Have you gone rustic camping with young kids?

[KBecks]

Am I nuts to be thinking of trying it this coming summer? When Dave and I were on a parents getaway we went to a state park that has nice isolated hike in hike out campsites. I've never camped. It looks like fun. I'm thinking of reserving a site (that's coming up soon) and going for like one overnight with the boys (and doing a motel or something for another night maybe).

Now the hikes are pretty far in and out depending on site selection. But I think we could manage this.

What do you think? Done it?

I could cancel our reservation if the weather looks bad, etc. etc.

Dave does not like more populated camping areas. He wants to be with nature, not other people.

I think there's an outhouse, a bench, and a campfire area.

[maestramommy]

We went camping at Joshua Tree with Dora when she was 6 months, and again when she was 15 months, and just recently we went camping at Zion with both girls. Neither camps had showers, and Joshua Tree didn't have real bathrooms, just outhouses and fire pits.

The hardest thing about camping with this age group is that both Dh and I slept very poorly. Mainly because the kids slept poorly. Actually the first trip was the best because even though Dora woke every 2 hours to nurse, she did go back to sleep. The last trip was a disaster because she woke up and wanted to play, jump around in the tent, jump on us, everything but sleep. It took 4 hours, plus some extreme measures to finally get her to go down and stay down. Course, we were in a hotel room after that first night and didn't sleep any better. I think it was just Dora being out of a crib.

The other thing is that doing all the regular kidcare takes extra long because of the lack of amenities. Generally when Dh and I went to JT we went to climb. On that trip, Dh did a couple of SHORT climbs and I just napped. If you go camping, keep your expectations LOW in terms of what you want to do in a given day, and you'll be fine.

[bubbaray]

We RV with the girls. NOT my DH's ideal (he would do rustic camping in a heartbeat). IMO, it totally depends on your tolerance for dirt. I have a pretty low tolerance and take my dustbuster in the RV b/c it drives me nuts that the kids and dog (and DH) track in more dirt than is outside.... I can't imagine using an outhouse with a newly PT'd kid, for example. Toddlers are soooo hard to keep even remotely clean, I like having a bathtub/running/hot water in the RV.

When we RV, we also take a tent, and DH and DD#1 have done some nights out there. I like my queen-sized bed in the RV, though.

Also, depending on where you are going, what is your tolerance for dealing with wildlife? DH and I have had some bear and cougar run-ins while camping -- pre kids. I can't imagine dealing with that with small children. It depends on where you are going, though, whether that is a real/remote risk. Where we camped in the past, its a very real risk. Where we go now with the girls, its pretty remote.

Have a fun vacation!

[dotgirl]

We've gone what DH calls "car camping" with DS a few times since he was born - he's 4 now. We have not gone backpacking, and I don't know that we would - but for us, backpacking means you carry everything with you, on your back - including your tent, food, everything.

Car camping, though, has been a lot of fun. We bring our tent and propane stove, and when DS was smaller, his pack and play. The only real challenge we ever have is keeping him out of the way while we set up/take down the tent - but since we got our portable DVD player, even that is solved.

One suggestion I would make - if you do go camping, I would not plan on being able to just put your child down to sleep in the tent. Best case, you might be able to lay with them until they fall asleep and then creep back out, but most nights, DS would sit on me by the fire until everyone went to bed - he didn't want to be in the tent alone, which I totally understand.

[KBecks]

IMO, it totally depends on your tolerance for dirt.



We think getting dirty is a lot of fun! Good points though. If we decide to go, I need to talk Dave into it because he is skeptical (and he's more concerned about dirt than I am.)

I don't think wildlife is a problem where we're going, other than raccoons, etc.

[KBecks]

When we hiked at the park that has the rustic campgrounds, we saw a family with like a 18 month - 24 month old leave. They had a stroller and an all terrain wagon like thing to help carry their gear, plus backpacks.

Carrying the water would be the worst part, but not so bad with a wagon wheelie thing. And only for one overnight we could pack light.

