Camping with a 22 Month Old

The best advice I can give you is to just kind of go with the flow. Meaning, be flexible with what is normal at home, knowing that camping (or any vacation) is temporary. We have been camping with our girls since my oldest was this same age and my youngest for just 4 months old. At first, I was very stressed out about straying too far from our normal schedules, which made for a not so fun and relaxing time for any of us. It sounds like you are coming prepared (with the portacrib, special blankets, etc). Just keep an open mind and be prepared to just go with what ever seems to work for you and your son. You should try to sit by the campfire. He might really like being out in the dark, listening to the music and conversation. If not, then maybe you could have your tent close by. If you have one, a battery operated monitor might be helpful if he gets too cranky and does need to be in his crib. Plus, it sounds like you will have family around to help look out for him. Don't be afraid to ask for the help you might need.
As far as fun activities for your son, what could be more fun than walking around and exploring all the dirt, rocks, sticks, trees, etc. Maybe you can bring a small wagon or bucket so he can collect things in. Water play is always a hit with my girls, camping or not. Buckets, water bottles, small dish tubs work great for this. Just be prepared for the dirt. :) I used to bring tons of clothes because I didn't want them to walk around dirty, but have finally realized that that just meant more laundry when we got home. Now I bring one outfit per day, two jammies, one jacket/swearshirt, one pair water safe sandals, one pair tennis shoes. If need be you can always hand wash an outfit and let it hang dry. You might want to bring some Wet Ones for quick hand washings.
One other thing we started doing was bringing "camping milk" (Pediesure) to make up for the junk food feast that sometimes comes with camping. I wanted to make sure they were getting their vitamins, plus they think it is a treat now.
I don't know if I've helped at all, but feel free to contact me if you want to. Camping with your kids can be such a wonderful way to spend time and make lasting memories. And how cool to have it be a whole family thing. I realy hope you have a great time!

1 mom found this helpful

I camp all the time. I have a 2 1/2 year old girl and a 1 year old boy.
Put him in the tent and go have your fun! 1) You will check on him every 10-15 min. anyway I know you will, you wont be able to stay away lol. 2) If he wakes, which he wont, you will be able to hear him once he cries. (You will also hear all the other campers kids crying from 5 camp sites away)
Bring something to put him for feeding time, a chair you can strap to the picnic table bench or a boppy chair for him to sit in while eating.
Bring a warm hat and gloves because mornings and evenings get cold. Remember to not keep ANYTHING with a smell in your tent-no baby lotion, no wipes if they are scented, nothing, because animals are crazy and if they smell something they will find a way in (they wont mess with you or baby but they will tear the place apart and make a mess)
Also bring clothes that you can layer. I put 2 pants and 2 shirts an 1 sweatshirt on my kids when I went last weekend and as they warm up you can pull a layer off. Everyone over packs, just keep it simple. Thermals as the first layer then jeans and a long sleeve shirt. (Shorts and short sleeves can't protect as well when they fall, even if it's hot the trees will keep the sun off)
As for activity's, I try and keep mine entertained with what is already there. Have him go find "the coolest leaf" and then send him off to look for "a tall tall tree" kinda like a scavenger hunt, he will love this and feel proud of all he can do on his own. Hiking is also great fun with little ones, they spot interesting plants and animals you might not even notice. Count how many banana slugs you can find. My daughter likes to tell stories about what she thinks the animals are doing and thinking along the way. Have him help to fetch the water and when you go to the bathroom bring him with, he will love the little walk. I don't bring toys because they don't get played with. Dirt is much more fun anyway. :)
I also found that when you first get to the place your going to camp if you walk the perimeter of your site and explain that this is the boundary it helps to keep them in your camp site. Tell him he can run and play but not to go past this tree and this bush. I tell my kids that if they can't see me or Daddy then they are 2 far. Of course no running around the fire, and nothing goes in your mouth from the ground.
Sun screen is a good idea. Again keep it simple, and have fun. I hope this helps and you become an avid camper!
-camp'n mama

1 mom found this helpful

Sorry I didn't take the time to read the other posts, so this may seem redundant. We have been camping with our kids, 22 months and 4 yo. We use a small table top fan or a white noise machine that runs on batteries when the kids are sleeping, for white noise and/or for cool air. Also, the kids are never going to be more wiped out at the end of the day while camping, I'm sure yours will sleep very soundly!! The Avon bug spray is very nice and smells good. Don't forget sunscreen!!

