Motorhoming with a baby?? (1 Viewer)

[errpaul]

With a new arrival due in the next couple of months we've started thinking about the year ahead and if we are going to get out in the van at all....
We're looking for advice and ideas from anyone out there who has been there and done that.
What age did you 1st take your baby away in the van...what time of year?
Where did baby sleep? Did you wait until baby sleeps through the night?
Any thing we need to consider??
Cheers

 

[Scout]

my daughter and son in law took thier new baby in thier caravan at just over 3 months (easter time), used a travel cot suitilby secured, my other daughter and partner have a folding camping they came away with us when thier tot was 5.5 months, the baby sleep with us in the m/h again in a travel cot, over the front dinet bed (again sutibly secured) this was auguest


no problems baby sleep like a log,

 

[yodeli]

Hi Paul!


I don't have a motorhome so can't say a thing about it, but have done a lot of tenting and caravaning with my children since they were babies and as a mum and as a child carer i would say that if you intend to travel during the summer then be very careful as the heat is probably the main dangerous thing for the little ones ( water in little bottles ALWAYS, water isn't good anymore after half an hour when left in the heat). If you have air con well no prob then . the second major point is their back! So no more than 2 hours at a time sitting while travelling , best way is to keep them lying when the conditions allow it.
Each time i had to travel with very little babies (my niece was 2 months, just coming out of hospital after her birth at 7 months of pregnancy, and had an operation on her stomach so very fragile and tiny baby .... !!)i always plan a proper route so i know exactly were are the best hospitals on my way .... just in case , never needed them though , but i felt more relaxed!


Happy travels with your baby!



Amicalement


Frankie

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[old-mo]

We took our kids away when one was about 1 year old and tother was 3,, they loved it and always slept well, think it was all the fresh air..

And all we had was a 10ft caravan, this was back in 1966, so no mod cons..

Last meets we used to go to was the New Forest DA, Bonfire meet around 5th Nov and the Feast of the Lanterns..

I`d have no problems now with taking them away anytime of the year with todays modern machines.. :thumb:

 

[errpaul]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I think that travel cot over dinette bed is probably the best place...guess we'll just then have to go outside under the wind out, or take the drive away awning as our only seating is the dinette.

Another thing I'd thought of today was to make some kind of mini-cot and put it on the bottom bunk?? Anyone done anything like this?

 

[Hayleylulu]

MY wife says she dose that all the time with me as she says am her baby

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[bobandjanie]

Camping, frame tent, 1985, Joanne, 6 weeks old, no problems...... Jane

 

[old-mo]

Our first van (10ft) had a dinette where by the table dropped down to make up the double,,, and other end was a single bed and on top of that was a bunk made out plasticky material and 2 metal poles that clipped into 4 plastic clips..

the bottom bunk we used to take the side out of the youngest`s cot from home and it fitted in between the wardrobe on one side and the sink unit on other..

How many remember them ??? oh:

 

[errpaul]

Our first van (10ft) had a dinette where by the table dropped down to make up the double,,, and other end was a single bed and on top of that was a bunk made out plasticky material and 2 metal poles that clipped into 4 plastic clips..

the bottom bunk we used to take the side out of the youngest`s cot from home and it fitted in between the wardrobe on one side and the sink unit on other..

How many remember them ??? oh:

Not me

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[sedge]

Well if it's a very little baby, surely you can take a carry cot or Moses basket? which can go on the floor, on a working surface, wherever it will fit - because the travel cots do actually take up quite a bit of room.

Have you got suitable anchorage points for a car seat anyway?

 

[bobandjanie]

Jo was born April 21st so that holiday was the beginning of June on the Gower? Seriously NO Problems... we also had dear Judy who would have been about 4 and a half months old. A Labrador/ GS pup! Jane No Earth Mother here but hey, they do NOT need so very much. In fact a BABY is easier than a toddler, they do not require much stuff... just parents
Suppose I ought to add, baby seats only just coming in then so think we just used the carry cot (and yes she was strapped into that and that strapped back to the seat) when on the move and by later in the summer it would have been a travel cot. In a van now.... could rig something up in ours anyway, and it is not big. The best bit about time moving on is when you say.... whatever. The washing of the children in the kitchen sink, foot pump, and that was when we progressed to a caravan! Pump up shower (plastic cylinder shower hose / rose attached) before that!

 

[Scout]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I think that travel cot over dinette bed is probably the best place...guess we'll just then have to go outside under the wind out, or take the drive away awning as our only seating is the dinette.

Another thing I'd thought of today was to make some kind of mini-cot and put it on the bottom bunk?? Anyone done anything like this?

why dont you buy a s/h cot on ebay and use the pannals to make a custom cot on the bunk

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[errpaul]

Well if it's a very little baby, surely you can take a carry cot or Moses basket? which can go on the floor, on a working surface, wherever it will fit - because the travel cots do actually take up quite a bit of room.

Have you got suitable anchorage points for a car seat anyway?

Yeah we've got three rear seatbelts so that's ok. Travel cots are quite big and so if there was something else then that'd be preferable. Carry cot and moses basket usually ok up until 4-6months I think depending on the size of the baby.

why dont you buy a s/h cot on ebay and use the pannals to make a custom cot on the bunk

That's a good idea. Hadn't thought about getting a 2nd cot to use for the frame. Just buy a new matress then, and that'd last for a number of years then.:thumb:

 

[Carol]

Our youngest was 6 weeks old when we first took her in our old 10ft caravan one April, never gave it another thought, and continued from there. No problems in a Motorhome much warmer than in the old days of our 10ft van.

 

[jonandshell]

Don't wish to offend anyone or belittle a mother's worries, but newborns in many parts of the world live in far worse conditions than in a cosy MH.
Drag the kids along whatever their age, improvise, adapt and overcome! You'll be rewarded by far better balanced kids than the majority couch-potato playstation generation will ever bring up. Your children will be rewarded in turn with experiences and excitement in their travels which will give them a fulfilling childhood.
We always take our bikes, the inflatable canoe and all manner of sports kit. The kids (and their friends we so often get railroaded into taking too!) love it!

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[brodie]

Hi

We got our motorhome when I was 6 months pregnant. Our first trip when he was born was at 10 weeks old in March time, we went to Whitby and Robin Hoods Bay and we wild camped for 2 nights.

He slept in the carrycot part of the pram on the end of the bed with me.

I would recommend off the top of my head the following !

Inflatable baby bath - Mothercare age upto 6 months but we have only just stoppped using ours he is now 2. Cold water sterilising unit for bottles/dummys if you need these. I had never used them before but I started using gro-bags for him to sleep in more accurate for warmth when you are in a drafty motorhome.

For some carseats you can buy a detachable tray (Britax) this is great when you are in need of a highchair just clips on and is secure and of course takes up no room. If you are going to buy a stroller and you have to have it in your living space then a travel bag is good for keeping the wheels off the floor.

Disposable bibs are a must (Boots/Mothercare/Asda etc), milky bibs are not good when they are not washed straight away!

When baby boy was 8 months old he was sleeping in the single dinette converted to a bed with a very high cargo net across to keep him in. This was a 3 week trip to France in August wild camping again no problems at all, he used to sleep in a vest with a muslin on him it was soooo hot!

I can't say i've encountered any problems at all my kids are now 2, 5 and 9 (when we became 3 it was baby, 3 yr old and 7 yr old) and we have gone away at all times of the year on sites and wild camping and you can take everything you need with you without compromising too much space. We have never had a sleepless night, although this maybe the vat of wine we have before bed probably don't hear them

Let me know if you want to pick my brains! :thumb: