Camping With Baby Tips

[Sturgeon]

Took ours for her first camping trip at around a year. Overlandish style car camping. She slept between my wife and I on a large air mattress. Worked ok.

Graduated to backpacking trips at 2 years old. She sleeps like champ in her own bag (big agnes duster 15) and on her own pad (nemo tensor insulated). The bag has a sleeve to keep her on the pad, essential with a toddler IMO.

We have a backpacking trip planned in the grand canyon in a couple months.

Very similar experience, took our daughter for the first time just shy of a year old. We had an Queen size inflatable mattress and she slept between us with some blankets and fuzzy pajamas. She slept like a rock, even better than she does at home.

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

Do your best to have fun, and just plan like you won’t be able to do nearly as much. Adjusting expectations helps tremendously. If you expect it to be different then you aren’t disappointed when it is.

 

[Jeterry]

Keep them away from fires and cliff and youre good

 

[WCB]

For sleeping in a tent that size....just bring the pack and play and be done with it. have some good warm one piece jammies and cover pack and play with blankets to insulate. (make sure blankets can't fall into crib on to baby. We did this with our baby when she was 4 months old in Montana for a couple nights.

Our daughter was awesome and honestly except for not being able to be out all day in the hot sun or my wife having to take breaks to feed....we changed very little from what our normal trips entailed without her.

Keep them away from fires and cliff and youre good

Rivers/water also...and bears, definitely keep away from bears. hahaha

 

[Davis Tent]

Pack and play is the route that I have used.

Do not "test" a new heat source that doesn't work. Momma wakes up very mad in the middle of the night with an unhappy baby.

 

[cjdewese]

I’m assuming you’re car camping. I’ll preface this with the fact that my wife works in pediatrics, so co-sleeping or putting a baby that size in a sleeping bag wasn’t an option for me. What we did for ours was bring a pack n play and I figured out how to wrap it with blankets to fully enclose and insulate. Babies (two kids different ages, I’m not brave enough for twins) wore a fleece onesie over their pjs for warmth and they both slept through the night no problems. We’ve used that method down into the low 50s at night and they stayed cozy. Pack and play also helps keep them contained during set up and tear down, so it’s a multitasking piece of kit.

We did the same thing with our son. Brought along his pack and play, we also had a baby playpen that we would bring with us and set up as part of our camp to put him in while we hung out at camp so we weren't worried about him crawling into things we didn't want him to. He is 3 now and LOVES camping, he now sleeps on a cot and a kids 20 degree mummy bag and loves every minute of it.

 

[Marbles]

I have used a pack and play, but that limits you as they are heavy and bulky.

I have thought about something like the for backpacking, but have not used one. https://babydelight.com/product/snu...QqYuSap5CN5Vxha9YcKiyAzn4Y2TFQqYaAi2YEALw_wcB

Sleep sacks are great. If it might actually be chilly, one of these https://morrisonoutdoors.com/collections/baby-sleeping-bags/products/little-mo-20-down-sleeping-bag

 

[JeffRaines]

So we took our daughter camping with us when she was 9 months old. Early May turkey camp, and it was her first trip.

We brought the pack and play along, but that was only for outside. What we did was buy a down onesie(they make them) and that’s what she slept in over her pajamas, snuggled in between my wife and I. We all slept well. We also had her in numerous bear camps during that bear season with zero issues.

The following year she went along with us to turkey camp in April and spring bear in May. I had purchased a wall tent and wood stove by this time so no issues there. We let her sleep on a small inflatable and she had her own sleeping bag at this time as well. Same with bear camps this year.

The following year we backpacked into a lake and spent the night. While mom and dad had to carry everything, she made it all the way in by herself(it was only 2 miles to be fair, obviously we went at toddler pace) and we had a great time catching and eating fish on the lake.

My wife is due any day now for our second one, and once she’s on the mend we already have camping plans laid out for our maternity/paternity leave that will involve our newborn. No sweat.

My point to all of this is start them young. Seriously. While I would not backpack in winter conditions with a newborn, anything else is fair game. As long as you’re not doing anything too crazy it’ll be fine... especially if mom is along... and once it becomes a normal thing for them you won’t have any issues trying to get them to do it later. My daughter begs me to go camping/hiking/hunting/fishing at least once a week if not more often.

This is the kid that last year, at 4 years old, at 8pm was ADAMANT about climbing down 600 feet to see the bear I shot. The same kid cried all the way back up the hill at midnight... and that same kid completely forgot about the slog up the hill once we got back to the truck... “daddy you shot a bear! Are we gonna go back to camp and eat him now?”

