We just bought a travel trailer which we took out for our first camping trip this last weekend. My fourteen month old loved it, but bedtime became very difficult. At home he has a great routine of a bath, book, song, and then sleeps in his crib. He is a great sleeper. While camping we tried to follow as much of the routine as possible, but the lack of crib was a challenge. It took him 1-2 hours each night to wind down, stop crawling all over the place, and finally drift off to sleep. Do any of you moms have a good idea about how to solve this dilemna? The trailer has a dinette that converts to a bed that we would like to have him sleep on. Instead, one of us slept there, and the other slept with him in the larger bed. Any advice is appreciated!
I have an 18 mo old and we took a pack and play and set it up on the dining table. get the table set up as a bed and leave the cushions off, then set the pack and play up on that. Use the cushions around the pack and play to keep it lodged in there. After we did that, she slept so good!
We had the same problem with our son when we first bought our pop-up tent trailer - and he was about the same age as your son is now... In the end, we found it easiest to remove all the cushions from the fold-down dinette and put up a pack n' play there instead. This worked beautifully. We continued our bedtime routine of reading to him, etc., and it ended up working out really well. It also gave us peace of mind to go back out and sit by the fire without wondering whether our little guy was crawling all around. Hopefully yours will fit a pack n' play in that space, too! Now he's 2 and a half and I think my husband will have to build some sort of railing for one of the beds as they don't sell anything that would work. Good luck and happy camping!
I actually think that the solution you came up with was just perfect in a pinch. The fact is, in new environments, and one as stimulating as it sounds like your son found it, our little ones need our help. It would be like us trying to sleep in the middle of the mall...there's always something new to look at and it's not our usual place to rest.
We took our son to Newport a few weeks ago and it was a great thing that we already were cosleeping, because the whole "hotel-room" thing was just too exciting to him for words. New chairs to climb on! New drawers and cupboards to explore! It took forever to get him to sleep.
Travel really stretches kids, so if you can make some room in your mind that it might involve a late bedtime and cosleeping, you're halfway there! Good luck!
While our kids were very small we put them in the portable play n go play pens. They work great!!!! Now my 2 1/2 year old sleeps on a crib mattress on the floor and it works great. It may take a couple of trips but he'll adjust. Try to keep things as close to the same as possible--you can do as much as the normal night time routine as possible. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have camped with our daughter since she was 4 months old and always used a pack n play until this spring(she is now 2 1/2). Our table converts to a bed, but I bought a child size airbed and one of those bedrail things and use that instead of the cushions (she isn't night time potty trained quite yet and I didn't want her to wet thru onto the cushions).
Anyhow, it seems to work quite well.
I'd recommend the pack n play for sure until your child is too big. If you don't have one, look on craigslist or at a local consignment store for one.
I will say that falling asleep takes much longer when not in the normal enviroment and takes a lot more coaxing than at home, but just remember it is a few nights and eventually you will be at home and it will be back to normal. I don't think we got our daughter to bed before 10pm this last week when we camped. It was rough, but it we also got to sleep in, which was nice!
We started camping in motor home (very small one) when our daughter was about 11 months old. We found that a pack-n-play worked great for sleeping at night and we could use it outside during the day for her to play in. It was also nice because it folded down very small for storage while on the move. Ours fit great on the dinette bed (minus the cushions) so it was out of the way. I was worried about my daughter tipping it over and falling off of the dinette, so my husband used a tie down strap (like the kind used to secure things in the back of a pickup) to secure the pack-n-play to the wall so it couldn't tip over. She slept wonderfully in it each time we went camping! Hope this helps!
