The first time camping with a toddler – 5 key lessons learnt

Since my daughter was born, two wonderful but sleepless years ago, I have been keen to get out camping with her. The idea of spending some quality time with my wife and daughter in the outdoors, enjoying BBQ’s and a peaceful campsite in the sun was very appealing – especially during the cold, dark, sleep deprived months of winter.

However, I was too much of a wuss to give camping with a baby a go. I read lots about people who had, and had a great time, and those who had and appeared mildly traumatised by the experience. In truth, my main fear was trying to deal with a screaming, teething baby in the middle of the night and royally pissing off any other campers.

So, it wasn’t until this summer, when my daughter was over two years old, that I felt confident enough to seriously contemplate camping. And it wasn’t until earlier this summer that my wife and I packed – or rather jammed – our car with tent, travel cot, sleeping bags and toddler and set off for a few days under canvas.

We had a fantastic, if not utterly exhausting time, and there were a few important lessons that we learnt. I hope that these lessons may be of use to some other parents with young children out there, considering giving camping a go:

1) Get a decent sized tent

Up until this summer, I have always made do with tiny one or two man tents when on camping trips. When it rains, it is miserable. When the weather is good, it is only slightly less cramped and miserable (smelly socks+small space = bad times).

So, viewing it as a long term investment, my wife and I got ourselves a large 5/6 person tent this summer and I am very glad we did. There was loads of room for our gear, a nice ‘porch’ area for toddler based activities (YEY – more colouring!) and spacious sleeping compartments that could easily fit all of us bunking down together.

Plenty of room – and not a bad view

Even when the weather wasn’t so good, we could all easily chill in the tent with a bit of personal space and none of the claustrophobia induced tent grumpiness that would have afflicted us in a smaller setup.

Sure the larger tent wasn’t super cheap – but it was well worth it.

2) Choose the right campsite

My wife and I are not ‘serious’ campers and don’t like really formal sites with lots of rules. Naturally this means that there tend not to be that many facilities on the more relaxed sites we choose. But with a toddler in tow, we knew that we needed to compromise this time round, so whilst we still looked for a nice, chilled out site, in a rural setting, we knew that we needed to make sure that we picked one with some key facilities on site.

I am a big fan of the Cool Camping website and they came up trumps for us this summer, with Beryls Campsite in South Devon offering a great, toddler friendly place to stay. The pitches were limited in number and really spaced out among grassy paddocks, other families were on site, no caravans were allowed and there was even a small kitchen area with a fridge – a perfect place to store gallons of milk for the toddler.

For us it ticked all the boxes and was a very relaxed place to stay. At this site, we didn’t have to worry much about toddler noise, as tents were so spaced apart and we could easily keep an eye out on the little ‘un as she roamed around the paddock we were camping in. Picking the right site made the whole experience a lot more enjoyable and chilled for all involved.

3) Be relaxed about routine 

We knew before going camping that our toddler’s usual bedtime routine would have to go out the window – there was no way that a 7pm sleep time would work when it was still light outside!

On our first night though we probably clung on too much to that routine, trying to get our daughter off to bed before she was completely zonked. The result? An hour of tears and tantrums before my wife and I eventually gave up, crawled into bed next to our daughter and eventually soothed her to sleep. Bed at 9pm on holiday – rock and roll!

But over the next couple of days we were much more relaxed, and whilst we still stuck with the whole bath, book, milk, then bed routine, we just stopped worrying about the time. So what if our daughter hit the hay at 9pm? She just had a longer lie in instead and seemed no worse off for a few days of change.

The key thing was that she went to sleep with minimal fuss.

Plenty of factor 50 and enjoying the sun

4) Pray for good weather!

Whilst there isn’t much you can do about this one, camping in dry weather certainly makes life easier. If its forecast to chuck it down on any of our future camping trips, I’d be tempted to give them a miss.

That may make me a wimp, but I don’t care! I have put up with enough sodden solo adventures to know that camping in the rain isn’t too much fun and makes everything slightly more stressful and a hell of a lot more unpleasant. And lets be honest, looking after a toddler is pretty stressful anyway, so having to contend with being confined to a tent (no where to dry wet clothes, limited space to cook, no where to hide…) will simply make things worse. You want to enjoy your family holiday and crap weather can put a real dampener on things. Literally.

