Camping w a baby/kids

gznokes

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Does anyone have any tips or insight on their experience camping with a two month old and a 20 month old?

I'm thinking through doing a little camping with my children in July or Aug. Ages right now are 10 days old, 18 mos, 5, and 6 1/2.

We would be tent camping. I'm kind of thinking its a recipe for disaster getting that many sleeping schedules in one small area. I wouldn't be concerned about the older kids so much as throwing the younger ones into the mix.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jun-21-10 AT 10:20AM (MST)[p]take your red lense and 22-250 so if they cry all night you can shoot coyotes:)
 
LAST EDITED ON Jun-21-10 AT 10:49AM (MST)[p]With kids that age - one night is probably plenty in a tent. Any more than that and momma will get really tired of it really quickly!

A lesson I learned the hard way was to tailor the activities around their attention span too, not yours. Fishing with kids that little should only be about a 45 minute endeavor, and don't try to even rig your own pole. Just keeping theirs rigged will be challenge enough.

I would also suggest taking them camping separately, or at least in different age groups. The older ones will like it more and can do a lot more "stuff" than the little ones and it will be more productive.

I take my kids camping individually regularly. Took my 6 yr old a few weekends ago and it was about the best time I have had camping with him ever. He loved the individual attention and though we didn't really do anything really special - he keeps saying "it was the greatest time of my life".



UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)
 
I like what Roy has to say. My wife and I have three kids ( 5, 3 and 1). we have taken them all camping atleast once a year every year. If you go into in not expecting to much sleep then you should be ok. :) I like the idea of taking the kids camping individually. I had thought of starting that this year, atleast with my oldest. Remember that it can be a bit cooler at night in the mountains, even in August, so be prepared. bring beanies or some kind of hat to keep the little ones heads warm. Make the kids as comfortable as you can (airmattress if possible). Make it enjoyable for the kids then your wife won't be upset because the kids are whining and they will want to go again. Have fun.
 
I shudder at the thought..............of EVER going thru that again!

It is humorous 35 years after the fact, but at the time, it was clearly evident why some animals eat their young!
 
One word for you.....Benedryl!

"I'm gonna eat you and start over"...My wife has said that many, many times. Good luck my friend.
 
I KID CAMPED PLENTY OF TIMES ALSO.......GOTTA KEEP A SHARP EYE OUT, BE READY FOR STUFF TO HAPPEN, & KEEP EM ON A SHORT LEASH..........WE ALL HAD FUN.........YD.
 
you might try camping in the back yard first - as a dry run. if the little ones decide they have had enough, or if you decide you have had enough, you can always head inside.

just a thought...

mshred
 
+1 Nickman


After this last weekend with my 21 month old daughter....I began to understand why lions eat their young. The big question is how she already know's jui juitsu....but only when I have to change her diaper....?
Ever had an arm bar pulled on you by a cute lil girl?

Trailer will make it easier than a tent if you have that possibility. Great advise from the other guys as well.


Matt
"Opportunity is missed by most people
because its dressed in overalls
and looks like work."
Thomas Edison
 
take a 45 with two bullets. One for you and one for your wife.

Heck, I won't even take my kids to eat out all at the same time anymore. I'm currently talking with a shrink about my suicidal tendencies.


ego participate in Monasteriense muleys proinde ego sum bardus (I participate on monstermuleys therefore I am stupid)
 
Get a camper and problem solved. If she is nursing then sitting in a tent most of it will really suck. And plan on chasing the kids around. I love to camp but tried tent camping with really little ones 1 time and wouldn't go unless someone had a camper. Now I have one we go every weekend, come home filthy and all of us leave a ring around the tub but have a blast every second of the day. My kids 3 and 1 play so hard all day that they sleep great all night. Buy a camper and go have a blast you won't regret it a bit.

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>take a 45 with two bullets.
>One for you and one
>for your wife.
>
>Heck, I won't even take my
>kids to eat out all
>at the same time anymore.
>I'm currently talking with a
>shrink about my suicidal tendencies.
>
>
>
>ego participate in Monasteriense muleys proinde
>ego sum bardus (I participate
>on monstermuleys therefore I am
>stupid)

Yeah right. ..we all know it would take you a hell of a lot more bullets than that...
 
