Camping with a baby

[T25-Folk]

Hello

We have a 15 month old baby (toddler) and a 1990 autosleeper hightop. I'm a bit worried about putting her up in the roof and she has outgrown the parcelshelf at the back. I made the wooden ladder thing fit across the back and that was great last year. Perhaps we could get an inner sleeping tent for the awning.

How do other parents get on?

Any other suggestions please for a summer of happy camping

Regards Mark, Sharon and Rosina

[Flibbertigibbet]

http://babyonboard.weebly.com/

Check out Jed's site and welcome

[sharkjazz]

Last summer, daughter was about the same age, she went in the downstairs bed from 8pm to 4am whilst the wife and I were upstairs.

Then from 4am (when she woke up crying) we all snuggled in the downstairs bed. Then at 7am she was a wriggling worm with flailing elbows so we got up and put the coffee on.

But she loved every second we were camping with the van.

[alkers]

I put a cot mattress on the floor. We have a devon conversion with a fixed buddy seat and there is enough room alongside the fridge to fit a cot mattress. My boy just sleeps there. And its really handy as if he wakes I only have to reach down and stroke his back. And there is nothing to fall off of.

I don't know why but I can't seem to bring myself to have little ones in one area and adults in another (awning / van) unless the door is open. So all 5 of us cram in. One day I will chuck hubby outdoors I am sure!

Have often thought of pushing the front seats back and putting a board across with a mattress on - but as with most things (including rust!) I never get round to sorting it out!! Also, my babe is 21 months now, so am also toying with the idea of putting an extra board up top - halving the size of the access hole to the pop top, and having little one laying sideways on, and the 2 older ones (3 and 5yrs) laying on the other side longways. The bed sides you get from toys r us are great for putting a secure barrier up, and just slide under the foam. To be honest if there is any movement upstairs I am up like a flash anyway!!

[eatcustard]

These work a treat

dog-cage-epoxy-coated.jpg

[T25-Folk]

Last summer, daughter was about the same age, she went in the downstairs bed from 8pm to 4am whilst the wife and I were upstairs.

Then from 4am (when she woke up crying) we all snuggled in the downstairs bed. Then at 7am she was a wriggling worm with flailing elbows so we got up and put the coffee on.

But she loved every second we were camping with the van.

Hello

I'm hoping our nipper will enjoy it this year. Last year, the only time she cried was when we got home!

[T25-Folk]

I put a cot mattress on the floor. We have a devon conversion with a fixed buddy seat and there is enough room alongside the fridge to fit a cot mattress. My boy just sleeps there. And its really handy as if he wakes I only have to reach down and stroke his back. And there is nothing to fall off of.

I don't know why but I can't seem to bring myself to have little ones in one area and adults in another (awning / van) unless the door is open. So all 5 of us cram in. One day I will chuck hubby outdoors I am sure!

Have often thought of pushing the front seats back and putting a board across with a mattress on - but as with most things (including rust!) I never get round to sorting it out!! Also, my babe is 21 months now, so am also toying with the idea of putting an extra board up top - halving the size of the access hole to the pop top, and having little one laying sideways on, and the 2 older ones (3 and 5yrs) laying on the other side longways. The bed sides you get from toys r us are great for putting a secure barrier up, and just slide under the foam. To be honest if there is any movement upstairs I am up like a flash anyway!!

Wow 5 in a van, takes some doing! Some good ideas there for sleeping arrangements.

[mrdandandan]

Our little one happily sleeps in the hightop, we made a clipped-up mesh screen to keep her in( will take photos when van is back from It's mot) which is easy to remove in a hurry.Biggest problem is how to get them out again, They can disappear in the space up there!

[leeroy]

we are going too have the same problem with a 2yr old this year if we get out in the van,
we are going to try a cab bunk seen a couple and they seem to work

lee

[Ali140128]

Mrdandandan,

I was thinking of doing something similar with our van (installing a custom net to keep the little 'un in the hightop when sleeping), so I'd be really interested to see a photo or two!

