RVing with a toddler.

[charliebravo]

We have a 2.5 year old and we're searching for tips on RVing with little ones - particularly when it comes to safety.

Our little one is active and adventurous (putting it nicely ). We're thinking it will take her 3 seconds to figure out how to unlock the front door at night and wander off.

Please share your tips on keeping your toddler alive while camping (not just the door thing)!

[BigJohnD]

I can't offer too much assistance, as I can't really remember changing much of anything on any of our rigs. They will figure out almost every safety device you can install. My older 2 sound like yours, adventurous, and very smart. The older ones started camping at 7 days old each, and the newest one was 2 weeks. I've had them fall down stairs, fall out of bunks on previous rigs etc. They have survived. Funny you mention the door. My oldest one tried to get out the front door just last trip. It was locked, she was pretty much asleep, it woke me up so she didn't succeed. She didn't remember anything the next morning. Only advice I can offer, is never ever take your eyes off them, if that's possible. We try to keep ours occupied as much as possible to keep them out of trouble. On our last trip, another thing that happened, my wife and I were outside for just a bit doing something while the older 2 were inside. We never heard anything out of the ordinary. Later, we found videos on my wife's iPhone where my daughter was filming my son dancing and jumping off the ladder. More funny than dangerous, but it doesn't take them long to get into something. My daughter pretty much trained herself on the iPhone, and figured out pass codes based off of different important numbers she's memorized. Kids are just smart these days.

One thing I can remember doing, is adding a smoke alarm that you could record your message on. We have, and still do hold fire drills where each kid knows what to do in different scenarios. The smoke alarm has my voice on it instructing them on what to do.

[BigJohnD]

My mind is coming back a little. Door knob covers for the bathroom. They figured out how to remove those. Electric recepticle plug inserts, they figured out how to remove those. Stove knob covers, they figured out how to remove those. You get the idea. We've tried all sorts of stuff.

[glsimms]

We have a soon to be 3 year old grandson and a pak-n-play has come in handy many times. Really, he isn't too much trouble to take camping. Just have to keep a constant eye on them, especially around the campfire.

[charliebravo]

Originally Posted by BigJohnD

I can't offer too much assistance, as I can't really remember changing much of anything on any of our rigs. They will figure out almost every safety device you can install. My older 2 sound like yours, adventurous, and very smart. The older ones started camping at 7 days old each, and the newest one was 2 weeks. I've had them fall down stairs, fall out of bunks on previous rigs etc. They have survived. Funny you mention the door. My oldest one tried to get out the front door just last trip. It was locked, she was pretty much asleep, it woke me up so she didn't succeed. She didn't remember anything the next morning. Only advice I can offer, is never ever take your eyes off them, if that's possible. We try to keep ours occupied as much as possible to keep them out of trouble. On our last trip, another thing that happened, my wife and I were outside for just a bit doing something while the older 2 were inside. We never heard anything out of the ordinary. Later, we found videos on my wife's iPhone where my daughter was filming my son dancing and jumping off the ladder. More funny than dangerous, but it doesn't take them long to get into something. My daughter pretty much trained herself on the iPhone, and figured out pass codes based off of different important numbers she's memorized. Kids are just smart these days.

One thing I can remember doing, is adding a smoke alarm that you could record your message on. We have, and still do hold fire drills where each kid knows what to do in different scenarios. The smoke alarm has my voice on it instructing them on what to do.

Ha! I'm totally prepared for falls, bumps, and bruises. I'm firmly in the "rub some dirt on it" camp.

I'm just concerned about the wandering off mainly. I almost said something about the oven/stove in the original post...that's the other thing. When it's in use, she'll never be allowed inside alone. But considering she has an early bedtime I am slightly nervous about her exploring inside alone while we're around the campfire.

We'll just have to feel things out and be consistent and clear on the rules for what she can and can't touch.

Glad to hear from someone who hasn't had any major issues with THREE little ones!

[charliebravo]

Originally Posted by glsimms

We have a soon to be 3 year old grandson and a pak-n-play has come in handy many times. Really, he isn't too much trouble to take camping. Just have to keep a constant eye on them, especially around the campfire.

Oh man I miss the pack-n-play. Ours is a climber so we've been crib-free since before she was 2.

My mom eyes (on the back of my head) will be getting a workout for sure.

[charliebravo]

Originally Posted by BigJohnD

My mind is coming back a little. Door knob covers for the bathroom. They figured out how to remove those. Electric recepticle plug inserts, they figured out how to remove those. Stove knob covers, they figured out how to remove those. You get the idea. We've tried all sorts of stuff.

Story of my life, John. Story of my life.

[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.

[Bucko06]

I take a different approach with my 4 year old and 20 month old. I teach them about the RV. They love to learn and love to help. My 4 year old was 2.5 when we got the RV. He loved to "help" crank down stabilizers or hold a hose. Now today both kids love to wash the RV and do other items. I am not a fan of shrouding them from danger with safety devices. But rather teach them what the dangers are and how they should behave. It takes effort and some continuous monitoring. But now my 4 year old rarely gets into trouble and helps out quite a bit. I hope the younger one is following the same path.

