Camping with an infant?

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Can anyone share their experiences?

We are looking into our potential camping adventures and just trying to think of how it works with a baby tagging along.

The only thing I can think of right now--is how to do bathtime. I'm sure there are many other things to consider as well, so please share.

Thanks!

(We have a pop-up with AC, but would have to use facilities at the campground)

 

[magicforever]

The "Everything Baby Book", I think that is the name of it, has a section on camping with infants. We never did it. I remember the book had lots of good suggestions. Good Luck!

 

[bumbershoot]

Our guy wasn't an infant, but he was just over 1. We did yurt camping in Oregon, which you could compare to an RV I suppose. And it was GREAT!

We're not the type to bathe an infant very much, we believe that baby's oils are there to keep him baby-soft, and we never needed to use lotions and whatnot, b/c we only bathed him once or so a week when he was wee. Heck, it's still like that unless he's running wild! So bathing was NOT one of our issues.

The only thing that was iffy was the fire; we couldn't really relax at the same time b/c of worries over the fire. But hey, that's the same at home, except we don't have fires at home. The not relaxing at the same time part, that's the same at home.

But otherwise, for walks I popped him in the MobyWrap and just went, supereasy. Food was easy, he just nursed or ate what we ate, playing was simple.

And we even did cloth dipes while camping, and even THAT was supereasy. So obviously I feel that camping with a wee one is, you know, super-easy. And well worth it.

 

[emoose]

My little girl has been (tent) camping since she was born.

We avoid extreme weather - greater than 90 and less than 45 without our popup. She has always done well. If it is too hot or to cold infants are just like adults - they will complain. It is probably unsafe as well.

We let her sleep in the same sleeping pad as my wife and the same blankets. That way my wife "knew" if she was too hot or cold. The weather was really our number one concern.

When she got older and was potty training the frequent trips to the "comfort" stations was a bit tricky, especially in the middle of the night.

Other than that infants are great campers - they like to sleep a lot, have freqeuent snacks and not do much else and that sounds like camping to me!

 

[mrzrich]

We used a rubbermaid box to bathe my sons when they were tiny campers. DH would joke "Hon, I got a few dishes , can you do them together? "

Of course we dumped our gray water appropriately

 

[djblu883]

for bathtime ,like the other poster we used a rubbermaid box in the shower ...filled it a bit and let baby play while the adult bathed then finished them off ,grabbed a robe and and handed wet baby( in towel) out to the waiting parent to go back to the camper to diaper and dress him/her so that granny or mama or daddy could complete their "dressing" in peace. Team work sure helps! As far as how the babies did in tents...we just had bedding big enough that they slept with us...never was an issue...pj's incase little one wiggled out from under the covers in cool weather...diaper in hot weather...fires were a hazard as covered previously but who has time for a campfire at WDW unless you go to the one at the Fort....you would be too tired at the end of a day to stay awake to start and let a fire completely burn out before bedtime... you will be fine if you just take normal precautions as you would in any strange environment with a baby IE don't leave on the bed to roll off...keep dangerous objects out of site etc. Have a great trip! My babies have been camping since they were in diapers and now have babies of their own who are already campers themselves!! DGD is going camping with MiMI at the Fort this year and she is 2...(her second trip) and multiple camping trips besides!!!!!!!!!!

 

[F4disneyfan]

Can anyone share their experiences?

We are looking into our potential camping adventures and just trying to think of how it works with a baby tagging along.

The only thing I can think of right now--is how to do bathtime. I'm sure there are many other things to consider as well, so please share.

Thanks!

(We have a pop-up with AC, but would have to use facilities at the campground)

I will let you know in August after my wife gets back from camping with our at that time 2 month old and the other 3 kids.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We used a rubbermaid box to bathe my sons when they were tiny campers. DH would joke "Hon, I got a few dishes , can you do them together? "

Of course we dumped our gray water appropriately

Awesome idea--didn't even think of that!!!


our guy is accustomed to his bathtime routine--he gets very very moody and even if it is just water and no cleansing..just needs his bath!

