Camping with Kids

My daughter keeps asking me almost every day, “When are we going camping again?”  Our family loves to camp.  We enjoy it for many reasons… the dirt, the food, the family time away from home, and a cheap place to sleep while visiting our beloved National Parks…

Scott and I have gone camping every year since we’ve been married, with the exception of one… the year 2004…when our first child was born.  We thought the idea of camping with a baby was insane.   Then in 2005 we went to Acadia, but were still nervous about the thought of tent camping with a toddler, so we got a cabin.  By 2006, when we welcomed baby number 2, we realized that we didn’t want to wait till all of our children were older to enjoy one of our favorite past times.

So, off we went on a camping adventure with our 2 year old and 6 mth old.



The next year we went with our 3yr old, 20 mth old, and 3 mth old.  We’ve discovered, camping can be done with small children and believe it or not, we actually enjoy it.



Here’s a few tricks of the trade we’ve picked up along the way.  I am not going to claim we’ve got it all figured out, b/c we don’t.  But I will say that despite a few set backs and minor fiascos, we’ve made some great memories and we keep planning more trips, so it must be working for us!

• When we camp with small infants, we tend to let them sleep in their infant seats.   It keeps them warm and snug and they tend to sleep better.

• Once they are too old for the infant seat, we bring the pack-n-play.

Disclosure:  I’ll just go out and say this right now, we aren’t minimalists when we go camping as a family.  We aren’t out to prove how rough and rustic we are.  We are out to have a good time as a family.  And that generally means you gotta have a good night’s sleep.  So, we pack any and everything that helps with that endeavor.



That’s right we bring the pack-n-play (or plays), air mattresses, radio and batteries with lullaby music, favorite stuffed animals and beloved blankies… all the comforts of home to make them feel safe and secure.

Gone are the days of minimalist packing.  This is survival folks!

• I have found those little glow sticks to be a huge asset while camping.  You can get them at the dollar store.  I get one for each kid for each night and throw in a few extras in case you get a dud or two.  These work great as night lights.  The kids get pretty psyched about them, so I have also learned, the hard way, to give them to them a little before you tuck them in bed.  Otherwise, you’re tucking them in bed and then giving them a toy, which basically totally back fires.


• Pack lots of layers, even in the summer.  It gets cold at night.  It’s always colder than  it is at home because at home your not sleeping outside on the ground.  At least I don’t think you are.  Pack winter hats for their heads, 2 layers of pjs, those footie pjs… especially if you are going in fall or spring.  If it’s July in MD, you can skip the hat… but seriously, bring a sweatshirt for the morning… trust me, it gets chilly. And cold sleepers are fussy sleepers and fussy sleepers equals a grouchy family.  Those sleep sacks work great for babies… they really keep them warm… Put a sleeper on underneath and a hat on top and you’re sure to have a warm and happy baby.


• Be prepared… it’s the Girl Scouts way, right?  Bring the thermometer, and motrin, and for us, we always, always have to leave home with our nebulizer and meds… b/c it never fails, no matter how healthy we were before we left, someone almost always gets sick.  Can’t tell you how many times we’ve had to do nebulizer treatments in the van in the middle of the night.  (we have one of those ac/dc adapters… works wonderful for this… if you don’t have a kid with asthma, this isn’t a necessity… if you do, it is a MUST).


• With toddlers, I have found the portable potty seat to be a huge help,  b/c sometimes you can’t make the walk to the bathroom fast enough.


• Pack lots of baby wipes and bags (trash bags, grocery store bags, sandwich bags… really you can’t have enough little baggies) oh and paper towels.


• Build a camp fire.  Loads of good memories are made around a camp fire.  Click here for a yummy dessert recipe you can make around the fire, in addition to the classic Smores. 

Little breakfast tip… we have found those already cooked sausage links are awesome for camping.  I love the smell and taste of bacon as much as the next gal, but bacon takes forever to cook and is a mess to clean up.  Those little sausage links are so great, you just have to heat them, no worries about whether or not they are cooked enough.  And pancake mix is another great hit… the kind where you just add water, easy and yummy.  Mmm… perfect camping bkfst….. pancakes and sausage….

• I think the number one rule I have found for camping is be flexible.  You are not at home and things aren’t going to go like at home.  Your schedules will be off.  I have found we always get back on track once we are home though, so don’t sweat it.  Your not going to eat and sleep at your normal times.  Nap time may occur in the car or in the backpack carrier.  Dinner will take longer and you’ll get dirty.   But for us, that’s all part of the fun.

Man, all this talk about camping makes me really wanna go… it’s not quite warm enough here yet though and I’m not so sure about sleeping on the ground (even if it is on an air mattress) when I’m 7 mth preggo… so perhaps we’ll hold off until summer.  Hopefully we get at least one night away over the summer before our trip this fall.

How about you?  Any camping tips or memories you can share with the rest of us??

I am linking this post up on Works for Me Wednesday.