Camping with Little Ones - Tempe,AZ

Bring an extra sheet for the pack n play and put it over the top when you're outside, provides sun cover for baby and keeps bugs out.

Since it sounds like this may be your first camping trip (ever? with kids?)My suggestions are:

1-Be familiar with the campground! Set boundaries for the kids! If you have a say in which site you get, pay attention to the environment (water, roads, thick vegetation, etc) when choosing. Know the shortest route to bathroom & water source.

2-Know your tent! Be prepared to spend some time setting things up, maybe assign 1 adult to watch the kids (play games, set out boundaries-see#1) while other adults set everything up.

3-Bring lots of wipes! Kids will get dirty, don't expect them to constantly wash their hands (germs are good!), just a few wipes before eating!

Depending on the skill level of adults (how much combined experience everyone has with camping). A few other suggestions:

4-Bring easy prep (or pre-made) food! Sandwiches, hotdogs, canned foods, etc. You don't want to be chasing kids around while trying to figure out camp cooking equipment.

5-Kids can sleep on a folded blanket on the floor! No need for fancy beds. To make it extra special (especially if you plan to go camping again) buy them their own sleeping bags!

Just have fun! If you are relaxed and enjoying yourself, the kids will too! We took dd camping the first time when she was 5 months old (and we only waited that long because she was born in December)! She's now 5.5 and LOVES to go camping! I grew up camping and DH and I have gone so many places in all the years we've been together. We plan to take the new baby when she's about a month old this summer! Good luck, mama! Hope you have a wonderful experience!

Plan on one of you sleeping across the doorway so little ones can't get out without waking mom or dad. Expect them to not like the wilderness/complete dark. It's a bit uncanny for them unless you're in a campground where lots of people are around.

I took prepared food for the first day. I put cooked spaghtti in gallon zip lock baggies and put them on ice in the food ice chest. We loved having it after heating it up in a big cast iron skillet.

We also made a bunch of fried potatoes before we went. We made them all with chopped onions in them. They went into quart size zip lock baggies. We'd dump a baggie into the skillet with some oil then when they were super hot we'd dump in a bunch of eggs and scramble them. MMMmmmm.

Take some oranges and some Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin mixes. Make the muffin mix up and set it aside. Cut the oranges in half around them middle like the equator goes around earth. Then scoop out the insides and either eat it or set it aside.

Fill one half of the orange peel with the muffin mix then place the other half back on it. Wrap them in foil and toss them into the embers of the fire. Cook them about the same amount of time it would take for an oven to bake them.

Take one out and peel the foil off. Take the orange top off and eat the wonderful yummy muffin.

Lots of things like that to do. Planning ahead and taking what you need is important. I'd also say taking a porta potty for the older child would be important too unless you are going to be in an RV. If so then camping is a bit different.

We always set up a pack--n-play in the tent for the little one. If you have a portable dvd player you could set them up with a movie at bedtime. Bring a stroller for the little one. Give the four year old a job to do, such as collecting kindling for the fire. Bring some toys, games and balls. Make sure you have lots of sunscreen and insect repellent. I don't know how your campsites are arranged, but we always parked the van diagonally across the entrance to our campsite to keep the kids from wandering out.

Have fun. My kids really enjoyed camping. They slept better and ate better than when they were at home.

Pack n Play for the baby. Cot for the 4 yr old. Put bells on the door zipper so if the kids try to sneak out in the night, you hear it. Bring lots of healthy snacks. Kids can get dehydrated, so make sure they drink enough. Bring N+1 of things like diapers and wipes and outfits. Sunscreen. Hats. Even if it's warm, it may get cool at night, so bring another layer just in case. Bring glow necklaces for each night so when it gets dark, the kids can be easily spotted. Find out what the facilities are like and prepare your 4 yr old for a portajohn if necessary. Take a few toys. Bring Bubbles.

