RVing with a toddler.

[KiltDog]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

Do you guys put anything under it? Like an outdoor carpet or something? Or do you just set it up (hopefully in the grass or something) and let 'em go? Right now I would be afraid he would eat something harmful off the ground like a nut or a twig or something, and hurt himself...

If I had a nickel for every twig or nut my kids ate, I'd be a rich man. I don't put anything under our "baby cage", but we did put their camp chairs in with them. If they were too young to use a chair, I'd probably still have them in the pack and play. I just make sure there are no bottle caps and cigarette butts, seems like there are more of those than nuts or twigs on most sights I get.

[oobedoob]

Originally Posted by Jmooney

Duct tape?

That was the first thing to cross my mind!

with our bed being the dinette right beside the door and with 2 large stinky alarms that sleep on the floor I have never worried about my 2 year old escaping without notice. We have added simple slide bolts to the doors at home at about 6 feet off the floor to avoid him unlocking and going outside on his own however.

[DocBrown]

What do you do at home? Do the same things. You know your kids, you know what they are capable of. We started taking our daughter tenting when she was about 1. For us it was a matter of setting boundaries. Just like home, they need to know what is acceptable and what isn't.

Our challenge was that she was a sleep walker. More than once she opened the tent zipper at 2:00 am and it happened in the pop-up too. Like you said they figure out the latch pretty quickly. My wife and I are both heavy sleepers but we always woke up when she was trying to get out or wandering around the tent or camper at night.

We never needed a play pen or anything like that. With a tent and all the gear to go with it hauled in a midsize car we wouldn't have been able to take something like that anyway. She was never out of our sight until bed time and then it was checking on her frequently. She survived, we survived, and she's a die hard camper to this day.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by KiltDog

If I had a nickel for every twig or nut my kids ate, I'd be a rich man. I don't put anything under our "baby cage", but we did put their camp chairs in with them. If they were too young to use a chair, I'd probably still have them in the pack and play. I just make sure there are no bottle caps and cigarette butts, seems like there are more of those than nuts or twigs on most sights I get.

LOL! Yeah, the occasional handful of dog or cat fur, or wad of grass, or even a twig I don't worry too much about. But the wrong acorn can make an adult very sick, let alone an infant. And he already has a way of popping things in his mouth quickly and covertly. I'm all for letting him experience things, but I really hate cleaning up vomit, so I'd like to minimize it as much as possible.

[charliebravo]

Originally Posted by canuckowner

The first thing I did was purchase a baby/pet fence for the screen door so they wouldn't fall right through the screen. I then added the childproof hook & eye type latch to the screen door as well. Never had a child fall out the door despite their many attempts.

Another thing to consider is the risk of scalding/ serious burns from the coach hot water supply. When we bath the little ones in the trailer we fully deplete the hot water supply and then I turn off the hot water until they are out of the tub. The kids like to spend a long time playing in the tub and I was always a bit concerned that a tap might get turned on accidently. If she is able to get up to the sink herself then you will need to be watchful there as well. I do believe these hot water tanks heat to around 150F which can scald a child instantly.

When our oldest was learning to walk we always fenced off the fire pit. Never had that trouble with the younger one though, much more cautious personality.

Otherwise its not really any different than being at home. Just use good sense and keep dangerous things out of reach.

Great tips. Thanks!

[charliebravo]

Originally Posted by 3'senough

What we have found to work also is bringing the outdoors inside for the little ones later at night. A sheet, glow stick or colored LED bulb work wonders for a kid fort. I would tuck the end of a sheet in the high bunk and make the lower one a fort. They won't want to leave and eventually drift off.

Doors - The screen door is the single most hazzard IMHO and due to my height from the ground in a 5'er I put the most effort there. A pet door grate on the lower portion from Lowes cut to size and a screen door dead bolt out of arms reach. We still use this to keep the dog inside and all my kids know how to work it now.

My screen doors also have plexi glass so I can keep the hard door open and see inside without loosing heat or AC. Keeps the curiosity down on both sides.

If you have a very active kid who needs to touch everything I would just remove the knobs from the cooktop as it is used so infrequently or invest in the caps. Also if they like to flush the toliet a lot just turn it off.

