Camping with Toddlers
The Best Campsites and Outdoor Activities for Young Children
Camping can be a great experience for young children. Ensure it doesn't end up a nightmare for you by following these simple guidelines.
There is nothing better than waking up to a forest, a beach, a river or the mountains right outside your tent. We all want our children to spend more time in such surroundings and so it is natural to want to take them camping. However, some careful thought needs to go into this. Follow these tips to get the most out of your experience together.
Is This the Right Holiday for You?
Camping with young children requires a certain level of energy. Because campsites are open spaces, toddlers’ natural inclination will be to explore. This means you also will be running around and dealing with more unexpected 'adventures' than at home. It may be that a caravan or even a few daytrips to the countryside can provide the enriching contact with nature for the child without you exhausting yourself in the process. Perhaps you want the outdoors experience but is your annual fortnight holiday too long to go without your home comforts?
Choose Your Campsite Well
Paying a little extra for a site with play equipment is enormously helpful as swings, slides etc. channel and direct the toddler’s energies. Many campsites have excellent children's facilities such as paddling and swimming pools, bike hire with child trailers, horse and trap rides and entertainment such as puppet shows. Choosing family campsites will also ensure that you avoid hordes of teenage party animals. An added bonus is that your toddler can mix with other children, so building their social skills and confidence.
Plan Ahead
Even those of us who, early on, got their children into a regular sleep routine (such as that in Gina Ford's The Contented Little Baby Book, Vermillion, 1999) will find camping bedtime routines a completely different matter. A general guideline: they don’t exist. Your youngster will draw on hitherto unknown reserves of energy and be able to play and run around until it gets dark. Plan a specific activity: go for a walk, go out for a pizza, move your afternoon trip out to early evening. The key is to have something - anything - structured to ward off the late afternoon despair that can set in as you realise you have another 5 hours of endless playing/toddler containment to do.
Be Realistic
This is not a laid back holiday and to be enjoyed at all, you should set off in the right frame of mind. Look on it as a great experience to bond and have fun with your child. The chances are they will have the time of their life; be proud that you are there to share the moment with them. And then go home and have a nice, hot bath!