Everthing is fun until it is time to sleep. From my experience lots of 20 month olds will not sleep good when it is cold at night (below 60 degrees). They may start out fine but just wait till that first roll over at 1 AM when they are cold and refuse to have anything put on top of them. Go during the warmest times is my recomendation

Regardless I still take my young kids a couple of times a year.
 
I have 4 kids, including 4 year old triplet boys. This is the first time I've agreed with Stinky: I need a shrink. I never thought 3 little boys could kick my butt so hard on a daily basis. They wear you out mentally. It's like a dog chasing his tail 24 hours a day just to keep them out of stuff and to keep them from breaking their own necks. We took them camping last year for the first time in a tent trailer. It is a challenge to say the least. It's one of those things you can't explain to someone who hasn't been through it.
 
I just took my wife, 3 yr old and nine month old sons camping and had a great time. At night, my wife put the 3 yr down in the tent and I drove my nine month old around for 10-15 minutes until he passed out. I drove back to the campsite and left the 9 moth old in the car sleeping. My wife and I actually got to hang out by the fire for an hour or so before we grabbed our bay out of the car and went to the tent. Believe it or not both kids slept until 6 AM!
 
There is some major food for thought here and a few good laughs!

One thing that seems to resonate is the idea of taking them one at a time. I think part of the madness occurs when you get a bunch of kids all having a meltdown at the same time.

As I think about this I'm reminded of a backpacking trip I took my then 5 year-old son on last year. He still talks about it. He even drew me a picture of it the other day. I think it was successful because I was able to devote a lot of attention to helping him figure stuff out.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jun-21-10 AT 07:55PM (MST)[p]I just spend last Friday night in a tent with my wife and our 2 yr old and 4 yr old. Needless to say we didn't get much sleep but, its only a little sleep lost, and the kids had fun! :)
 
It's doable, but it's their trip, not yours. I've done it in a small camper with three kids. Run them ragged all day and hopefully they will sleep.
 
Do a test run in your back yard.

Like any of us know any Super Nanny Skills! This is a Red Neck Forum.

I could guess though... cause I don't have a frickn idea.

So, here it goes.

Baby wont know the difference if your not freezing. Let it sleep next to mom. Dad, guard the family. Don't pop the viagra tonight.

Other gromits, let them burn fire sticks until they beg you to go to bed. Don't hold them to the schedule of 8:00 bed time. Let them stay up till they are bored or more than tired to sleep it off.

All that crap about not getting enough sleep... the ride home will cure that. Let them wake up at own leisure, play when sibbling starts hitting sibbling, load the car. Buckle and Drive. If not crashed out on way home, circle blocks until all are out. KID HANGOVER... need recouping. NAP and FOOD HELPS

LAST YEAR I took my kids out and we had a blast in a tent. We have done the camper thing... but tents are cool. They will love it and remember it more that the cozy, sissy shell.

I had 10, 8, 5, 3 year old.

You let mom focus on baby... you get the other three.

Night time, don't forget toliet. Port a potty.


Someone else said it. Don't Plan a major plan. Go with flow... adapt your plans to the masses. KIDS, and you should have a ball.

GOOD LUCK.

We expect you to post your 2010 Hunting Adventure as taking your family to the hills. That is probably the greatest feat on there!

Oh, yah... get your protection for your tent... people are getting stabbed with spears these days. Take your stupid spray or Lead pusher.

Midnight.
 
DON'T DO IT!!! I say if you just gotta go camping, take the two older ones and leave the babies with mom at home....or even better...leave the babies with grandma/grandpa/sitter and take the wife and the 2 older ones. This comes from a woman with a LOT of experience in "going" places with kids. Everytime Stinky would mention going somewhere (especially camping) i would cringe at the thought. It takes a lot of stuff when traveling with kids that little(bottles, special water, cleaning stuff for the bottles, diapers, wipes and every medicine you think you might need, cuz the one you forget will be the one you need). Mom is going to want to have fun too, and it is virtually impossible for her when she is stuck at base camp wiping snot and changing diapers in less than comfortable conditions....lets face it, it is just another day for her, but without the creature comforts. You want her to have fun too so she will want to go again when the babies are bigger.

hope this helps!
QTIP, mother of 4.... colten 1yr, Talyah 3yrs, Clay 11yrs and Tony (stinkystomper)31yrs.