Glow sticks to keep them feeling safe and happy at night, hang one above the baby's bed, let 4 yr old hold or wear around wrist, they're not too bright to prevent sleeping. Bubbles for the 4 yr old to keep busy while you are cooking or setting up tent, but no toys you dont want dirty. Bug catchers and nets to make bugs fun not scary! a mat outside the tent door for wiping feet. I took the potty chair long after he stopped using it at home, no late night or middle of the night trips to the restroom! Maybe a bike to make trips to the restroom faster during the day. I like camping near the playground, not close to bathroom with people visiting it late at night. Have fun!

Dress them in bright easy to see colors (no camo).
Sleeping across the doorway is a good idea - you don't want anyone to wander off.

camping with babies is work and can be exhausting, but oh so much fun! we took ours from the time they were infants.
i think the trick is to maintain a balance between making sure you really have all the 'musts' covered, and not over-packing. the most important thing was a playpen. you've got to have somewhere to plop the baby that's not the ground. it'll be tempting to bring every single toy and distraction but resist it. packing and unpacking is work enough already, and you don't want to keep track of 350 toys strewn around your campsite. the baby won't need much at all beyond his woobie, and this would be a great time to get the 4 year old one cool toy, maybe something he's been longing for, that will keep him happy when you're not making smores or hiking. plenty of snacks, of course, and your backpacks. 4's a tough age for hikes- too big to carry very much, but legs too short to hike much. i'd encourage him to hike but be prepared to tote him if he gets overwhelmed.
bug spray and sunscreen, of course. some changes of clothes, but again, don't over-pack. you want to KISS as much as possible. just sleeping in a tent, eating meals cooked over a fire and exploring the woods will be so much fun for them, don't over-complicate it by having too much stuff to keep track of.
take lots of pics!
:) khairete
S.

FUN!

Clothes- layers, no white or light colors (they get so dirty)
Food- tons of single-serve type snacks, one wrapper, throw away. String cheese, fruit cups, granola bars etc.
Lots of Baby Wipes
Maybe even a handwash station near by (a giant jug filled with water, that has a on/off dispenser + paper towels + hand soap)
A few diversions for 4 year old- coloring books, small dolls
Does the 11 month walk? If not, giant tarp to crawl around on
Pack n Play for baby, air mattress for 4 y/o. They love having their own small camp chairs too.
Go over Fire safety ahead of time, and boundaries of where they can go (for 4 y/o)

Tell all adults who may hang out with or watch the children to always do a "hand-off"- I'm giving Suzie Q over to you, YOU are in charge. I had to institute this because my FIL would wander off on nature walks and stuff with my kids without really telling anyone he had them. And MIL would think he was in charge now and he would still think she was in charge. Next thing I know I am hunting them down somewhere making sure they are ok.

Also, I never put the PJ's on the kids til the last possible second before they roll into bed, to keep them and the "beds" clean. Or I would put the PJ's on with jeans and a sweatshirt over them for hanging out at the campfire, then they just unlayered for bed.

Always keep shoes outside of tent- they have to take them on/off if they go in and out to keep tent clean.

My kids always conk out when we are camping. They may go to bed earlier than usual. Air mattresses and tents are so noisy you would hear any noise if they stirred, let along tried to unzip the door to go out.

Gamma G I cannot wait to try the muffin in the orange this summer!

Bring a small portable kids potty for night time use

Take a couple toys for them to play with.

Also, use one of those pet corrals or baby corrals (you know, they have several segments that are connected to make a freestanding pen...) make sure it's metal, put it around the fire pit to keep kids away from the fire. It's not really *that* difficult to supervise the kids... But accidents can happen in a fraction of a second, and when there will be several kids it's better to be safe than sorry.

A couple drops of tea tree oil on a hat will repel ticks,

Wet wipes!!!

I'm not sure how often you camp, but if you don't know already... Make sure that your stuff doesn't touch the edge of the tent. If it rains at all, or if there is any condensation, it will seep in through the tent wherever anything is touching.

That sounds like fun! We love to camp too. Others have given some great suggestions, but I wanted to add that I always take a padlock or some twine with me to tie together the zippered entrance/exit. The campground will be very dangerous to an unsupervised child, so you want to make sure they do not exit the tent while you sleep and get into water or wander off.

Other musts: clothespins, a big blanket or tarp to lay the baby on to play and frozen grapes if hot. Have fun!