I will let you know in August after my wife gets back from camping with our at that time 2 month old and the other 3 kids.

Wonderful--though the thought of just me and camping with three kids alone =

Hope they have a great time.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Our first family camping trip my daughter was under 2 and my wife was pregnant with my son. It was in a used Coleman, very basic camper - Heat but no ac, cooler no refrig. It was great and the kids are now 20 and 22. To this day, their favorite vacation is a camping vacation. We have many camping trips under our belts and have had nothing but positive experiences especially when they were infants/toddlers. Be prepared for a family bonding experience like no other.

 

[Iott Family]

Laughs! Its good to hear that others have given their kids sponge baths in the rubber storage tubs. We have also used large dish pans. Until they are about 4 this is easiest for bathing.

If your child is an infant then a fire would not be worrisome as they are not mobile. Once they are mobile then a play pen is a dream. We also have a small pop up that is the kids for playing in with toys, etc. That is their space and they are sent there while we are cooking, cleaning, etc. Of course it helps that the older kids look out for the younger ones!

Remember to keep baby bottles cleaned and put away, dirty diapers go out to the big trash and such because that stuff wil attract critters into camp.

 

[hebbynan]

Can anyone share their experiences?

We are looking into our potential camping adventures and just trying to think of how it works with a baby tagging along.

The only thing I can think of right now--is how to do bathtime. I'm sure there are many other things to consider as well, so please share.

Thanks!

(We have a pop-up with AC, but would have to use facilities at the campground)

We also had a pop up when we camped with our youngest DS who was 3 months at the time. We had a shower and toilet in our pop up but really only used the toilet. We took our baby bath tub from home and filled it up in the shower and I bathed him right in the pop up. The rest of us always used the bath houses.
As for bed time, we put a pack n play up in the area where the dinette is. We just took the table outside and it was a perfect fit for the pack n play. I was so concerned at first about DS waking up screaming at feeding times and waking the other tenters and pop upers, but believe it or not, the pets and other people in the camp ground ended up being nosier than DS. It's a challenge to camp with an infant, but we did it and now we're glad we did. DS is now 3 and LOVES to camp!! We survived it...you will too. Good luck!!

 

[FourBoysMom]

Thank you for this topic....

It brought back a funny memory of camping with my now 4 year old.... I never thought about how I was going to bathe him when we went (he was approximately 9 months old at the time). So when I realized I needed to improvise, I used the lid of a roasting pan. The pictures are wonderful!

Trixie

 

[loriandmatt]

we camped in our pop up when DD was an infant (she is only 2, pushing 3 now, so not that long ago) and what we would do for sleeping (she hated and still does - to sleep in bed with anyone else. wants her own space) was to set up her pack and play portable crib on the flatened out dinette area.

for baths, we would take a rubbermaid container to the shower and fill it 1/4 way up with warm water. come back with it and give her a tubby at the site, then dump the water in an area where it was OK to dump grey water.

now that she is older and out of her crib, she will sleep alone on the dinette sleeping area and i am right now trying to get her used to the shower, so i can just take her in the comfort station shower with me when we visit FW in August.

 

[catalexander]

we've camped with our bitty ones often.

Couple of points to remember:

-there are no open fires allowed at Ft. Wilderness, so there's no safety hazard there!
-How "infant" are you talking? like the squishy/floppy/just arrrived infant? or the sitting up/crawling/*almost* mobile infant?
-I've also used a sling in the shower with a little one... helps keep them from getting too slippery when we've had to shower together (when they were too little to 'sit up' in a plastic tub in the shower.

the main concern we had with the mobile/almost mobile group was putting all the "stuff" in their mouths! We would always bring a exersaucer/pack n play if possible.. that way they could be outside w/us but the dirt/leaves/bugs would remain somewhat out of reach.

-also, remember BUGS! It seems like bugs love to feast on the soft little baby skin... check out some "baby safe" repellents... (we prefer "natural" products for babies).

HTH!