jeremyhensel
Colorado
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Joined: 05/11/2009
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My wife and I used to camp all the time before we had our daughter, so now that she is one we have decided to start trying again. We have a camper van with a full size bed on the bottom and another be in the pop top. My big questions are all about going to bed. Our daughter Lily doesn't just lye down and go to bed. When we put her in her crib she plays for a while before she falls asleep. She usually winds up in a different part of the crib every night. So when we go camping we aren't sure how to put her to bed. Should my wife go to be with her until she falls asleep? Also how are we going to keep her warm? We don't have an Aux heater in the van (I am considering buying a Mr. Heater). I am thinking that we will put her in a fleese suit and let her play then, once she is asleep, try and put her in a little sleeping bag. I would love and advice, we live in Colorado so the nights get really cold even in the summer.
Thanks
Jeremy
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luck would have it
Dimondale (Lansing), MI
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Hmm....We started camping with my son a few weeks after he was born...just once and then it was fall but we started right back up again in the spring at 8mos old. He did great. We used a pack-n-play. That may be a solution for you as well if it will fit in your van. Should stay warmer than the pop-up roof. If you are camping in place with elect. then just get a portable elect. heater with a thermostat. I don't think it would be a good idea to put a one year old in a sleeping bag....maybe it's just me but with all of the cords and the chance of getting wrapped up in the bag...just seems like a sad story on the news waiting to happen.
Dave
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aeohio
New Mexico
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We have 4, 4 year old is the oldest and bought our camper pop up 2 weeks after our now 4 year old was born. We never really had many issues, the packand play is the way to go if you have the room. Not really familliar with your style of camper but maybe you can move some stuff around and make it work. We never go camping without one and we have not had any issues with kids sleeping in it.
With regards to keeping her warm at night try layering her pajamas. We use a thermal pjama as a bottom layer and then a blanket sleeper. Our kids have always been warm and we camped at Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon in April and it got down to 26 degrees and our kids were just fine. We were in a pop up with an electric space heater plugged in.
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barbjohn
Newburgh, NY, USA
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Joined: 09/30/2003
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We always dressed my daughter in flannel footie pajamas. Since the dinette was the most central part of our pop-up (at that time), we removed the table and put her porta-crib in place of it. It was the one place in the camper that was least prone to drafts as well as extreme temp swings. We used a ceramic electric heater along with the furnace. The temp swings of the heat anticipator of the furnace t-stat were too wide, so the supplimentary heater kept it more constant.
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jeremyhensel
Colorado
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I can make room for the pack and play but we aren't camping near electricity so I am worried about keeping her warm. She squirms around her crib all night long so I don't think blankets will work. Maybe I should buy her a snow suit to wear.
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cochalet
Colorado
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Joined: 09/09/2004
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If you don't have the floor space for a pack-n-play, you may be able to set it up on top of the bed. Another alternative may be to use a bedrail under the bed mattress so she can move around but not fall off the bed.
We also layer PJs. If it was going to be really cold, I wasn't above using a thermal top, fleece PJs with footies and a fleece sleeping sack for the babies. I put a hat on them too when they were very little.
All my kids have been camping since they were infants (we tent camped when our first two were babies), and we try to keep them on roughly the same schedule and routine for bedtime and naptime while camping. It usually works pretty well.
K.T.
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Yaj
The Milky Way Galaxy (Hartford, WI)
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Just be carefull if you use a Mr. Heater, plenty of fresh air!
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I wasn't thinking this far ahead!
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johnrbd
Hanford CA
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Is this where grandparents come in? I will NEVER forget first time we took our son, 1-yr old, tent camping. Woke up middle of night with diarrhea and vomiting. Son is now 35 and he and his wife expecting their first, a son, any day. That trip will probably be the last thing I forget when mind decides to leave.
Have fun and be careful.
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BIKERK9
Santa Cruz, CA
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Babies were born on wagon trains during the 1800s crossing the plains and mountains
of the US in sun, rain and snow. Now that was camping. 
DoggyDaddy
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4gone
Mass
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Both of our kids went on their first outing at a month or two old. We used a pack and play when they were small. In cold temps we dressed them in layers starting with a long sleeved onesie, then a thin cotton pajama with feet, blanket sleeper over that and finally a Halo Sleep Sack. The sleep sac is kind of like a sleeping bag with arm holes. We got one a couple sizes bigger than we needed and it seemed to keep them cozy.
I would make every attempt to follow a similar routine as you do at home. We NEVER had the kids in our bed and they had their own room by three or four months old I think, basically as soon as they started sleeping through the night. So if your daughter puts herself to sleep try to let her continue doing that. You don't want to mess with the routine too much or she may start wanting you there at home too. The first night might be harder, but then they seem to adjust.
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