Our son is almost 4 years old. We took him camping for the first time when he was 10-months old. He has since been camping on 3 "short" camping trips, and 1 trip to Montana when he turned 2. We camped for a total of 3 weeks, at about 5 different locations, because we took a road trip. We will be making a similar trip again this coming August. You really need to think of your toddler and what he likes. You're on the right track for clothes. We had 2 sets of clothes for each day and a pair of pj's for each day (2 pairs a day if you're going somewhere cold). Bring outdoors toys. I can't remember the name of the spray we use for bugs, but it's deet free....we got it at REI. Just google kid-safe bug spray. The name is written in "crayon." You'll have to realize your son's sleep schedule may change while on this camping trip, but my son eases back into his own schedule when returning home within a few days. You may also think about asking your husband's family to wait on the guitars,etc, until your toddler is down for the night. And most of all, don't "worry" about things. Your son will pick up on any stress... so just relax and enjoy your family and your camping trip! My son loooves to camp. In fact, he just told me today that we hadn't been camping in a long time. It's a great experience for your little one!

Hi K.. I am getting ready to take my 8 1/2 mo. old daughter on camping trips this year, we even plan to go backpacking. I haven't done it yet so we'll see how it goes, but I do have one tip for you. A couple of years ago I went camping with my husband's brother and his wife, and their baby, I think he was about 6 months old. There were so many mosquitos and we were sooooo glad we had a screened-in tent. You know, one of those tents that you can put over a picnic bench?? It has no floor, just a roof (good for shade) and four walls of screen. We were so happy to have this because the poor little guy would have had to stay in the tent all day. (The mosquitos were reallllly bad.....swarming). You might think about bringing this at least for meals. Give your son a bucket and a stick and watch him explore!

We just got back from camping with our 23 month old and 5 year old. You're going to have a great time! What you're bringing for clothes sound right.

Be prepared for your son to be extremely dirty, just don't worry about it, you can wash him off when you get home. If you keep trying to keep him clean while you are there you'll go crazy.

We've done the tent both in the busy campsite and in the next campsite over (within view). If you're more comfortable with
the tent in the same campsite, your son will probably have no trouble sleeping thru the noise. He'll be so tired from being outside all day he'll probably sleep thru anything. Our daughter went to bed early the 2nd night and slept thru her brother screaming "3,2,1,blast off!" at the top of his lungs repeatedly, right outside the tent. We let the kids stay up a bit later when we're camping because it's still really light out if they go to bed at their regular time and the tent doesn't get dark until it does outside.

You might want to bring a few toys. If you can only bring one thing, I'd suggest a bucket and shovel. Good for digging as well as collecting things. Small trucks, bubbles, and balls are also good things. Best campsite activity would just be walking around. You could take him on a short hike, but don't expect to go very far or very fast. We take our daughter in the backpack if we want to go on a real hike and just stop often so she can wander around. Oh, and if there is water, i.e. a river or lake or something, throwing rocks into is endless hours of entertainment.

Have fun!

Hi K.,
I did this many times last summer when my little girl was the same age as your son. This year she's so excited to camp again. I like all the other advice so far about "going with the flow", these mamas know! Don't expect to get much sleep and you won't be disappointed. You can sleep when you get home :) I would advise to bring some WARM clothing, don't know where you are camping, we live in the Sierras which are still in the 30s at high elevations at night. Bring a clothes line you can hang wet clothing and towels on to dry and be worn again. I am an overpacker myself and I often bring too much--but as I always say "better than not enough". If your son has a trike you may want to take that as some campgrounds are paved. Otherwise let him dig in the dirt.
Also--I know how you feel about missing out on campfire time. Take him with you then when you can tell he is sleepy take him to the tent and lie down with him until he falls asleep, then you can join the others.
Have a great time!

Be sure to take a hat for your child. I suggest taking a baby monitor so you can put him to sleep in a tent away from the campfire and still know if he wakes up. We brought some of those battery operated bubble makers and our kids had a blast blowing bubbles. We've also organized a scavenger hunt for the kids. Have fun!!

K.,

If their will be a camper on site, at least let him fall asleep in there while the nighttime activities are going on and then move him when it's time to go to bed. When he his asleep, you can join in the fun.
IF not and you only have tents, then others will need to be respectful that you have a little one. Have them keep it down while he is trying to fall asleep and then lightly they can play the guitar or visit outdoors. I love to camp and we took our twins camping when they <2 and we had a blast. They slept in tents and all went well.
Good luck, trish

We went camping with my son the first time when he was almost 7 months old. I also wanted to be able to enjoy the campfire experience and still keep an eye on my son. I set his port-a-crib up close by and put a mosquito net over the top so I could hear/see him. When we were ready to go to bed, I just scooped him up while my husband dragged the crib back into the tent and we put him back to bed in it. He did wake up a little bit, but quickly drifted back to sleep. The worst part for us was he woke when the sun came up, which was about 5am, so we did not get a very good night's rest. Also, you may want to bring a battery operated white noise machine to drown out the noise of other campers. Some people can be obnoxious and not think of anyone else but themselves.