[djtho1]

I would probably fall more to the side of Bucko on this. We have taught our 4 pretty much everything we can about the various campers, campground etiquette, and use the word "no" a lot, especially when they were younger. As for the wandering, it will happen some no matter how close you watch. Little suckers can be fast! Best thing is to know your environment as best you can. It is natural to worry, but there are some ways to minimize it. If they are new to camping, do some camping in the driveway until they are comfortable with it, then venture out. The absolute best thing (at least for us) was making sure they were warm and comfortable and had fun. We now full time with with four aged 7-13 without too many issues. Be ready to see things from a whole new perspective!

[Jmooney]

Duct tape?

[Jace817]

We take the baby video monitor with us. We put her to bed and turn it on and then enjoy some adult time around the campfire. If she wakes up or attempt to escape her bunk, we hear/see it on the monitor.

[KiltDog]

My youngest of three just turned 2, so I'm in the same boat. Best thing we ever got for camping with toddlers was a portable play yard - Google it. It's basically a bunch of interlocking panels that you can make into a pen. Now that the baby is older he doesn't want to be trapped in, but we put it around the campfire in the evenings as an extra layer of defense. Never had a kid get burned, but it's my number one fear when it comes to camping with kids.

[3'senough]

You're on the upside in years, so going over everything inside the unit is key. Make sure there is an understanding of what is bad and what is good. You could proof the whole rig and then it just becomes no fun as the mechanisims to keep the kids out of stuff keep the adults out too!

There are a few major hazzards that we went for with my 3. Bunks - You can make some cheap effective retainers with some pine shelving and 90 degree shelf brackets for under $20 bucks each. Stain or paint to match. I only have them on the tops bunks. Pillow or 2 on the ground works good enough for the lower one if you feel the need.

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.

Enjoy it, every trip they will get more acclimated and pay less attention to the hazzards. Reinforce the hazzards each trip and practice good water use habits as that will be your next challenge.

[Filthy-Beast]

Mine are all older in there 20s now but we taught them from a very young age, Fire-Metal-Hot! so that they would not touch any metal near a fire.


A few years ago we were siting around a fire ring, son had his feet on the ring, he jumped up and started hopping, ripping his shoes off. The heat had transferred to the shoe and starting to transfer to his feet. In unison the other two yelled Fire-Metal-Hot and started laughing.

[Camper_bob]

Subscribed!

I have an 8 MO boy. I think he might end up being his father's son (which would likely be a BAD thing!!)

Definitely looking for pointers on camping with little ones!

[namusmc65]

Originally Posted by Bucko06

I take a different approach with my 4 year old and 20 month old. I teach them about the RV. They love to learn and love to help. My 4 year old was 2.5 when we got the RV. He loved to "help" crank down stabilizers or hold a hose. Now today both kids love to wash the RV and do other items. I am not a fan of shrouding them from danger with safety devices. But rather teach them what the dangers are and how they should behave. It takes effort and some continuous monitoring. But now my 4 year old rarely gets into trouble and helps out quite a bit. I hope the younger one is following the same path.

I think Bucko hit the nail on the head. My oldest 2 are now in their early 40's. We did not have all the safety items we have today. Mine started out in the playpen on the beach while I fished right beside them. I always kept them involved in whatever activity we were doing. There is no better device to keep kids safe than your own two eyes! I cannot express enough do not let them out of your site. Too many folks today just let kids wander unsupervised all over the place, no idea where they are or what they are doing. I have raised 4 and the wife and I had eyes on them at all times. Never let them out of our site until they were old enough. And I don't mean 3 or 4 years old! They need to be involved in your activities and learn to share experiences. They will appreciate all that when they grow old. My son now in his 40s, loves to fish, hunt, camp, anything outdoors. The daughters not quiet so much. I just can't imagine bringing up kids in today's society with all the government oversight and meddling!

[Camper_bob]

I don't know from first hand experience yet, but I'm thinking if I take the mystery out of some dangerous things, they'll lose their luster. So I'm hoping to keep my son as involved as possible in the things I do, especially the "dangerous" things. I'm hoping that by doing this, he'll know how to deal with those things safely. If I just insulate him from them and he never gets exposed, I'm afraid he'll want to do/touch them more; you know, because of the novelty and mystery.

For now, I guess we still have it easy; he's not crawling yet (though it's close), and the biggest thing we have to worry about right now is him wiggling off something and falling to the floor, or eating something off the floor when he gets there! Everything goes in his mouth, so we have to watch out!

I almost bought one of those kid-fence thingies the other day from another parent who didn't need it anymore, but couldn't nab it. I'll be on the lookout for one of those in the near future.

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...

[alaskahofferts]

Our daughter is 2 1/2, she's so much more trouble than our son ever was. He's 11 1/2. (Hey look, my wife and I thought we were done....surprise) Anyway, now that it's RV season again, I started to think about my daughter running around and unlocking the door and wandering about. We don't stay in CGs very often, we are often in the wilds of Alaska. Wandering off can be deadly. But I realized that I wasn't going to worry about it. I had been up late last weekend, bear hunting, and decided to sleep in. So did the wife and my son, I awoke to the daughter "playing a card game". I had no idea how long she was awake, but she never left. I think kids know, hey if I go out there right now there isn't anyone to bail me out of trouble. At least my kids have been that way...........so far, but I'm about to hit the teens with one.

[scottraycraft]

we camped with my daughter since she was 6 months...pak n play served us well