I don't know if this will help--- J.- but I had care of my ( then ) 8 and 2 year old grandchildren during the 2 weeks my youngest ( their Mom) was moving to Calif. ( from Seattle) and had all their belongings with her- to set up the new house( her husband is in the service- so moving is part of the deal) --- She had the little ones' crib/bed with her - so all I had was the pack and play which Lily had slept in when she was an infant--- I put some familiar blankets and toys in---- announced with delight ''' OH LOOK what you can sleep in while Mommy is driving''' --- she thought it was fun. ---Any chance you could take a pack-n-play type of '''''foldable play pen''' along ???--- they aren't too big - and have the advantage that they are really tough to climb out of-- she never tried - but surely could have--- Blessings--
Old Mom
aka- J.
Get a play pen!
AKA play yards
If your trailer is big enough I would suggest getting a pack-n-play to put on the table/bed. Even though it would be off the floor it should still be safe if it's pushed back all the way. My daughter did much better in one of those while she was still in her crib than in a regular type bed.
We have a pop up. I always bring the pack n play with us and put that on top of the dinette bed. It always take her awhile to fall asleep in the beginning of the summer but after a couple trips she always got more used to it. I also keep her up a bit later and that seems to help, but it doesn't always mean she sleeps in the next morning. She just takes a good nap on they way home to make up for it.
This is our second summer (she is 20 months) and the transition seemed to be much easier this year.
Also, we always have a hard time at bedtime sunday night when we get back. I think its because of all the fun over the weekend and just trying to get back in routine.
When camping, bed time for our little one's have been a challenge also. Too many fun thing's to check out. What works for us is to bring the jogging stroller and get all ready for bed then bunddle up and go on a walk. Once they conk out, we transfer them to their bed.
Have fun on your adventures in your new trailer!
Close friends of ours have a pop-up and they bring along a kid travel tent sleeper. It is very cool and her son loves it. It is small tent (fits one child maybe two small kids) and it zips up so the child is contained, just like a regular tent. The bottom of the tent is a blow-up mattress. She puts his blankets and favorite animals in there with him and he is a happy camper. You can put it on the floor or up on a bed. It is super portable, just collapses and folds into a bag. She bought it online. I believe it is the KidCo PeaPod Travel tent. Great for traveling too. You can pack it in your suitcase or take it to the beach. I plan on getting one for our next kiddo. Good Luck!
Another option I didn't see mentioned was a bed guardrail.
http://www.thenewparentsguide.com/baby-bed-rails-1.htm
http://www.nextag.com/toddler-bed-rail/products-html
Also check the Target website. If you google "bed guard rails" you get tons of options to look at.
Then just be patient. This camping sleep arrangement is new. Find a camping bedtime routine and he will eventually get use to it.
I feel your pain! I finally broke down and bought a $49 pack and play from Target. It collapses down into a long rectagular shape about 6"x6"x48"
http://www.target.com/b/ref=in_se_pagelist/189-###-###-##...
Good luck!
We have 2 young kids and we also have a travel trailer. We put a play pen on top of the dinette with the baby in the playpen. It worked great with our daughter and we camped with this from the time she was 9 months and also all of last summer (she was just shy of 2 years old) She is too old for the playpen so we have the baby in the playpen (he is 8 months old on top of the dinette and we use my daughter's (don;'t fall out of bed guard from her home bed and she sleeps in the space that remains on top of the dinette too. It's cozy but it works.
I would suggest the play yard on top of the dinette. Remove the pillows and push it right up against the wall. We have a baby monitor that works on batteries so we can sit outside the trailer by the fire a few feet away. good luck with your camping and enjoy.
we are also campers, and we use a port-a-crib on the dinette area. works great. fits perfect. hope you enjoy more time in the outdoors mona
We have been camping in our RV since our oldest was 3 weeks old. We have always brought along our pack-n-play and used that for the little one to sleep it. I know that the space is small, but if you set the dinette down to a bed and stack the cushions upright at each end, the pack n play will fit on the dinette. I would recommend putting the baby in the pack n play in their own bedroom at home for a few nights to show the baby that sleeping in another bed is alright and allow him to get used to it. It might help the transition to the travel trailer. I still find that the first night in the RV is usually the most difficult as the kids adjust to the new environment, but they quickly adapt and we all have a great time! Have fun!!