It's the sleeping part that sounds the most challenging. The boys both love the outdoors. We had such nice weather this last year. Mosquitoes are a concern but they weren't bad in the area we're thinking of.

[kijip]

How many miles do you have to hike in?

I have also had a hard time getting Toby to sleep in a tent, which makes it the only difficult part of camping. We have only mustered it together to go car camping (no to very short walks to the campsite, WA state has a lot of car camping spots with fairly private camping spots). I used to leave no trace pack and there is no way I could manage that with a kid.

[elephantmeg]

I think I would do something inbetween first to get them used to it and see how it goes. Around here we have private campgrounds which have tons of people and then the national forest has hike to sites but also camper and tent sites that are off the road but still pretty isolated from each other. We have a camper so we're not too rustic. At a year I would have to carry DS in the backpack until he fell asleep before I could put him in his bed in the camper. Now he's more used to it and will fall asleep if the conditions are OK (has his music box, blankie, puppy, it's dark and/or he's tired). I don't know anything about 3.5 year olds so not much help there. HTH and have fun!

[SASM]

We have gone tent camping several times but we drove to our site ~ we didn't hike there. Our kids were 3.5 AND 1.5 at the time. They loved it! We are hoping to get at least one camping adventure in next summer ~ they'll be ~ 5, 3, and over 9mos. If you haven't tent camped before, try doing a quick overnight at a local park before trying out the rustic hike-in camping, JIC it doesn't agree with one of your DCs.

GOOD LUCK!! Have a blast! I never camped when I was growing up, whereas DH literally camped whenever he liked. It is soooo great to expose the kids to camping ~ any way that you can do it. Have fun

[KBecks]

This is the rustic park we are looking at -- Newport State

http://wisconsinstateparks.reserveamerica.com/camping/Newport_State_Park/r/campgroundDetails.do?agency=WI&parkId=60029

This is a very nice more traditional camping park

http://wisconsinstateparks.reserveamerica.com/camping/Peninsula_State_Park/r/campgroundDetails.do?agency=WI&parkId=60032

I am now thinking of Melissa's suggestion to RV. Dave would love to RV, but I'm not excited about it. Melissa, do you rent one??? I'm assuming it's a different game altogether with RVs and where you can take them.

I'm hoping we can come up with something fun. Last summer we rented cabins with extended family and did fishing. Alek loved it. John got pinkeye. and there were tornado warnings and the water was very rough. But we still had a good time!

I'm realizing now that the parks we like may be booked, as you can reserve 11 months in advance and the parks are popular. I'm going to check into whether an RV rental would work for us.

Dave is not a planner at all and so I will need to initiate and do most of the planning if we're going to make a camping trip or other vacation happen. The boys just love the outdoors and I think they would have a great time.

[Piglet]

We have had the exact same experience. We have car camped 2 times - once when DS2 was 5 months old and once when DD was 3 moths old. Lots of fun both times, but not a super night's sleep. The 1st night is by far the worst and then it gets better each subsequent night. If you only go for 1 night, you might think camping stinks, LOL. If you aren't a true-blue camper, I really would stick to car camping for the first trip with kids, that way you can hang out in the car if something goes wrong (i.e. we discovered DS1 was petrified of bees when we went last time and he lived in the car every meal-time).

[dotgirl]

Personally, I would love to go RV camping instead of tent camping, but I can't get DH on board. I was finally able to get him to buy an air mattress to sleep on - he kept telling me it was "wussy" to use anything but our temperpedic - until he couldn't walk one morning from sleeping on it!

I agree that RV-ing makes it a little different - you need to reserve an RV spot, because you're unlikely to be able to just drive up and find something available. Plus there's the draining of sewage and water, etc.

On the other hand, you drive up and you're done - which would be kind of nice after a trip with little ones.

