Description
This article is from the Outdoor
Activities for Young Children FAQ, by Gloria Logan
glogan@atk.com with numerous contributions by others.
64 TIPS ON SLEEPING: sleeping bags for toddlers
We're taking our two-year old camping in a few weeks and I'm interested
in any advice or information others might have about sleeping bags for
toddlers. Last summer we just piled a bunch a baby blankets on her,
but I think she's too big and active for that to really keep her warm
this summer. At what age did people start using a sleeping bag for
their kids? Did you use a child-sized sleeping bag and how did it work
out? Any recommendations about brands, styles, etc?
P.S. On a related note - has anyone gone backpacking with toddlers or
young children? I don't have any immediate plans...but I sure miss
backpacking and would love to do it again soon. If you have any
experiences or advice to share, please do.
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We were going to go camping with Jack - aged 2 (a few things happened
to postpone the trip). I was going to have to buy myself a new sleeping
bag to zip together with my partner's. The man in the camping shop said
that most good sleeping bags with full length zips were big enough to
sleep a small child between two adults, as you've got the extra wall
depth to spare. That's what we were going to do, then see about getting
Jack his own child-sized sleeping bag next year.
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I just got Coleman bags for my children. The more expensive bags were
sold out and I think I may be happier for that coincidence (I only had
3 days to buy all my equipment). The kids LOVED them. They were
plenty warm, have a nice soft lining, and should last until the kids
hit puberty and have a major growth spurt.
friends who camp a LOT set an age limit of 3 for backpack trips.
Personally I think this is too young. I don't think Mitchell would
have managed until this year and he's almost 5. I KNOW I wouldn't want
to backpack with "I runaway" Erin.
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We used a baby sleeping bag the year was was 9 weeks, and again when
she was 1 yr. Then my Dad gave us a kiddie sleeping bag and we used it
for her two year and three year trip, and plan to use it again this
year. It takes up a lot less room than a full size bag. We don't zip it
up -- that way she can come into our two-bags-zipped- together very
easily when she wakes up.
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L.L. Bean's has youth sleeping bags, which my daughter has used from
about 5 years old to now (15 years old - she needs another bag -
perhaps for her birthday?) It has held up well.
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You may want to post in the backcountry group on backpacking with
children - some things I recall are:
1) make it something the child can walk (i.e., short) or be prepared
to carry your pack and child
2) make it enjoyable for all (frequent stops to examine things/rest/eat
for the little ones)
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We got our daughter a kids sleeping bag when she was 2 1/2. She used
it for 5 years and then handed it down last year to her little sister
who was 2 1/2 and graduated to using one of my old down bags. We bought
a kids Windy Pass, which is the North Face offshore brand. We got the
bag on sale for ~$50, if I remember correctly. it's synthetic and
rated to 15 degrees, which is the same as our bags. We were still car
camping last year, looking for campgrounds with walk-in sites wherever
possible. But Anna (the littlest one) handled walks of 3 miles and
more without complaint, and without being carried so we figured on
short backpacking trips this year. (Oh, we were in tthe mountains,
and we live at sea level, so the 3 miles was perhaps more consequential
than it would have otherwise been) Anyway we were set to do quite a
bit of backpacking--mostly hiking in to a small lake in the Sierras,
maybe 2 miles from the trailhead--and either staying there with
additional hikes to other nearby lakes or continuing on every day or
two to a new campsite. Either way we'd be away from those blasted
Coleman lanterns that light up the forest service campgrounds :-) But
we'll be in Minnesota for the summer, so it looks like we'll be doing
more canoing than backpacking. Probably a good compromise for the 3
YO. I think the key with the little ones is to be Verry flexible in
your plans--and definitely see on a day hike how far they can walk.
Also, once they know about a lake that they've hiked too, you'd
probably have no trouble convincing them to go camping next to it. Next
trick for us is how to get the two kids out of our backpacking tent and
into their own--it's getting crowded in that little space! have fun!
