My family and I always take an annual camping trip as our family vacation. We rent an RV and stay at the same campground every year. This year was a little bit different because we were camping with toddlers, twin toddlers at that.
There are things I would have done differently, but now I know what to do better next year. I’m passing my knowledge of camping with toddlers on to you so that you can be more prepared than I was.
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Why Go Camping with Toddlers
You might think that camping with toddlers is pointless because they won’t remember it anyway and it’s way too much work. And while all of this is true, you’re not only making memories for your kids, but also for you. You’ll have the best stories to tell about taking them camping when they were younger.
One of my favorite pastimes is reminiscing about growing up with my family and the vacations we went on. Even though I don’t remember a lot of them, and I’m sure I put my parents through the ringer, it makes me feel nostalgic.
Remember, the days are long but the years are short. These are the times you want to cherish and your kids will appreciate them when they’re older. Even if now, it seems like camping with toddlers is terrifying.
Road Trip with Toddlers
We go camping every year at a state park in north Georgia. Luckily, it only takes us about two and a half hours to get there from our house, so the drive isn’t terrible. But it’s still long considering we made the trek this past year with seventeen month old twins.
Just recently, we bought our twins new convertible car seats. They finally grew out of the infant ones and these are more spacious and comfy anyway. They typically sleep pretty well in the new seats, but not for long hauls.
So, I made sure to bring the necessities with us in the car, including snacks and toys, in case my dream of them sleeping the entire time wasn’t a reality (spoiler alert: they didn’t sleep at all).
Snacks
I try to keep the snacks that we bring in the car as less messy as possible. One of their favorite on-the-go snacks are veggie straws. These things are so good! They aren’t messy and they’re actually a healthy snack. Win/win in my book!
Another one of my favorite on-the-go snacks are Bambas. It’s a peanut butter flavored puff that kind of dissolves (so it’s great for babies). This was actually the first peanut food item we offered the twins to make sure they didn’t have a food allergy. They love these and they are great for the car!
Squeezable applesauce pouches are also a favorite, though they aren’t entirely mess-free. But they’re not as bad as some other snacks and the twins love them!
Toys
I do my best not to bring a ton of toys in the car, but I do bring a few of the essentials. The twins have an elephant and lamb lovey that is imperative for them to sleep, so we definitely have these with us on the car ride.
We also take their toy telephones because they are obsessed with them and they’ll stay busy for hours!
If you have older kids, a great idea for a long car ride is to get a birthday bag and fill it up with items. You can include things such as coloring books, crayons, books, crossword puzzles and magazines. My aunt would always make my sister and I a “road trip gift bag” and it literally was the best thing ever! It was what I most looked forward to each year!
Sleeping Arrangements in the RV
Last year, our sleeping arrangements were fairly simple. The twins were small enough to still fit in the pack ‘n play together and have plenty of room. So we set their pack ‘n play up in the bunk room of the RV and it was perfect. This year, they grew out of the pack ‘n play so we had to think of something else.
Enter the Summer Pop ‘N Play Playard. I found this gem on Amazon last year. We ended up using it when we were camping last year to keep the babies contained while we were outside. This year, we used it as their bed!
The first couple of nights, we attempted to sleep with the twins in the master bedroom (it was a queen size bed). We would initially lay them down at bedtime in the playard and then when we were ready for bed, we would pick them up and put them in bed with us. We all fit pretty well, but since the twins had never slept with us before, they kept waking up thinking it was playtime since we were there. So needless to say, two sleepless nights and we needed a solution, quick.
We put the Pop ‘N Play Playard on top of the queen bed and they both fit in it perfectly and slept great. So instead of getting them out to sleep with us when we were going to bed, my husband and I took one for the team and slept on the pull out in the living area. We all actually slept decently after that.
I was really worried about the twins climbing out or pushing the playard over. But they couldn’t push it over because the mesh fabric wouldn’t allow for it. They weren’t able to climb out because they didn’t have anything to step on to boost them out. It ended up being a great idea and I wish we would have done that from day 1.
We also set up their baby monitor in the room so we could still see them when we weren’t in there. The baby monitor we took is the one we use at home that has a split screen, but we only needed to bring one of the cameras camping. It was perfect because it doesn’t need wifi and it has a really good range.
Next year, they should be old enough to sleep in a bed by themselves. We’ll have a larger RV so we’ll put them in the extra bedroom.
Camping with Toddlers Checklist
Since this was technically our first year camping with toddlers (they were five months old last year when we took them), I wasn’t really sure what I would need or not need. I feel like I packed the entire house for them. Definitely not needed.
Next year, I’ll keep the packing to a minimum. These are the big items that are must-haves for camping with toddlers:
- pack ‘n play or something similar for sleeping
- white noise machine
- high chair booster seats or chair with tray (the high chairs we have at home are convertible, so we were able to remove the legs and just take the booster seat with the tray – lifesaver!)
- outdoor toys
- wagon
- push cart
- bouncy balls
- portable fans (it gets extremely hot in Georgia, so we would also attach the portable fans to the stroller or the ‘Oh Crap’ handle in the car when we were riding)
- baby monitor
- indoor games for rainy days
Hopefully, this list will help make your trip a lot easier when camping with toddlers.
I know each year will get easier going on vacation with twin toddlers and I’ll miss the days that were hard. Soaking in each and every moment is extremely important to me and having items that make everything easier when camping with toddlers frees up my time to spend with them.
Drop a comment below if you use an item on vacation that you can’t live without!
Just saw this today (August 23). Since I see the real twinnies, I don’t stop on your sweet blog often enough (but I will do so now that you have your fun stories). Love your Camping post. Thanks for the mention and memory. Never doubt that the trip and all its prep and paraphernalia are as fun for the aunt (or parents or big sisters and brothers and grandparents, etc.) as for the kiddos. Love you.
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Aww, thank you! It was so much fun and I believe each year will get more fun (if there is such a thing). Love you!