Camping with a toddler… aside from the weather, I’d say the biggest wild card you can face while camping is adding a baby or toddler to the mix. Truth be told, I was so intimidated by camping with my toddler that for our first “camping trip,” he and I got a hotel room near the campground and stayed there, lol. Now we have been on many camping trips as a family of 5 in our Coleman Lantern 17B, through some good old fashioned trial and error, I have a few tips and tricks to share with anyone that may be wondering how to best set up your baby or toddler for a successful night of sleep in your camper:
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1. If possible, give them their own sleeping space.
As referenced in my 5 mistakes and 5 wins of our first camping trip post, I thought attempting to cosleep with my toddler for the first time would be a great idea for our first camping trip. Long story short, it was not. If you are a cosleeping family already, go for it! If your little one is used to their own space, if possible set up a Pack n Play or other portable bed for them in your camper. In the Coleman Lantern 17B, the Graco Pack n Play fits perfectly between the dinette benches!
2. Cozy up their sleeping space.
The standard Pack n Play mattress is super hard, so we added this very nice memory foam mattress from Amazon that fits exactly in the Pack n Play. It has an infant side and a toddler side, and I also got these incredibly soft sheets that come in a pack of two (great to have an extra on hand for accidents).
*Edited to add: if you are adding a mattress to your pack n play, make sure it is not too soft (especially for infants) and fills the entire space with no gaps. The one linked above passes all US safety regulations and fits snugly in a standard 38″26″ playard.
3. Bring their usual bed buddies along.
Along the same lines as above, make the bed as comfortable and familiar as possible. My son has a pillow and a blanket, as well as about 5 loveys and stuffed animals that he sleeps with at home. We try to pack minimally when we go camping, but all of his “guys” come with us for bedtime.
4. Pack appropriate jammies.
We noticed in our camper, his pack n play is right below where the A/C blows, so for our camping trips we pack zipper footie pajamas for him. Is your toddler sleeping in a warmer part of the camper? Dress him/her lighter and consider adding a fan for better airflow to the area. We keep this fan to blow toward the bunk area to circulate the air back there.
5. Make it dark.
Our toddler, like many, seems to rise with the sun. My husband cut reflective insulation like this to fit our camper windows, and we place it between the blinds and the window at night. This helps keep it darker in the morning, and also when we leave the camper for the day it helps keep it cooler inside.
6. White noise and/or music.
If your camper is like mine, the A/C is pretty sufficient for white noise. If not, we swear by these Marpac sound machines and have one in every room in our house. We have also played the Disney Lullaby station on Amazon Music over the camper speakers to help everyone calm down at night.
7. Early riser activities.
My son still tends to wake up before my daughters, and to help them get a little more sleep in, I make sure I keep some quiet activities nearby for my toddler to grab when he wakes up before them. He loves cars, so I keep a little bag of cars on the dinette bench that he can grab and play with quietly when he gets up. I am also not above giving him his Kindle Kids that we use in the car to keep him quiet a little longer too!
8. Bring a baby monitor.
If you like to go sit outside the camper by the fire after the kids go to bed, consider bringing a monitor along to keep an eye on them. I just purchased this Blink camera from Amazon that we are going to bring on our next trip. It will only work on wi-fi though, so it will have to be a campsite that actually has a good wi-fi signal to use it.
9. WEAR THEM OUT!!!
The biggest and best piece of toddler sleep advice while camping I can give is to make sure they are sufficiently worn out during the day! This is easy to do on a camping trip with all of the activities and outside time, but we’ve found this is the biggest help in getting him down quickly at night.
Any other camper sleep tips to share? Add to the comments below! Good luck, and happy camping! 🙂