The Work At Home Mom Project

Last week I posted about saving money by using cloth diapers. This week: the cheapest of cheap family vacations – camping!

Yes, I thought we might be a bit crazy. Camping with our almost-ten-month-old? Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Hubby and I used to go back-country camping with friends each summer, but this summer we decided that car-camping would be a good introduction. I just can’t see little peanut sitting still long enough in a canoe for us to paddle anywhere. So we booked a weekend car-camping site in August at Killbear Provincial Park.

Of course, driving 5 hours to “try” camping with a baby still seems a little nuts. But we had a group of friends, all with young children (18 months to 4 years) going to The Pinery this past weekend, and they had room for an extra tent. The Pinery is only a 2 hour drive from home, rather than a 5 hour drive, so it seemed like a good way to test the waters. Worst case scenario, peanut freaks out and we go get a hotel in Grand Bend or drive home if need be. I wouldn’t say I was preparing for the worst, but I was definitely trying to be prepared for the unexpected.

But it turns out, the weekend was a resounding success. Just look at this happy face:

One Dirty and Happy Camper

I think that the success of camping with baby comes down to a couple of key points:

1. Give up on the idea of keeping them clean. The first thing peanut did was put a toy shovel that was covered in dirt into his mouth. If I had tried to keep him from doing that, I would have been pulling things out of his hands all weekend, and neither of us would have had any fun. Just accept that your child will eat dirt, and try to think of it as an opportunity to build a healthy immune system. You’ll have much more fun that way. (And much cuter photos!)
2. Bring a baby carrier. Our Ergo has been so well used, I think it may be the best loved baby item we have. Peanut spent time in it on my back while I helped hubby erect a tent, and on my front while cuddling in front of the campfire. If you like to do hikes on trails, it’s an all-terrain-vehicle when compared with your standard stroller. And when you just get sick of chasing baby around, it’s almost as good as having another set of hands to hold him.
3. Don’t stress too much about schedules. Napping schedules are nice if you have them when at home, but there are way too many distractions when camping to expect your little one to go down at a specified time. I just let peanut do his napping in the Ergo when he seemed tired enough. And as for bed time — well, that was a bit of a write-off. But again, baby in baby carrier, in front of the fire. He nursed to sleep, and I was able to sit there and enjoy the fire (and my beer) for a couple more hours. Much better than worrying about him waking up in a tent alone and freaking out.
4. Co-sleeping is your friend. Even if you don’t do it normally at home, when camping I can’t imagine doing anything else. We had three thermarests next to each other, and baby in between us, then a sleeping bag underneath and another over top. (Actually, two sleeping bags on top would be better — one for hubby, and another for baby and Mom.) Of course, we were lucky that the weather was really mild; had it been colder we would have had to think about putting peanut in his own sleeping bag or something similar.

The only stressful part of our trip was one point where peanut woke up at 2am fussing, and then his fussing turned to screaming. None of the usual approaches to calming him worked (nursing, rocking, turning on a light), and finally my hubby opened the tent door to fetch his sippy cup as a last ditch attempt at appeasing him, and as soon as the door opened and some fresh air came in, the crying stopped immediately. We’re still not sure exactly what happened — A bad dream? Claustrophobia? Just needed some fresh air? But we’re glad the screaming only lasted a few minutes. (Which is a few minutes longer than our camping neighbours would have liked I’m sure, but many of your fellow campers have kids of their own, so trust that they’ve all been there and are sympathetic!)

For more camping with baby tips, check out Babes in the Woods: Hiking, Camping & Boating With Babies & Young Children. I just got a copy before we left for the weekend so haven’t had a chance to get through all of it, but so far the advice on dressing your babe for cold weather is wonderful. It’s written by a mom from Alaska who has spent countless days with her babes camping, hiking and boating. There are very few books about this topic, so this one is a real find.

Bottom line: Camping can be done with babies! And it can be very stress free. I think peanut had more fun this past weekend than ever before. We’ve already started planning another trip for next month, before our big trip to Killbear. Biggest tip: remember to bring your camera, as the pictures will be priceless!