[wolverine2]

I totally think you could do it. We took DS car camping as a baby, but think that now that he's 3 he will love it next summer, and we even hope to go backpacking with him as soon as we can. DS loves hiking and as long as you don't plan too much, he actually does amazingly well. We hope to do something similar next summer, jut keeping the baby in a backpack.
Good luck!

[bubbaray]

I am now thinking of Melissa's suggestion to RV. Dave would love to RV, but I'm not excited about it. Melissa, do you rent one??? I'm assuming it's a different game altogether with RVs and where you can take them.

I'm realizing now that the parks we like may be booked, as you can reserve 11 months in advance and the parks are popular. I'm going to check into whether an RV rental would work for us.

Dave is not a planner at all and so I will need to initiate and do most of the planning if we're going to make a camping trip or other vacation happen. The boys just love the outdoors and I think they would have a great time.


Yes, we rent. We've rented RVs (class C I think they are called, Winebago style) and 5th wheels. There is a whole ongoing debate over on the carseat board about the safety of putting children in RVs. We've put carseats in RVs three years and then this past summer, we finally found a place that rents 5th wheels, so we installed the carseats in the truck. Between the 2, we've found out we much prefer 5th wheels. BUT, they can be hard to find to rent and they are harder to deal with -- you are towing a big thing behind you and you have to know how to drive it, KWIM? Regular RVs are probably a better place to start for the average person, as long as you are OK with the whole carseat issue.

We usually RV in WA state, b/c I'm a wuss and the campsites in WA (and OR) are far less rustic than the ones in Canada. Where we have gone the past 2 summers and will return to for 2008, we have to book 9m in advance (to the day). We've found it harder to find a campsite than to book the RV, but like I said, we're picky and we're going to one of the most popular campgrounds in WA.

My DH desperately wants to buy an RV and truck. I'm trying to guilt him into NOT getting a huge-a$$ truck and save the planet. But, the new full-sized domestic diesel trucks do get about the same gas mileage as his gas-engine SUV. Its getting harder to deny him, KWIM? Right now, we're only going once a year, but if we owned rather than rented, we'd probably go far more often. We might even park the 5th wheel at a skihill in the winter and use it like a cabin.

RVg definitely does take some planning. Its pretty hard, at least in the Pacific Northwest, to just drive up to a site in the summer. Even in the shoulder season, things are pretty busy. Then there is the whole planning what you are going to take with you, but that's pretty similar to any trip with children. I keep summer and winter travel lists on my computer and use those as my base. We also use a lot of Rubbermaid totes to pack and organize prior to picking up the rental. The downside of a rental is that you can't just get things and leave them in there all year, you have to pack and unpack, so the totes make it easier to organize.

ETA: you asked about where we could take the rented RVs. We rented in Canada and the contract stated how many "included" kilometres (like miles, but shorter!), had to stick to paved roads (no forest service or logging roads) and couldn't take it to Mexico or further south (anywhere in the US or Canada, as long as paved road, was fine). With a 5th wheel and larger RVs, you need to be kinda careful what route and campground you choose -- you don't want to get stuck! My DH has a license to drive large commercial vehicles like buses, semi's and dumptrucks (though he doesn't do that for a living), so I have confidence in his driving a large "rig" on pretty much any roadway. But, we've see lots of "less-skilled" drivers in campgrounds and parking lots who are just completely out of control and shouldn't be driving the size of rig they are. Sigh.

If you do rent an RV, I highly recommend taking along duct tape (101 uses, LOL) and the mini-ladder thingy for the sewage hookup (helps keep everything flowing downhill, IYKWIM!).


HTH

[brittone2]

we have a little pop up camper and do that a few times a year. Both kids went for the first time around age 4-5 months without any trouble. I don't know if it is cosleeping or what, but they don't seem to mind as long as we're nearby. I would also tent camp, but here in NC it is too hot in the summer for me to deal w/ a tent and two kids. I wouldn't hesitate to tent camp during the spring/summer. The hardest part w/ DD is that she would probably try to eat rocks at the campsite if we went right now (she just turned 1) ;)

Can you do a trial run and camp out in the back yard? That's what I would probably do if I thought sleeping in the tent might be an issue. The house is nearby if needed, and sleeping out in the tent a few times before a bigger trip might make it slightly less exciting...it won't be so novel and foreign, and maybe they would sleep better during the actual trip.

