CAMPING WITH A TODDLER IN TOW

Camping with our toddler has been a long time coming – our friends are experts and have been encouraging us to do it for yonks. Last year just didn’t happen, then this year the weather just hasn’t played ball or we’ve been busy. But finally for bank holiday the planets aligned – we went camping! Surprising as it may be, camping is something I have done a lot of. I completed all of my Duke of Edinburgh’s awards, and decided I’d had just about enough of it! Camping with a toddler is something I’ve been nervous about, but it’s an adventure. I grew up adoring the Swallows and Amazons books and I’m so glad we’ve finally started bringing that adventure to life with our toddler. We even took him sailing!

We’ve had a lot of fun, and my goodness we’ve learnt a lot in two nights camping…

Plan ahead unless you want a toddler lilo deflating in the night or a toddler screaming out in the night because the tent is so dark he doesn’t know where he or we are

This happened at home because we had a dry run! If you’ve read my blog before, you’ll know I’m a keen planner and risk management is my job. I like to be prepared and manage a situation carefully, camping is no different! I analysed my travel list and worked out what we needed from it. I then consulted with my experienced camping friends for top tips (gin/rum/wine was high on their list). Finally I googled my way through many lists and advice blogs. And then I insisted that we have a practice camp in the garden at home to iron out any challenges, in private!

• 

• 

Our previous tent was a 3 man dome tent I couldn’t stand up in and wasn’t actually big enough to house our mega lilo and us

So Mr P put a lot of research into tent research and he did a sterling job. We now have an air pole tent with a blackout inner tent. It takes 10 minutes, 15 max, to put up. And he can do it himself! When you go to bed and it is daylight outside it is dark enough inside to convince a toddler it is bedtime. Our new tent has a bigger living area to it than the sleeping area, so much space for toys, for clothes, for chairs and all the other random camping stuff you need. And our mega lilo and the toddler one fit nicely in the sleeping area.

Giving the toddler an after-nursery surprise of ‘we’re camping in the garden tonight’ results in an over-excited and wired toddler going completely bananas about the concept hours after bedtime

This is what happened in our first dry run at home, we canned that attempt 3 hours past bedtime and all fell asleep the moment our heads hit pillows in our beds! Much as that was annoying, putting up our tent up a couple of times in the garden was a good call. By the time we overnighted in it (the night after the over-excitement) our three year old had investigated all the zips and got himself stuck between the inner and outer tent by squeezing his way through gaps too small for him and made himself and many toys at home in it! By bedtime he was happy and calm about the camping adventure!

Bedtime will not happen at bedtime, don’t try it as you’ll all get cross and grumpy even attempting to stick to routine

Instead ensure you camp with friends with older kids, those kids will help stretch out the toddler day and keep him amused so that he runs out of energy and is almost asleep on his feet at bedtime! We had tea later, sat back and enjoyed some wine with our friends while the kids ran riot. Then we watched sunset then did bedtime, sure it took longer than at home but he was ready when the time came. I actually ended up cuddling and dozing with our toddler as he fell asleep, and because he was late to bed it really didn’t matter.

On the morning we woke up in our tent at the sailing club my toddler had bourbon biscuits, mini-cheddars and a pouch for breakfast, before he had his planned croissant breakfast

We took all the food but we didn’t hide it away or disguise, it, we bundled up all the snacks we could into a box to ensure no chance of running out of food. But we made one mistake – the box was clear and he could see (and help himself to) all the tasty snacky treats he wouldn’t normally be able to reach! In future we will pack more cleverly and perhaps leave treat food in a box in the car or a box that isn’t clear plastic! It is really important to have more food than you need, a bit like a flight a child seems to inhale food in far larger proportions.

• 

• 

My toddler managed to temporarily lose his most treasured red car, he’d flung it somewhere and it had bounced and somehow got stuck under a tent

If we hadn’t found that little car then he would have been devastated, but thankfully we did. I packed very few toys for our time away, more things to lose or damage! I popped some colouring in, some puzzles and one of his big vehicles. The toddler packed his own rucksack and took all his little cars that would fit, our tent and camping area was strewn with his cars – whilst they got everywhere he played contentedly with them.

Thanks to Thomas, we packed away the tent and loaded the car for home completely unbeknown to the toddler who was right next to it

We don’t use the screen much but camping has proved there’s a time and place. I’d assumed we’d need it early in the morning, but actually he gave us a lie in! Instead it came into it’s own at pack up – by tea time on the day we were heading home our toddler was totally out of energy, we plonked him in front of Thomas for his tea and he didn’t move or notice the deconstruction of camping. We packed his chair away too and still he stood there holding his beloved bunny and red car, totally engrossed in Thomas the Tank Engine whilst we packed up in peace.

• 

• 

• 

Camping when you are already tired is hard, we had an over-tired toddler and mummy before we even started

Everyone’s advice is that the second night camping is always the best and I’m inclined to agree it probably is. But more important is approaching a camping weekend well-slept. Our toddler was transitioning between rooms at nursery and was over-tired due to lack of naps. I was over-tired because his over-tiredness was disturbing my sleep. We headed home after one night. The little one was full of adventure but asked to go home and I was very happy to oblige. He was asleep in the car before 6.30pm and we had to wake him just before 8am the next morning!

• 

• 

Packing essentials we took

Powerbank to keep phones and iPads charged

My carry potty – useful for a hassle night time wee for any of the family

Bin bags, they were the last thing I remembered as we left the house

Lots of ice blocks so that we could rotate them through the camping freezer and keep things chilled

A little gas burner (although we are going to upgrade to one of these on recommendation) as well as our Cadac BBQ so that we could make tea quickly in the morning

Warm clothes – leggings, Ugg boots, hats – the evenings are cooler when you’re tired, even round a camp fire

Packing essentials we forgot

A wooden spoon and a saucepan lid… Two items that would have made pasta far easier to cook and drain!

A proper sized table – we have a coffee table one which was good for toddler tea, but a bigger higher one would be better for storage

Eye masks, even with the black out tent it was still light in the morning before I wanted to stir

A tarpaulin to use outside the tent to put shoes and bits on rather than leaving everything on the grass

Spare storage boxes – things that are packed neatly at home before you leave expand 10-fold and create chaos

A bottle opener – we didn’t need one as we had cans and screw caps, but it wasn’t on our list to take which could have been a school boy error

We’re ready for 2021 camping fun now, and definitely more than one night in a row! It isn’t lost on me is that our pro-camping friends all now have glossy VW camper vans instead of tents, just when we arrive with a tent! I’m sure you can see where this is going once we’ve got some more camping under our belt… But for now I’m still celebrating the fact that we’ve camped and that in the same weekend we had our maiden voyage on the good ship Bellatrix too! The start of a pretty epic adventure.