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We did it and still do it with our three daughters (youngest is now 3). We always took one of those packable play pens as a crib. For clothes we would put on one of those one piece pj's with the feet (winter pj's) on them and then we would cover the entire play pen with a heavy blanket. This would keep out some light, extra noises and if they did get out from under their blanket, it would still keep them warm. We never had an issue with them and they all enjoyed it.
We always tried to camp right next to a stream to have plenty of water for cleaning though.

I would do it all over again too.

Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"
 
like saint said. Make sure you have some music and drive them around before bed. We took my 1.5 year old out last weekend the only way to get him to sleep was in the car. too much going on.
bring lots of baby wipes for everyone.
 
You've had some good advice here. I will say that I think you better hold off on an overnighter for the 10 day old for a while. That's a time when everyone needs creature comforts.

That said, I'd have to ask yours and your wife's age. If you were say early twenties when the older ones were born you're probably pretty tough now. If you were in your thirties then lets rethink this. So many people wait until they are in their mid to late thirties to have kids these days, for many valid reasons, but most of those people are a bunch of wussies with mamby pamby children who whine at each other nonstop. Parents seem to read too many parenting books these days instead of just going with the flow. Kids don't come with instruction manuals. They're not a TV so don't try to operate by the manual. I was 23 when my first child was born, 29 for the last. He was born with a lot of very serious health issues. When he was three weeks old, 12 days out of NNICU, we took them all to the mountains for Easter for the day. We hunted eggs in the snow. We had no clue what was right or wrong but we had a blast. Never knew if we were doing it by the book or the right way. We just had fun. They all survived quite nicely and are productive young adults.

So back to camping. Roy gave you great advice. Make it short, try to make it comfortable, and most important, make it about the kids. Don't go out there thinking you're gonna go scouting for "the big one" while your wife sits in a tent. Uh uh. You need to be the chief cook, bottle washer, fire builder, kid washer. Make it fun for them and it will be fun for you. Believe me it will be something you look back on happily if you keep it fun.

I also agree with Roy on taking them individually or in small age coordinated groups. My older son and I started a special boys-only fishing/camping trip tradition when he was very young and those are some of the best memories I have. I didn't catch the most or biggest fish and I was frustrated many times but I wouldn't trade it. I did the same thing with my younger son a time or two despite certain limitations and we had a blast. My older son and daughter and I went on her first deer hunt for a couple nights when she about 12 and he was 10. Just the three of us. We laughed, told stories, played charades, ate crappy food and generally had the kind of time she still talks about even though she no longer hunts. Didn't kill a deer but it was a fantastic time.

By the way, my kids never had a chance. My wife was in early labor when we were deer hunting one year, and I'm pretty sure both of my sons were conceived on camping trips to my favorite hunting mountains, by design I might add. Made them tough.

I hope I didn't offend anyone, but if I did, oh well, I'm older and I don't really care. :)
 
Can't really believe all the wimpy advice on this thread. I suppose if you have never camped with your kids before, it might be an adventure for everyone, but heck, how did some of your kids get that old without ever going camping?

My kids grew up camping. My youngest was 6 weeks old when he went on a spring bear hunt in North Idaho, where it froze hard every night. He slept in Mom's bag with her,and we all had a great time. A portable playpen works great for the youngest, but by the time they are walking they will have a great time. A few toys (trucks, toy shovels, etc.)will keep them busy. I can still visualize all the "roads" my kids made through the pine needles to drive around their toy cars (Matchbox type).

Kids don't miss the creature comforts near as much as adults. Don't make a big fuss out of it, and they won't mind a bit. Toughens them up a bit, as well. Don't expect everybody to have a bath each day, let them get dirty and have fun. It really won't hurt them.

Bill
 
Wife wife and I are new parents. We've had out kid camping numerous times since he was 3 months old. He's 8 months old. My advice? JUST GO. You'll figure it out as you go along. It's a lot of work but worth it each time. Try to take the load off your wife as much as possible. Get a Pack N Play or Pea Pod for the baby to sleep in. Get him/her napping in it at home to get them used to it before hand. Just get out and go!
 
11 to 3 years olds...We had a quick run to the hills to sleep in a tent night. Enjoyed driving around in the dust... just to give me an excuse to wash the wifes car. Didn't plan any big adventure except trying to cause an accident on the river!

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