The first time we took DD camping in the pop up we went to a local lake (about a 40 minute drive) so that if we needed to scrap the trip, we were close enough to home to not feel badly about packing up and heading out.

Oh, and our pop up doesn't have a bathroom. We take along one of those little all-one-piece deals Target used to sell for under $10. I think they are like the little Bjorn potties. We also often go w/ my parents, and they have a larger camper with a bathroom, etc. so we have also gone next door in a pinch ;)

[KBecks]

I'm going to talk to Dave about a vacation tonight. Thanks for the info on RV rentals. I'm concerned about the roads where I'd like to go, traffic can be very congested and lots of parked cars on the streets through the quaint touristy towns. (Door Co is about 2.5-3 hours away, it's not a horrible drive at all. There are also restaurants and motels and shops nearby so we would not be far from civilization at all, which is very good for us.) I'd also need to see about where we could take an RV and see if the reservations are harder to come by?. I watched a little bit of RV shows on the Travel channel and it's so not me, but maybe I should give it a try, maybe it's me and I just don't know it yet.

I think backyard sleeping would be a hoot and we should do it. There is a park with a campground close by but frankly our backyard is much nicer.

Melissa, I know what a km is, lol! Thanks for the other packing tips!!

[bubbaray]

Melissa, I know what a km is, lol! Thanks for the other packing tips!!


:) You'd be surprised at how many of my IRL friends from the US don't know. Seriously.


Yes, small, quaint places can be problematic with an RV. However, we've found that if there is a place to camp with an RV, there is usually some RV parking within walking distance of the town. If your DH is used to driving with his mirrors, it really does help. I'm constantly shocked at the places my DH can squeeze an RV. That is one of the nice things about a 5th wheel, you unhook the truck and leave the 5th wheel at the campsite. With an RV, you have to unhook all your connections each time you want to run into town. The fewer times my DH has to deal with the sewer connection, the better. He has a weak stomach....

ETA: If you are looking for sites for an RV, look for full service or full hookups. That means that you will have electrical (your fridge will run on propane or electric, but they always work better on electric it seems, you'll have your microwave and lights, as well as AC), sewer and water. If you don't have full hookups, you'll need to periodically find a place to dump your tanks and that's a PITA. I love having the microwave when RVg, b/c I can cook some frozen stuff in advance and just heat it up. Of course, purists would say if you have a microwave and a fridge, its not camping....

Also, there are different amps at different sites. We've never found this to be a problem, but if you have a "loaded" RV, you need the higher amp sites to run everything (like your satellite dish, TV, etc.). I think certain AC units need a particular amp site too.

[ThreeofUs]

We have friends who packed their kids in and out - packing out all the dirty diapers, too! We're not as awesomely hard-core.

We go to primitive campgrounds (no electric, pit toilets) and tried tent camping a few times. DS had the hardest time sleeping, even after the newness wore off, which made the whole experience a lot less fun as DH and I would get really crabby.

So we bought an RV, and I'll tell you it's the most wonderful thing in my life during the summer. We close up the house, grab the dog and run out to our little home. DS, DH and I all love it. The only bummer about it is that the city where we live says we can't have it at our house for any time longer than a few hours.

Even with a 29-foot, fully loaded trailer, we camp pretty well only in primitive places. (I know it's a paradox, but we really want the isolation - we have the loaded RV just because we also want to sleep!) No services, no hookups - we bring in our battery for the tiny bit of electricty we use, and we fill up the water tank. It's great, and with a little patience you can get in anywhere!

I do agree that pre-cooking is the way to go, as a pp said, but we've never had a problem finding a place to dump the grey and black water.

