Camping With A Toddler – What Should You Bring With You

Camping is a great way to get back in touch with nature and if you are a parent it is a great way to introduce your kids to start to have a lifelong love of camping and nature. The problem is a lot of times you will want to start your kids off camping when they are younger and this means taking a toddler out into the woods to go camping! Yikes, did I just say that? Yes, I did taking your toddler camping. Yes, when you go camping with a toddler you will find some challenges you have to overcome, but the main thing is you will need to make sure you have some extra items to bring with you.  That is what we are going to cover here to make it a little bit easier for you to know if you are able to go camping with your toddler and have a great time, as long as you have the items they are going to need to have with them.

Why Attempt To Go Camping With A Toddler

Well, before we go into what you need to bring along, I figured I would put down some of the information on why you would even want to attempt going camping with your toddler. The main reason is if you want your kids to like camping you will want to start the love early on. Not to mention, camping is a great way to get your toddler used to all the noises they will experience outdoors and teach them not to be afraid of these noises. So this is definitely something you will want to consider for the future because the kids will start to love this as much as you do.

Properly Sized Sleeping Bag

Okay, this is the key to having your toddler to have a great time sleeping and that is making sure your toddler has the proper sized sleeping bag. This is a completely separate sleeping bag than what you may be used to buying, but if you want to have a good nights rest without having your toddler in your sleeping bag then you need to make sure they have a good one.

What else you need to look for in addition to the size is the type of materials the inner liner of the bag is made from.  By looking at this, you can determine if it will be comfortable for your toddler to lay down on and sleep in or if you need to consider a different material for your toddler because of the roughness of the material compared to some of the other items you may have used before.

Bring A Stuffed Animal They Like

Face it, you are a parent and no matter how bad it looks you are going to need to bring along a stuffed animal with you.  So you will want to make sure you bring your kids favorite stuffed animal. This will help provide the toddler with some of the comforts they will want to have when they are away from home. Even with you in the same tent, you will notice that the kids may not have the same comfort and it is amazing what kind of difference a small stuffed toy that your kids are going to bring with them will have.

Bring Along Toddler Medicines

While you may already bring along a first aid kit with you for camping, you need to modify this kit some. That is because you will have your toddler with you and I hate to break it to you, but a toddler cannot take adult medications. So you will need to make sure you have their medications with you. Then if they start to get a fever, sick, get allergies or even scrape their finger or knee running in the grass you will have all the medications you need to keep your kids healthy. If you have to bring along one key thing this would be one of those items that you will want to make sure you bring because this will make a huge difference in how well your kids are going to heal up if they get sick or injured while camping.

Something else that I tend to think of more as a first aid item because it seems to be a lifesaver is the proper bug spray! This spray will be what you are going to use to help protect your kids from the insects that are flying around at night or even during the day and biting them. At the same time, this can help keep your kids from having to itch all night long.

Extra Clothing For The Toddler

This may seem like a no-brainer for a lot of people, but you would be shocked at how many people overlook this. They tend to overlook this because they think I can just run to the dresser or the laundry to get the clothes cleaned or get new clothes. However, when you are camping you usually do not have these items with you to make it easier for you to get the items you need for the kids. For me, I would figure up how many outfits my kid usually goes through in a single day. Then you will take that and add an extra outfit to it. This way you will have one extra compared to normal. The same goes for underwear because some toddlers will still be in the potty training phase. So make sure you bring along extra underwear and in some cases even diapers to help you in getting your toddler protected from having a wet sleeping bag or disappointment in themselves because they had too many accidents.

Toys And Age Proper Games

Face it, while you may have fun camping and know that it is a great time to sit down and relax, your younger kids may not. Since this is the case, they may be constantly on the go and wanting to do more and more. While most campgrounds will have a playground, you may not want to go to the playground as soon as you wake up in the morning. If this is your case, then you should know that you can go and turn to some of the toys and games that your kids are going to like. By bringing these along it will allow you to keep your kids close to you, but also know they are going to be passing the time with toys or games, rather than electronic devices that has seemingly taken up all the lives of everyone.

Campfire Foods

While this is something you will most likely be bringing for yourself as well, you will want to make sure you bring along foods that your kids can make on the campfire. A favorite of my kids and myself is the old standby of roasting marshmallows on a fire. This is something that I do with my kids and have done, but for the younger kids that I have I roast the marshmallow for them on the roasting stick. So they are not going to be exposed to the fire, but this is definitely something that will add to the experience for the kids who are going to be camping.

Camping With A Toddler Can Be Fun

I know that camping with a toddler is a challenge, but it is a great time for you to bond with your kids and know they are going to have a great time camping.  No matter what when you are looking at the camping gear you need to bring for toddler camping, the most important items are those that will help you keep them safe and protected, then worry about the rest of the items.