wouldn't fall out.  Quiet music and running the fan on the AC unit helps with noise reduction during the day too.

I also have special camping toys.  Things that are only available when we are camping ~ don't forget to change the toys as the kids get older!

The chairs that clamp on the picnic tables are awesome!  We always had ours with us, too.

If you have one, make sure you bring along a backpack-type carrier.  A couple of mine spent long periods of time "riding" on my back traipsing through the woods.  They even fall asleep there!

Campfire safety ~ I made sure the kids knew right from day one that they had to walk behind the chairs to move around the fire.  

I'm sure others will chime in with some good ideas.  Most important for me when we camp is to make it as relaxing for the kids as I want it to be for me.  

[frose]

All the suggestions above are great.  We specifically bought our PU 7 or 8 years ago because tent camping with our FIRST toddler was such a horror, we wanted a nice place to sit out of the rain when camping with our second kid!

They are 14 and 9 now, and great campers (we tent camp occasionally, too).

One last comment -- KNOW WHERE THE CLOSEST EMERGENCY ROOM IS!  Before you go find out, or ask at the Ranger Station/ Host site.  Our very first trip with the PU, of course, the youngest tripped and gashed his cheek on the tongue of the PU!  He was OK, fortunately, but needed a stitch (actually Superglue) to close the wound.  Our very nice Campsite Host at the Starved Rock State Park had immediate directions for us.

It's always something, isn't it?  But if you start them young they will love it all of their lives.

[uchwear]

One thing we learned is to relax.  It's not going to be the same as being at home.  Expect things to be different and enjoy being outside.  
 
When it's bedtime our three year old sleeps in the back bunk with me and our 18 mo. old son sleeps with DW in the front bunk.  We don't have the kids in our bed at home but this is a fun thing for them in the camper.   My DD and I are early risers and my DW and DS like to sleep in so it works out great.
 
We found that the kids take naps just fine but you have to wear them out first so we play hard.  We go on hikes, we play on the playground and have lots of fun.  
 
We bring toys for them to play with outside the popup like dump trucks, shovels, rakes and cars.  
 
Give it some time also.  Our kids weren't used to sleeping in the popup till the third time we used it.  
 
Enjoy your camping experience.  Your kids will remember it for the rest of their lives.  Some of my greatest memories as a kid are from camping with my parents and grandparents.  
 
Ps.  We buy a pack of glow sticks when we go camping and near dark we will tie them to our kids belt loops.  They have fun with them and we can see where they are very easily.

[dademt]

If during the night he wakes up and is scared because he is somewhere he doesn't know, don't be bashful about sneaking out the the car and sitting there for awhile.  It is a more familiar place for little ones and if they are crying, it doesn't wake the whole campground.  My daughter screamed the first night like crazy.  That only lasted a night or two and by next time she was fine.  Enjoy it.  I started my kids little and they all love it and know the rules in the campsite ( about fire, running, etc...).  Then again, that is what my parents did with me.

[AustinBoston]

One last comment -- KNOW WHERE THE CLOSEST EMERGENCY ROOM IS!  Before you go find out, or ask at the Ranger Station/ Host site.

I will add...AND the closest pharmacy.  And sometimes, the host/ranger/manager is clueless.

We've had hosts (not all the same one here) who could not tell us where we might get propane, where we could buy Benadryl, where the nearest pharmacy was, where the ER was...

Our middle child (she's getting married next weekend) had a hernia at age 9 months...showed up while we were camping.  We spent a good deal of time on the phone trying to figure out where the ER was.

That same child decided that a 105

[Handyman]

I'm so glad to get so much experience advice. Thanks to everyone for their insight and hopefully much more to come. I'm sure we are going have a great time with our little guy and I remember as a kid all the good memories from camping. I'm sure within the next couple years our little guy will be begging to go out every wknd. Lots of great ideas and suggestions from all of you and many we hadn't thought about but will definetly do before we go. Keep 'em coming!!

[cmack98]

We got 16 month old twins, and once the christenings, fathers days, birthdays, etc get finished (end of June) we are looking forward to going on our first trip (even if its at a local campground, not far from home).

The wife wants to figure out how to fit 2 pack and plays in there, because she isn't too hot on them sleeping with us in the bunks, so we will see how we manage this one (our camper has no slide outs or anything that fancy).

Love the tips so far!  Hopefully one night this week we can camp out in the driveway!

[Techrangerbrad]

We waited 9 months before we took the boy out.  When he was walking age, 18 months or so, I always tried to give him a "job" - usually it was quite useless to me, but I always talked up the importance of it to him.  He would spend 30 minutes trying to tapping a "tent peg" in the ground.  I also explained to him what I was doing, he probably didn't understand a thing about what I was saying, but now as a four year old his job is raising/lowering the sand pads and do I ever get a scolding if I attempt it myself.  I even had him (with my help) putting the roof up and down.  He is anxiously awaiting the day he can attach the tow chains, but that won't be fore a while  

I guess what I am saying is during setup and take down, when both of your are busy, give him some jobs to do.

We always hauled with us a big blue tub, that we bathed him in and also used as a small pool that he just loved.  It also doubled as a toy box which was nice.

Just some thoughts.

[mklawz]

We're taking the 21month old boy this weekend for his first outing of the year.  We took him camping twice last year - then he was 10 months and 11 months.  

We were really only worried how he would do sleeping and we were pleasantly surprised.   He slept like a champ, even his naps went well.  And the camper was HOT w/o AC and in the midday sun!  We did what most people do and put the pack n play where the dinette table goes.  We brought a small fan for some white noise to block out kids running, dogs barking, dad snoring

So for this weekend I'm still a little worried. He's much more aware now that 21months.  If there's action, he wants to  be a part of it.  Actually the car rides have gotten worse.  He no longer dozes off the instant the car rolls.  Now he can and will fight it to no end.  

Anyway, I hope you'll be pleasantly surprised as we were last year.

[fourgonefishn]

Brand New trialer camper. My family just purchased a used 92' Coachman Camper in really good condition. We've got the trailer hitch installed, the trailer is cleaned and every thing tested seems to work ok. We have a 16 month old son and I'm wondering if anyone has any tips or suggestions for us camping the first time with him this weekend? Any good stories or tips would be of much help to us. I guess we're going to learn ourselves for our specific situation but we'd love some help from the veteran campers. Thanks from the totally excited first time trailer campers. YEAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! :canada:

 You may want to invest in a bed rail. They are metal with nylon material and netting  in the center. feet slide under mattres and when not in use fold up and pole slides closer together  to a compact size. Also a night light is something we still use!
 PS
 At 16 months is when our first son started to walk and we went on a 2 week trip to NY in a pop up. Had a Blast! Can't wait to go back.