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We've been taking Eddie camping since he was a newborn (he'll be three
6/19) and he would always wiggle out of his sleeping bag; for awhile
last year he refused to have it zipped at all. What we found worked
really good was simply to dress him warmly & not worry about it. A
HOODED sweatshirt or if it's cold a HOODED pile (also called
polarfleece) jacket works well over footed pajamas. Add or subtract
layers depending on the temperature. Keeping the head covered helps
alot & the only way we found to do that was what I mentioned above.
We live in Wisconsin where spring & fall nights get COLD - but Eddie's
always been fine.
We don't backpack but have canoe-camped with the kids (Eddie has a
little sister). One piece of advice is to make sure & take along some
special toys/activities in case you get stuck (bad weather,etc)
- and don't take them out until then. Last year we ended up spending
an entire day in camp because of bad weather. IT WAS THE LONGEST DAY
OF OUR LIVES!!! If I wouldn't have had some special things tucked away
it would have been alot worse.......
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We haven't done a lot of camping with our little boys, but when we do
go, I dress them in layers: long underwear and socks, blanket sleeper,
adult size sweatshirt with the arms cut short. Then, if their not
sweating, we (ugh!) bring them into our double sleeping bag. Starting
last year, our older boy was about old enough to keep himself warm
nestled in a full size 2 lb down mummy bag. He's 4 now and I think
we'll get him his own sleeping bag this summer. R.E.I. has a kid size
one we're thinking of getting.
We figure diapers are the limiting factor in actual backpacking. We
just might be able to go by the end of this summer.
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I used to go backpacking with my boss, his wife, and their son (then
5). They used to put a small backpack on him to carry his teddy-bear
and a daily snack to slow him down so the adults could keep up with
him. Didn't work: he'd still run circles around us. :-)
I think the key is to go moderate distances with lots of rest/snack
breaks.
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In addition to the sleeping bag which she didn't sleep in, I put an
adult size down vest over Audrey's sleeper. This worked fine.
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My family ( wife, son(10yo), daughter(8.5yo) and I ) is fond of
boating, hiking, camping while vacancy time every year. Our children
have been joining us since 2yo. To my mind individual sleeping bag is
not suitable for kids. Once we tried it for our son, but we had to push
him inside every two hours. Now we use a very wide "blanket" consisting
of two sleeping bags zipped with each other by one side. If the
children are in the middle between parents, you will be ensured in their
condition. Don't be afraid of nonzipped edges. Since it is very wide,
it's enough if you have a proper isolator from a ground.
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On sleeping bags:
We took our 18 month old camping last summer and she just slept in an
adult bag. She did fine. It was a mummy bag, but we left loose at the
top. She slept between my husband and myself because I was a little
nervous that she'd wriggle to the bottom of her bag and suffocate -- my
worries were totally unfounded! We had no problems.
On backpacking:
I've never backpacked, but my husband did alot as he was growing up. I
believe his parents took him along (week-long trip in the Sierras) when
he was seven. Their rule of thumb was the child had to be big enough
to carry his own sleeping bag and clothes. Mom and Dad carried
everything else.
We are going camping in a couple weeks, too (Zion National Park). The
toddler is now 2.5 and we have another daughter who will be 8 months.
Could you respond and expound on how you handled sleeping arrangements
for your baby last year?
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My response: We usually put her on her lambskin next to our sleeping
bags in our tent. Depending on the temperature, we put her in several
layers of clothes and tried to keep a pile of baby blankets more or
less on top of her.
In early September, we took her camping in Vermont, where many of the
state parks have shelters. This was great set-up for us in many ways
(we actually used the portacrib for Abigail), but it meant that we
couldn't create that pocket of human-warmed air in the tent. The last
night we were there, it got *really* cold (high 30's/low 40's), and
even with p.j.s, turtleneck, overalls, knit wool leggings and hooded
sweater and hooded fleece jacket, we worried about her getting cold.
We brought her into our bag between us so we knew she'd be warm enough,
but *we* slept terribly!
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