Love all of these ideas - especially the bunk fort. She's going to L.O.V.E that. We might have a fighting chances of keeping her in bed!

[Hattie]

Some great posts about securing a place to sleep: http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f3...ent-18501.html

Let me repeat our favorite story: When camping with our toddler son in Big Basin State Park in CA, we walked the perimeter of our site (very woodsy area with creeks and poison oak) dragging a stick so he knew the boundary. I then told him he could play anywhere within this area OR if he violated it - time-out! I stepped into our Coleman Tent-Trailer to fix lunch AND keep an eye on him and of course he immediately trotted off-and-beyond the designated perimeter. SO out I went to retrieve him and place him into his tiny camp chair under one of the extended beds (not an exciting place to be) and told him "your butt is GLUED to that chair until time-out is over". Smart kid, no sooner did I step back inside the rig, then off he went - holding the chair "glued to his butt"; we (silently) laughed so hard that it took us a while until we could retrieve him and set a new rule!

[charliebravo]

Update: we're currently on night 2 of camping in the new trailer. So far, she hasn't figured out the door, has shown no interest in the oven/stove, and has generally been more interested in our stuff (ie daddy's keys, my purse, everyone's toothbrushes, etc) than anything that could kill her.

By far our biggest hurdle is getting her to fall asleep. Everything is very new and exciting so hopefully it will get better the more we camp. I think our strategy next trip is lots of activities during the day, no nap, and a special (read: later) bedtime.

Or duct tape.

[Skaling]

Top bunk for my 3 year old and bottom bunk for my 2 year old with this and my boys fall asleep with no issues and we aren't worried that they will get out or fall out.

[charliebravo]

Originally Posted by Skaling

Top bunk for my 3 year old and bottom bunk for my 2 year old with this and my boys fall asleep with no issues and we aren't worried that they will get out or fall out.

I NEED details. That's exactly what we need. Or tell me where you're parked so I can come steal one.

[Skaling]

Originally Posted by charliebravo

I NEED details. That's exactly what we need. Or tell me where you're parked so I can come steal one.

pretty simple. Just measure your openings, decide on the height you want it, measure height from plywood base under mattress. Buy wood and wood screws and 90degree angle brackets that fit. Cut pieces to length and height. Paint/stain if wanted. Wood glue and screw together. There is also a counter balance under the mattress that is about the same length that has a thin piece of smooth plywood on it for the mattress to rest on.
I also made one out of polyethylene pipe for the bottom bunk to help 'save on weight'. Both work great.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

LOL! Yeah, the occasional handful of dog or cat fur, or wad of grass, or even a twig I don't worry too much about. But the wrong acorn can make an adult very sick, let alone an infant. And he already has a way of popping things in his mouth quickly and covertly. I'm all for letting him experience things, but I really hate cleaning up vomit, so I'd like to minimize it as much as possible.

An update to this post: This weekend we needed to load the canoe on the truck, so we found a nice soft spot of grass for 8 MO DS to sit in for a couple minutes while we did that. No problems; the dog even sat with him as his protector (he's never done that before, it was very cute). We finished loading up the canoe, and DW brought him in the house where he promptly started gagging. She picked him up, and he immediately puked all over her! Then he opened his mouth wide as if to say "mommy, something is in there I need you to get out for me". Well, there was a soggy twig or piece of straw or whatever stuck way down in his throat. She yanked it out and off he went happy as a clam. That's the vomit I was talking about; he was fine, but DW had to change clothes...

Anyway, this weekend he did pretty good in his bunk. So far we're still using the pool noodle under the sheet, but he's getting really good at sitting up now, and the noodle will do nothing to stop him from toppling out from a sitting position, so bunk gates are on my short list of mods this month.

Also, we began using an audio-only baby monitor that we picked up on Amazon for $30. It worked great, and had enough range for us to use outside the camper. Problem was battery life; we only got two uses out of it with the batteries I had. New batteries are in it now, so we'll see how it goes. Worst case scenario is it has an AC adapter we can use with an extension cord if we need to.

Totally forgot the pack-n-play (my fault), and missed it greatly. We spent a lot of time outside this trip, and it would have been nice to have somewhere to set him down for a little while.