I just wanted to mention it's a good idea to have a basic first aid kit just to be prepared for any boo boos that may happen. Bandages, small scissors, tweezers, anti-bacterial cream, anti-bacterial soap or cleaner and burn cream are some good basics. Have a ton of fun!

I've been using an Avon product called Bug Guard Plus. It is a spray insect repellent that has Skin So Soft in it (SSS is another Avon product). It also has an SPF of 15 so I spray it on my sons arms and legs in the morning too. This is a great product and only costs about $5. They do not use the commercial chemical insect repellents so it is safe for babies and toddlers.

If you don't know anyone who sells Avon, you can go online and get it.

I'd also invest in water shoes and bring a couple of sweatshirts for nightime. Happy camping.

Take Two pairs of shoes one will probley get wet and I have always found that a back up pair is a good thing. Bug spray is very important my doctor suggested Avons bug guard it does not contain deet. Just remember to have fun your son will be dirty from the time you arrive till the time you leave so don't stress about it just enjoy the fact that the more dirt there is the fun he will have. I don't know how rough the camp sites are be remember alot if wipes. I would wipe my kids down just before sleep. As for the sleeping put the crib next to you at the camp fire and have family help you put it back in the tent when you retire. He will be cranky and jsut try to stay positive. My girls love to collect anything and everything while camping so try giving him a bucket and let him explore save some of the stuff he really liked and put it in a special jar to make a memory. My girls love our jar it is always on display in our home.
P.S. DON'T FORGET BANDAIDS...

I'm so glad you asked about safe bug sprays! There are some awesome ones which have no Deet but actually work several times better and longer than Deet! You ought to be able to find one at Whole Foods or any good natural grocery in the body care section, check ingredients for citronella and lemon oils, and various other nice smelling oils. They smell great to a human nose but bugs can't stand them! And they're moisturizing, as a bonus.

What fun K.! Camping was our favorite past time when our kids were small but it didn't go smoothly the first time with our daughter. She was just over 1 yr old when we took her out the first time and thinking she would love camping as our 6 yr old son had, we didnt expect the rection we got from her. It turned out she was afraid of the rustling sound of the sleeping bags and scared of the blue color the tent made on our faces when the lantern was on. All this resulted in her crying and screaming even when I held her in my sleeping bag unless I sat up, didnt let the bag touch her, and didnt move a muscle to keep the sleeping bag silent. Poor hubby next to me couldn't move either or she would go into histerics then also. What a night we had with all our church friends in their tents trying to sleep listening to our girl scream every few minutes. So,,,, my suggestion is this. Try out the tent, sleeping bags and porta crib in your back yard if possible for a few nights before you go. Make sure there are no surprises before you pack up and leave home so you will enjoy your trip more. Now that she is grown we look back and laugh about it and tease her about it but at the time it was not that much fun. Have a great time! Colleen (o:

YAY--another camping mom! It has been the best experience of my kids' lives to have tent-camped and been close to nature, sleeping under the stars. They are now adults, but thank us over and over again for the outdoor adventures we started with them when our youngest was just under 2. I would echo the advice to relax the normal routines a bit--that is what "vacation" is for--and try to put the crib close enough to the guitars that you are comfortable (maybe the music lulling him to sleep will just add to the wonder of the natural world!) but far enough that volume won't be a problem. Make sure you take warm stuff for nights so he's not chilled--if it's really cold, he may end up in bed with you or snuggled inside Dad's warm coat. I wouldn't worry about too many toys--they may end up with pine sap and dirt coating them--but a lovey or snuggle animal is always good. (We used to say that we were taking Bear-bear to see his family when we went camping...)If there are other kids, maybe you can organize a nature walk to collect pine cones or needles of different sizes, etc., to help the cousins enjoy each others' company--you could end up with some good entertainment for the little one from his bigger cousins, if there are any. Have a great time!!!

I have always taken my boys camping, and now we take our two grandkids as well. They sleep in a camper with us and go to bed with us. We stay up around the campfire for a bit, but honestly, I get too tired to sit there for too long anymore, so I enjoy heading back to the camper with the young ones and settling in. If you have a tired grandma going you got it made! If not, enjoy the campfire until your little one has had his limit and know that life changes when we have kids, and so we must adapt. There should be a happy medium in there for you both.

It sounds like you have the clothing and supplies down, and yes, get bug repellent and sunscreen. For activities, we do bug nets for butterflies, magnifying glasses to see things up close, baskets to collect findings and I always take a small treasure box of some sort with a treasure in it. We hide it and then go on a treasure hunt. The older they get it can then turn in to hot and cold games, etc. They love this and is a ritual that they are so into for camping. Memories are made this way! Have fun!

