Camping with a toddler

Hello, everyone! Last week I couldn’t upload anything, because I just got caught up in chores and projects, but don’t worry, I am going to make up for it, because today’s post is going to be a big one. So, please, get comfortable and let me convince you to go camping with your impossible toddler.

Having a baby is a lot of routines, a lot of little ‘same every day’ stuff and a lot of repetition. And as much as that is safe it also gets to you pretty quickly, leaving you frustrated out of your mind, completely uninspired and so bored it can’t even be fixed with a glass of wine. The best way to get back up and into the game is to change something. A little date, a little walk in the far away park, a little something different. Camping, in my opinion, is one of the best ways to get adventurous, get away from the phone, spend quality time with your family and also just get out of this awful routine we all are sick of.

Camping with a toddler is scary and challenging, but it is totally doable and definitely worth it. Not going to lie, I did get quite stressed in the beginning, but when the tent was set up and things calmed down a little bit, it was very fun, fresh and new.

As a mom I was mostly worried about two things: sleeping and eating. The only things that stopped me from doing it sooner were questions like: “What if she doesn’t fall asleep”, “What if she doesn’t eat”, “What if it screws up the little stability that we have established” and “What if neither one of us enjoys it and we end up wasting our weekend”.

Let me tell you straight away: It was all right. We had a ton of fun, Sofia slept like never before and we are definitely doing it again sometime soon.

Now that I’ve made my case, let’s get to the tips.

First of all, I wanted to talk about what you need to bring with you. I’m not going to go to the obvious things like clothes, sleeping bags, camping tents and etc., but let’s instead focus on some less obvious things that are easily forgettable, but very useful to have:

• ·         Flashlight. By this I not only mean an ordinary light that you can even have on your phone, but a proper little lantern. They sell them in any Home Depot or sometimes even in local little stores. Whether or not you are planning on having a bonfire, cheap little lanterns will come really handy inside you tent, outside for better lighting or while going to the bathroom. Either way, having those is never a bad idea.

• ·         First aid kit. It is always better to have the essentials with you, because you just never know what could happen. Band-Aids, rubbing alcohol, some pills for indigestion, some pain killers, cream for treating burns, muscle pain, mosquito bites. That way if you do burn yourself or twist your ankle you’ll have something that can relieve the pain and help you until you get proper medical attention. Also very important: research the area that you’ll be camping in for poisonous or dangerous insects and animals. Research what to do if you encounter them and how to take care of the bite until help gets to you. Maybe consider even getting an antivenom or epinephrine for allergic reactions.

• ·         Sunscreen and insect repellent. Especially if you have a little baby with you, you need to be protected from the sun. Insect repellent is pretty self-explanatory, because they are, probably, the most annoying things on the planet and can ruin pretty much any outside fun.

• ·         Chargers and maybe a portable battery for your phone. Whether or not it’s for taking pictures, reading, playing music or vlogging, it is always better to have your phone charged in case you need to call someone.

• ·         Tools are important to bring along is case you need to fix something, cut something, build something etc. because in the situation where you don’t have easy fast access to someone’s help, having useful tools can go a long way. I’m not talking about getting a huge heavy kit – just a screwdriver, hammer, maybe a little ax or a good knife, some tape and a bunch of screws. You’d be surprised how many problems can be fixed with just those.

• ·         Some tools you’ll be needing to clean after yourself, like a trash bag, a scoop or a broom – depending on where you are.

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about your toddler. I know that you can go a long time without eating and patiently wait for a meal, because you know you’ll get some yummy grilled treats, but your baby most certainly can’t. Therefore, you’ll need to think it through and plan every meal for them to make sure it is ready when they need it.

Get some snacks for the car ride. Maybe, consider some easier options, like peanut butter sandwiches for lunch instead of a complicated soup. It might be hard to let them eat so unhealthy, but there is no harm in it if you only do it for a couple of days. To balance it out, I had a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables that my daughter could snack on every once in a while.

Here is more or less what my daughter ate during out trip:

Some cookies in the car as well as little pieces of pear;

Then she ate whatever we were having, so chicken and beans burrito, pasta that we prepared at home earlier, roasted potatoes and courgette (zucchini);

Apple as a snack;

Had a lot of water throughout the day as it was very hot and a glass of milk before bed as usual. In the morning she had a banana while I was making her breakfast which consisted of cereal with her formula milk – that way I don’t have to worry about refrigerating anything, I can just put a few scoops of it in drinkable water and mix in the cereals;

Then for lunch she had peanut butter on toast as well as fruit baby puree before the road.

 

In the car she had a cookie or a piece of fruit if she got hungry, but as you can imagine, she was pretty exhausted, so practically passed out as soon as we started moving.

As well as the sleeping concerned, most likely you don’t have to worry at all – since everything is new, they will be more physically and psychologically active and by the end of the day will be so tired that they will go down with no problem.

My daughter (18 months old) normally falls asleep by herself without crying, but it’s always in her crib, so I was worried that a new environment will either scare or excite her so much that she just won’t fall asleep. And at first she was weirded out about it – was playing with her doll and asking me about the shower (we have it in our routine), but then she suddenly went from playful to exhausted in the matter of seconds and with gentle petting fell asleep for the whole night.

Worth mentioning: she had her own tent inside ours (we have a 3x3 meter tent and she has a little one, for a single person, so it fits in quite nicely). We did this mostly for her and our comfort, because if she wakes up at night and sees us, she will start crying instead of falling back asleep, besides with her being in her own little ‘room’ we could talk a little and check out phones before bed.

Also worth mentioning that we use a white noise every night (we have a phone that plays it on loop) and it blocked quite a lot of the outside noises, so we could have a nice conversation with our friends, also it allowed us to unzip the doors and zip them back without disturbing her sleep. I believe it is a lot easier with the white noise than without it.

Try and have some safe space where your child can run freely and you can relax a little and get the cooking or setting the tent up done. It is not easy considering their never ending energy. We were lucky enough to camp in family friend’s ranch that had a little place set up for having events (it is in the winery, therefore there are a lot of wine testing and little parties going on, I imagine), so we just set up our tent blocking one entrance and blocked the other one with our car. It didn’t secure the place completely, but at least it provided us with a more-or-less safe zone, where we didn’t have to follow our child to know that she is all right.

Also consider getting a mini stove or an oven. This time we went with our mini grill, but it took us so long to set up that we didn’t even use it for our daughter. This is, probably, the one thing we regretted not getting.

Make sure to bring a lot of wipes. Depending on whether or not you have access to running water, wipes are useful in any given situation.

Over all, this was a nice first time camping with our baby. We definitely want to go camping more often and for a longer period of time, but for now all I can advise you is: plan and be flexible. Sounds weird, I know. Plan the meals, but don’t stress out too much if your child has an extra cookie, have everything planned for the night time, but don’t worry too much on keeping the timing of your routine the same. Keep in mind that your baby is going to be way more excited to just sit in the chair and eat or fall asleep straight away. Just know what to expect and it will all be all right.

 

 

 

At the end of the day, it was amazing. It got us to improvise, have fun, see some new beautiful places and animals and spend some quality time outside.