I love being outside. Fresh air works miracles for my soul. Probably one of the reasons we decided to get a campervan in the first place.
When I was pregnant, I was told by various people that I wouldn’t want to go away in the campervan once Olive was born. I just hate being told what I will and won’t want to do. Having a baby doesn’t mean you should stop going away camping, it just takes a little more planning.
It was March when we went on our first trip as a family with our month 4 week old baby. Like with all things some bits went really well, and other areas could do with improvement.
Here are some points we took away from our experience for a stress free (kind of) camping/campervanning holiday with a baby and a dog.
Mid week trips are quieter
The last thing you want when you are going for your first trip away with your new baby is the twat next door moaning that your baby is crying and the dog is barking.
We went mid week so it was nice and quiet at the campsite. This made the whole trip feel a little more relaxed, no queues in toilets, beaches were quiet, not worried about disturbing anyone walking round with Olive in the middle of the night.
Choose a campsite close to home
In case it all went wrong or we forgot something, we could just drive back!
On night 2 of our trip we woke up at 1am because the temperature had dropped down to 3 degrees! We have a heater in our van but it wasn’t working (well actually it was working but it was filling the van with the smell of diesel). After half an hour of Olive screaming we deciding it was too cold to stay with a baby and packed up to leave.
When we got to the gate we realised the gates were locked and there was no emergency number to open the gate! This meant one of us had to sit up the rest of the night holding Olive so she didn’t get too cold.
Make sure the heater works and if the gates lock at night, get an emergency number!!
Think about dog walks
If your dog is a lunatic, this will save a lot of stress.
I love it when a campsite has a dog walk straight from the site. No hassle as we don’t have to move the van.
Baby’s are not likely to catch malaria from a mosquito bite in England, even if they haven’t had their vaccines
When we arrived, it was already getting dark. Everything seems harder in the dark. But keen to keep our spirits up, Neil cracked on with the BBQ, which is when I noticed how many mosquitos there were hovering around us. After dinner it was getting cold, and we sat in the van listening to the blissful sound of birds singing and Olive screaming. There was a moments pause and me and Neil looked at each other with a knowing look and forced smile. It meant ‘what the fuck are we doing’. We started discussing reasons why it might be best to go home.
One reason we came up with was we didn’t want Olive to get malaria from one of the mosquitos as she hadn’t had her jabs yet. After a lengthy discussion followed by a quick Google we realised there was a very slim chance of this happening. No need to panic, and there goes our excuse to go home. Fab.
Sleeping arrangements
We thought long and hard about where Olive could sleep in our van before she was born. We have a converted campervan that is only made for 2 people. We researched every possible place she could sleep; adding a new bed that folds down from the wall, travel cots, hammocks for the front seat.. In the end we decided to co sleep as this is what we do at home. To make the bed safe we fitted a rail on the side she was sleeping on. (and obviously followed safe co-sleeping advice for babies).
This is the great thing about newborns, they are so tiny they basically fit everywhere!
Once she gets a bit older we are planning to turn our front seats into a bed at night using a hammock style bed.
Mosquito net for the van door
We don’t have this yet but we realised it would be very handy to get fresh air in the van and to stop the bugs coming in.
Okay Olive might not catch malaria from the mosquitos but I don’t think she would be happy if she got bitten.
Baby carrier/sling instead of a pram
I like travelling light, and the pram is just too big. Slings are perfect for walks because you don’t need to rely on pram friendly areas. I would be lost without our sling. I love carrying Olive round, and she loves being carried.
Umbrella/baby sun tent
I love sitting in the sun, but Olive can’t be in the sun yet as she is too young. Having something to block out the sun was perfect because it meant I could sit in the sun, and still have Olive near me. Win win.
Take some pre made meals and snacks!
And coffee!!
It definitely didn’t all go to plan, but we all had a really good time!
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