Last week was our very first camping trip with Sebastian. I was definitely a bit anxious beforehand but things went really, surprisingly smoothly and we all (especially Sebastian) had a lot of fun. We enjoyed many laps around the campground, played in the park, thrifted & window shopped (my favorite toy store in Old Town, and a leather store selling motorcycle clothing), ate and hung out around the fire. This is a list of things I learned on our weeklong camping trip, my mommy advice to anyone planning a baby or toddler trip of their own.

Pack and play! As in, bring your Pack n Play. Ours is the Arm’s Reach Co-Sleeper, affectionately nicknamed “the nut house”. Perfect for plopping down the kid while you unpack and set up camp, and for some alone time of his own. Kids need space sometimes and this was a safe way to do it and cut down on the stimulation. We rotated a few toys and books and gave him finger foods while we hung out close by. I thought that the play pen would get really dirty and be unusable after the trip but it totally wasn’t; we just shook it out.

Have lots of room for sleeping. We used one full size air mattress and I regret it. If you co-sleep, try to have as much space for everyone as you do at home, especially if you are using an air mattress that will launch you off the side if the weight distribution shifts!

Bring your easy-to-clean stroller. I also brought a sling and a mei tai and wore Sebastian more than I ever have, BUT strollers are for more than strolling. Sebastian ate in his, pulled up to the picnic table or around the campfire with us, safely buckled in. Sebastian also loves dogs, which the campsite had many of, and he could see them more easily cruising around at stroller-level than being carried.

Bring lots of changes of clothes. We did a load of laundry in town mid-week and still went through most of what I’d packed. Most of the changes weren’t for dirt but for diaper leaks and food spills, which happened more often than at home. (Dirt actually brushes off the easiest.)

Lay down your own turf. We used one of those (toxic?) play mats inside the tent and a roll of astro turf outside. Sebastian got to play in the dirt as well, but it was nice to have a clean-er area when he went booking it out of the tent at 8am.

Stick to routines. This is pretty obvious. Sebastian naturally stuck to a tighter schedule camping than he does at home, napping easily on the dot. We made sure to go away from our campsite in the hour or two before naptime or bed so that he would make the association with sleep when we returned back to the tent. He slept on the air mattress in the open tent where we could peek at him and he could see us when he woke up. On a couple of occasions I nursed him to sleep by the fire before laying him down for the night.

We’ll see how next year goes when he is running around the campsite under his own steam. Feel free to share your own tips for camping with babies & toddlers!