 

[AK Troutbum]

Our kids were brought up floating/camping on the Kenai river here in Alaska. Our oldest (son), was born in March, so he was only 3 months old when we took him for the first time down through the canyon of the Kenai (sounds a lot more difficult than what it really is), and camped out for 3 days. Our daughter was born 5 years later, in November, so it wasn’t until she was 6 months old before we did the same thing with her. When they were that young we would take a Pack’n Play and just throw a mosquito net over the top of it if the bugs were bad. The kids loved it, at least I think they did, because there were mostly smiles and they rarely cried, and it gave mom and dad some really good memories that will be with us the rest of our lives. I have many pictures of those camping/float trips, but unfortunately, WE didn’t have cell phones 18 years ago, so I can’t show the pictures here.
Whatever you do, DON’T LET THESE OPPORTUNITIES GET AWAY! You will never have another chance at making these memories!

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[Artanis95]

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This is the kit I put together for My 4mo only thing missing is the walmart changing mat it's a slightly curved 3 inch thick piece of foam with the strap that runs around the mid section to keep them from going to far and his bassinet from the house which will be covered with a bug net.
We planned on trying it all out last month but 70 mph wind and tornados put a damper on that so we're shooting for two nights this weekend.

 

[NCSU_Lewis]

Lots of great info on here, thanks guys. We have our first due in 6 weeks... Can't wait to be running around with him!

 

[Michael Rankin]

Thanks for all the info guys. My little girl has been doing tons of hiking and going to the archery range since she was about 3 weeks old. Her sleep situation was the main thing I was trying to get ideas for, and everyone gave me a lot of really great ideas.

Got her out for a good 6 mile hike in the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness at the base of Mt Hood on Sunday for her 9 month Birthday. Just waiting for the night time temps to get a little warmer before trying an overnight trip. Still around 30 degrees overnight anywhere we would go camping. Hoping may or June for an overnight camp trip.

 

[hunterjmj]

I have a 5 & 3 year old that love being outside. We started them out on day hikes looking for antlers, a few camping trips and we went antelope hunting last year as a family. We hunted from a hotel which was a nice place to re-group as it was cold and snowy. Lots of snacks, warm clothes, lots of clothes, lots of wipes and keep them engaged. It tough to hunt with toddlers but well worth the memories. Amazingly enough we were able to get a nice buck even though the youngest one doesn't quite understand how loud she is.

 

[SaltySailor]

I have four kids that we have been taking out up here in Alaska over the years. My gear list certainly swells exponentially when the littles and the wife are along. The secret is keeping momma happy, if you can do that, the kids tend to fall in line. A box of wine helps.

Just don't try to do to much in these early years and make it a miserable experience, they'll be able to do more rugged trips over time. Heck, my 14 year old just slept in a AO tent at -60F with me this winter, buddy heater cranked to the max and still not cutting it warmth wise, and he still smiles when he tells the story.

 

[jhm2023]

My wife and I have always camped and hunted together all over Alaska since we were dating. So of course when our daughter came along we were going to stop. The decision was made that we needed a better more comfortable tent and we purchased an Arctic Oven amd a heat source since we camp mostly year round. I think our first trip with our daughter she was about 4 months and it was early spring so still cold. We brought along a rectangular clothes basket and I cut up a closed cell foam pad so I could line the bottom of the basket with two layers of it and used homemade Fleece zipup onzie sleeping bag combo type thing and blankets around the basket. I tried the pack and play but it took up too much room in the tent. We put the basket on tip of a cot so it was up above that cold area on the floor. As she got old enough to manage her own covers we purchased a sleeping bag, I think it's called the little red by Big Agnes. The pad attaches to it so she doesn't roll off and the dog slept on top of the foot portion to help with heat until she got to tall for the dog the sleep there. At about 1.5 years old we started back into backpack style camping. It's more difficult for sure but typically my wife carried the kiddo and kiddo releated stuff in a kid carrier type pack and I carried both mine my wife's gear. During the winter she get towed around in a sled. The things we learned are keeping the kid get well, have plenty of snacks, fun activities and things to teach her about the outdoors, coloring books and other activities for in the tent when weather is bad, keep them warm and try your best to keep the bugs from eating them up bad, a thermacell is a great piece of gear. She is 5 now and has been on some great hunts and begs to go camping, hunting and fishing. We are teaching her to shoot this year and with a little luck I might be able to get her to take her own black bear this spring. Our outdoor lifestyle has been somewhat difficult with a kid but 110% worth the extra effort.

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[Braaap]

Pack n play like other have said but for warmth we used zip up sleep sacks. You can find nice wool ones and layer regular pajamas underneath.

 

[Artanis95]

First time out was a total success I don't think he has slept that well since his arrival he was down at dark woke up at 4am for a feeding and slept straight on through till 8am.