We were really lucky when we went off for our few days away and it was dry, with a couple of days of decent sun. It was great – we could spread out around the tent, let the toddler run free, cook outdoors, dry clothes and generally live the outdoor life. Perfect – and so much more relaxing than if we had had to endure the standard British summer weather.

5) Prepare to be knackered

I can’t actually remember the last time that I wasn’t tired, but going camping brought on a whole new level of exhaustion.

Not only was our toddler waking up early in the morning, but she was going to bed late at night. So we had a few extra hours every day of toddler entertainment/supervision, and this, coupled with all the extra work you have to do when camping (cooking on a tiny, TINY stove, walking to get water and spending forever trying to find any random item of clothes/gear in your tent) as well as going out for the day, leaves you feeling totally pooped.

Whilst we had a really great time, and loads of fun, it would be unfair to gloss over just how tiring the few days were. I guess we are a very active family, so we were doing stuff all the time, but even if we had just chilled on the campsite, we still would have found ourselves falling asleep, books in hand at the wild time of 9.30pm.

So, with this in mind, if you are planning on your first trip with a little one, maybe air on the side of caution and just go away for a fews days to start. I think a week away would have broken me…

A happy toddler and one happy, utterly knackered dad!

Five must have items to ensure a successful outdoor adventure with your toddler

Presuming you have the essentials of food, water, spare clothes and nappies whenever you head into the great outdoors with your little ‘un, I urge you to take along a couple of the items listed below on your next parent-toddler adventure. I have found every one of them priceless when it comes to ensuring a fun filled, tantrum free and mutually enjoyable time outdoors with my daughter.  

The only problem is finding enough room in my pack to fit them all in……… 

1) Waterproof mat 

There is nothing worse for you or your child than being forced to sit on buttock drenchingly wet ground when you have to stop for a spot of lunch or give your child a break from their baby backpack.  

For the rest of your walk, you have the deeply unpleasant sensation of feeling as though you were the one who forgot their nappy.  

Having a bit of waterproof matting (a section of old shower curtain does the trick), means that you can plonk yourself and your toddler down on the ground anywhere for a quick snack and refuel without having to endure hours of discomfort afterwards.  

2) Plastic pots 

This might just be my daughter, but as soon as a child hits the one year old mark, putting things in pots suddenly becomes incredibly exciting and the number one game to play! Have a few plastic pots in your pack that you can whip out whenever you want to have a pause from walking/cycling etc., safe in the knowledge that as long as you can find the odd stick or bunch of rocks to put in them, your toddler will be happily entertained for a few blessed minutes – allowing you a bit of time to sit and enjoy your surroundings.  

Pots are also great for gathering up beetles or any other critters that you may come across. My daughter finds insects fascinating (check out this great identification chart from Buglife) and loves having the opportunity to watch any kind of bug, without it running away.  

3) Spare socks 

There is nothing worse than having to endure a long day in the hills in wet, damp socks. In this, I and my 15 month old daughter are in complete agreement. Soggy feet are a complete morale killer for dad and daughter alike.  

If your child is anything like mine, they will be naturally drawn to muddy puddles, bogs and rivers. And who can blame them? Sploshing about in mud is still one of the reasons that I love getting outdoors. But be prepared and expect the worse – it isn’t unusual for me to head out with three spare pares of kiddy socks.  

4) Wildlife book 

If you are lucky (and your child is quiet enough!) hopefully you will spot plenty of wildlife when you are out and about in the countryside with your kid.  

If you spot any interesting birds or beasties it is likely that it will only be for a fleeting moment. If you can, take the time to then show your child what you just saw in a wildlife book. That way they will see a clear picture of the animal in question and you can always include a – usually awful – impression of the sound that the animal makes. My speciality in crap pheasant noises.   

I really believe that it is never to young to get children interested in nature and I think that this is another way to help spark a child’s curiosity.  

5) Waterproof trousers 

These are a god send, and not just in the depths of winter. By plonking your child in a pair of decent waterproof trousers (my daughter loves her Danish specials you can let them roam free in the outdoors, safe in the knowledge that the worst of the mud/bog/rain wont touch them. They also act as a handy extra layer of insulation when it does get cold, helping to keep your child warm, dry and therefore happy.  

Waterproof trousers also help cut down on the pile of clothes washing that I have to go through, making them a key asset on any trip!