Ali

[ambivert]

our 2 year old quite happily sleeps up in the Devon pop top, has been doing it since about 6 months old, as long as its warm and cosy, so lots of blankets... and I even put some (non-itch) loft insulation up there behind some hardboard wedged into position against the canvas to keep the condensation away and make it feel a whole load more toasty and secure... the only bugger is packing it all down (and finding somewhere to keep it) every time you move! I am giving up on it this year and looking into a combination of bubble wrap and space blanket. As far as fall prevention goes, we slide the rear board forward to put the access gap right at the back end, and pop the kid right down the front end, and my wife also goes up there at some point in the night (probably not necessary but hey it means I get the whole bed to myself!). Have considered the front cab bunk idea, but need to find a way of keeping the controls safe from inquisitive little hands, don't want the heater fan switched on / indicator stalks snapped / etc

[alkers]

I worry with the cab bunk that it might be a bit clostrophobic
It is so high up, you couldn't sit up. And my boys tend to sit up immediately when he wakes. I don't think they will like it. Also have heard you have to remove the seat headrests for them to fit.

So I am toying with the bed layed across the 2 front seats - but how do I stop them falling into the passenger footwell?!?! Unfortunately my seats dont swivel.

[mrdandandan]

Hi Ali,

I've just found a few pics I took last summer of the bed guard baby mesh we made for our hightop , our van is in the garage waiting for a new stainless exhaust to arrive so can't post any other pics yet ,but, I hope these might be of help so you can maybe get camping! As the pic suggests, our little pickle is fine up there, its more often a problem getting her out in the morning from a hightop, you sort of have to look for an arm or a leg sticking out of the darkness and grab it and pull her out! Its been great being able to tuck her in safe upstairs and get a bit more comfortable nights sleep in the van.


hey presto! babyproof!

It took about a day to make, my wife and I designed it and made it so between us there was involved some very basic woodwork, machine sewing and a bit of sticking with contact adhesive. My wife makes accessories so we had quite a few of the finding ,clips etc and the leather bits but it can all be bought in a good haberdashers or dept store.

First off, we measured and cut an 18mm dowel to the correct width of the hightop, high enough to keep the pickle in and stop them escaping, then measured this off onto a strip of leather approximately 100mm wide. We then stitched 2 loops of webbing with a plastic ring on each onto the leather to attach the ceiling clips to.

We then made the main mesh from some liner-type mesh material, a bit like aertex and as used in swimming shorts and cut it to the size of the hole in the highop under the dowel.

Next, we folded the leather over the dowel and the edge of the mesh and stitched it , sealing it.
We edged the sides with a bit of webbing folded over and stitched.

On the bottom edge, we folded another leather strip approx 100mm onto the mesh and glued and stitched that too and rivetted on some large metal poppers.

Then, we added a strip of leather with the corresponding popper bottoms rivetted on and glued with contact adhesive onto the base of the bunk, out of sight.

Finally, we made 2 leather pads with leather tabs and rings sewn on and contact glued these to the ceiling of the hightop. Contact adhesive is really very strong when its gone off and you don't have to make holes in the hightop to attach the tabs this way.
Adjustable webbing and clips were then added to hold it all up.

I hope this doesn't sound too fiddly, its really not that hard to make, it just takes a bit of checking that everything is sewn ok and tight. The clips and rivets were a vital addition -in our view- because you'd want to be able to get them down in a hurry if you needed to. Also, the leather bits could as easily be thick canvas/cloth, we just had some from my wife's business and it looked pretty fancy!

It works really well as a cargo net too!

I hope this helps,
Dan

[ambivert]

Hi Ali,

I've just found a few pics I took last summer of the bed guard baby mesh we made for our hightop
[...]
Dan

thats awesome! thanks for sharing it with us, looks like a good job too

[ringo]

I fitted one of the bed protectors to the base of the roof (no need to extend the sleeping area in the pop top for a good few years as its big enough for a 8 year old at least).

It folds flat (fits well when the roof isnt popped) so we can use the pop top for storage in the day, and then slides up and locks when the bairns in bed.

Claustrophobic? Uncomfortable? - nah, she knows no different.

Im looking forward to the day when she can play up there too - at the moment she just associates it with bed time - and thats not always popular!

Ringo