[KBecks]

We still have to discuss the details, but I said we have a tent and Dave says it's too small so he's setting it up for the boys to go in. :)

I have to go make dinner and watch! This has been / is a great thread, thank you everyone for the info and your experiences.

[StantonHyde]

We have attempted this twice and both times got rained out--oh well. We are lucky in that we have nice forest service camp sites within 30-40 mins of our house. This is key because if all hell breaks loose, we can shove stuff in the car and go home. Most will take RVs and tents. We only do tents. I can't stand RVs--the gas mileage, the driving the huge things, having to park next to other people blah blah. I love a fairly private, but drivable tent site. The sleeping thing can be really tough--we would have to take a night light for DS :-)

We can reserve camp sites through the National Forest web site well in advance. Just try googling the national forest where you want to go. We also look at going Sunday-Tuesday when the numbers are way down. I got a great "room-divided" tent from Cabela's with a screened in porch with a floor. We have the air mattresses and a sun shower. I also have a porta potty for the kids.

There is a great book I got at REI--parents guide to camping/backpacking and it has really great advice for babies through teens. I also have 3 different books on camp sites in Utah alone--so I am pretty sure there will be something for your state. I got them at Barnes and Noble and REI.

I will say that if you are going somewhere with stores and restaurants nearby, i would do a hotel. There truly is nothing worse than camping at a KOA or some other camp site at a popular tourist destination. I did that once in Moab, Utah and I will never do it again. If we stay in town, we get a hotel. If we got out to Canyonlands NP (which is almost an hour's drive from Moab) we camp.

This summer, when we got rained out, we took the kids to the camp ground the next day and did the little hike we were going to do. I was thrilled that DS made the whole thing by himself and DD (at 2) needed some time in the backpack but not a ton. We have moose in the mountains, but we are usually too high to worry about rattlesnakes. We had tons of pikas around us while we ate lunch, but I just kept me between the kids and them--yucky diseases. I will not camp at really popular/huge sites where bears have been known to frequent. I don't trust people to keep neat camps etc and I don't want to risk it.

Maybe we should have a BBB challenge to take your family camping this spring/summer. We could have categories for tents, pop-ups and RVs! :-)

[KBecks]

Thank you for the book recommendations!

Dave wants to do Newport park, which is the backpack in, carry out site. It's 0.9 miles by foot to the closest camp sites from the parking lot. I was thinking we should do the normal camp at Peninsula park but Dave wants seclusion.

Dave seems to think we're going to have to spend a ton on stuff. I don't think so.

I like the take your family camping challenge! At least in theory!

The nice thing is that we will be near tourist areas, but we are going for the nature. But if we want a restaurant meal or supplies or even mini golf, we'll be close.

[StantonHyde]

You don't have to spend a ton. I backpack and car camp and I can assure your DH that car camping stuff is much cheaper--no need to pay more for high quality, light weight stuff. You really do not need lots. The tent is expensive--about $300. Twin air mattresses are only $20, kid sleeping bags for warm climates are not expensive--I got 30 or 40 degree bags for $60. A Coleman 2 burner stove is reasonable and he can use the pots and pans from backpacking for car camping. The sun shower was a good investment, but again, not expensive. I did spend $20-30 for each kid to have their own Camelback--its easier to keep them hydrated. For a .9 mile hike in: it takes my kids an hour to hike a mile on hilly terrain. I can literally run circles around them. Your DH could fill up his backpack and you could walk with the kids and he could carry in supplies while you walked. I like the idea of bringin some sort of wagon etc too. I just keep watching REI and Campmor and Sierra Trading Post clearance items and getting stuff piece meal. Plus, you might be able to borrow some stuff from friends the first few times.

[redhookmom]

Our family goes tent camping a few times each summer. We "car camp" which basically means we keep the cooler in the car which is parked at or very near our site. There are some tenacious raccoons in our area.
I LOVE camping and really needed my kids to love camping as well so I have made it work at each age.
Beyond the tent the cost is not high to equip your family. Yard Sales are a great place to find gear.