Hi I went camping with my 8 month old and handled pretty well- be ready for a dirty baby and have extra wipes to clean up dirty hands. Try to get a campsite adjacent to the campfire site, and set up the tent so you can see it but far enough so the baby can sleep, usually once babies are asleep they sleep pretty deeply, so maybe just ask for the music to be quiet until your little one falls asleep. I am not sure where you are going but make sure you have clothes to keep warm, even places that are warm during the day can cool down significantly at night. Have fun, your son will so enjoy all the dirt and sticks and leaves, and family, Play games like collecting sticks and leaves, walks where you count the birds you see and hear- be creative

What a bunch of great advice. I would HIGHLY recommend a mosquito spray called Skedattle. It is all natural and works great. On one trail we were on you could see all the mosquitos right in the middle of the trail and we had to go right through them, not one of us was bitten. Juse google it and you can only order it through their web site. A great item. Go with the flow and don't worry about the mess or getting dirty. As for the sleeping arrangement, we had the same issue. Our twin girls were about the same age when we went camping and they always had slept in their crib. But they just slept with us and they did great. So I would leave the crib at home and instead take a pad for him to sleep on next to you. Don't worry about routines, there is no way to keep a routine when you are camping. Just relax and have a great time. Also, where ever you are camping make sure to go to their web site and see if there are bears and see if they have any additional info for you. Keep it simple. I think the clothing part is great. I would recommend taking a few washclothes to do quick clean ups with water, instead of taking a whole bunch of wipes. That way you can rinse them out and hang dry them, also cutting out on waste. Get some hand sanitizer, bathrooms can be very rustic. Have fun.

Oh how fun! We started taking our son camping when he was less than a year old...he is now 3.

We like "Swy Flotter" natural bug spray, it is made entirely of natural ingredients & can be sprayed on the face & won't be a problem if he gets it in his mouth, except probably taste bad...but BE AWARE that bears like it too, so put it away before you go to bed, if you are camping where bears are. (they like the anise, we think...we found this out the hard way...)

I agree, don't worry if he gets dirty, but DO pack plenty of clothes, in case things get wet or muddy...or it's cold. Extra blankets are good too. I remember waking up a lot to check that my son wasn't too cold...until we just put him down on the zero bag, with his sleeping bag inside of it, & zipped him up. No problem after that.

We found that having our son next to us on the floor, on a folded over cushion (eggcrate) was more fun, & less to haul, than having his portacrib in the tent, plus then I could check that he was warm enough much more easily, or if he wanted to crawl in bed with me, he was right there. We used the portacrib during the day, when we were starting the fire, or needed to walk around camp to gather wood, or whatever.

He brought a trike & a couple cars to play with in the dirt, & that was great! I would suggest at least one item, but not much more than that, since there is a lot to explore, & you don't want to detract from that.

As far as the falling asleep & the campfire, just use your best judgment, I personally would let him stay up & enjoy it, if he falls asleep, then so be it but then he gets to participate in the fun that you love, too, & can sleep on the way home, & when he gets home! What we find is that our son stays up the first night, then the second night of camping he is so pooped, he will fall asleep in my lap (which he almost never does at home) & sleep thru whatever loudness ensues.

Have fun, take lots of pictures, & get dirty! You can never substitute the memories...

First, look online at the many camping lists. They always help me to pack. Second, as already mentioned you are camping things will be slightly different and just try to go with the flow. We started camping with our 2 1/2 year old at 16 mos. We have tent and camper camped. We have always used the port-a-crib. We are tent camping this weekend, and plan to use it again. I hope it works, since he is learning how to climb out of it. Our son is okay with the tent, etc. We have done a few things. The more people and further away the main fire, we have put him in the port a crib nearby and then pulled it back into the tent at bedtime. We have also put him in his stroller reclined and he's fallen asleep in it. As for bug spray, I've used Avon's skin so soft products and also there are some children's products put out by the usual companies. I haven't had any trouble with either types.

The main thing I see that I use that you didn't mention is a child lead. Our son is very active, and it was the easiest way to give him some freedom without worrying he would waunder into another campsite or into the lake or river. The ones you can purchase at Babies R Us are a little short, so we attached an expanding dog lead to the handle. Some people may not approve and see a possible strangling hazard, but it worked great for us. We watched him as he knew the boundary of the lead. He has a large radius, and he can create a big circle of play while we watch, but dont have to keep jumping up to bring him back.

Oh, one more thing. We create our own white noise with the stereo turned on at a low level. The music drowns out any voices, etc.