cmping with a baby

Bware,

we took our 3 camping by the age of 10 months... ours were all good sleepers right off the bat so that helped a bit... We demand fed so most nights the missus was getting sleep in blocks of a good 4-5 hours. She also expressed so I could take a bit of the load. Sterilising... we took Miltons solution and also boiled stuff over the fire. Bugs... Our port-a-cots came with fly nets which fitted quite nicely over the top and all but eliminated any problems. porta-a-cots were a godsend while tending to the mundane tasks of the day, baby could watch from the cot while we prepared meals and cleaned up... Most of the rest of the time, we were quite happy for them to futz about in the dirt while we played with them. Take as many baby wipes as you can get your hands on, they are bloody grouse...

Blue

Dont stress, thats all the wifes work!

You kick back and relax.. :)

IMHO, wait until they are 12mths old. Give them a chance to get neck strength, and body to function properly.. Give em a bit more time in otherwords.
but thats just what I would do/did.

Others here have done big trips with 2-3mth olds, bleep ed if I would.

Bware,

Congratulations on the birth of your second son. You are going to have a lot of fun in the great outdoors in the coming years. All the best.

Congrats Bware, hope you have a wonderful time

Eliza has been camping from the age of 2 weeks. Just a weekend trip and not too far from home. From there she has progress to the bigger trips, last year I was away with Eliza for 50 days( Simpson Desert/ Kimberly) while my wife went to Europe.

We have also taken her canoing and caving and abseiling all be for the age of two. It can be done, just have to plan a little in advance.

Wayne

Congrates on the new arrival.

Be warned, taking them away to young can be dangerous for your health!

Both our children started travelling around OZ from 6 months, daughter now 24 is threatening court action over her addiction to travelling brought on by irresponsible patents that took her away too many time.

Claims she cannot afford her addictive behavour.

Son caught the 4WD bug resulting in many out of pocket expenses fitting out vehicle. Very happy when dad sold GU, aquired all the camping gear that the old man did not need.(gee I had hoped to sell it through the trader but it was gone within minutes of the GU sold.)

The porta cot is great although both my kids still call it "The Jail" and claim it did them mental harm.

Have a great time
Ray

G'day,

We took our boy out for a road test at 5 weeks. It was a weekend at Copeton waters (6hrs drive each way) with the campertrailer group. He's 6mths old now and still working fine ;)

It was a lot of work for my wife (ie breastfeeding, cleaning stuff etc) so she didn't get a lot of time to sit around and do the usual camp stuff. If I was less lazy and helped her more, she might have though.

We just got back from the Snowys via Sydney & Canberra yesterday with the little guy (we live on the Gold Coast). Apart from a few extra stops he travels very well.

We're going away to Fraser for a week next week, so we'll see how the 6mth old camps compared to the 5 week old.

Thanks,

Aaron.

Bware,

The first time we took our son camping was when he was 3 months old. At that age they're great as they don't move around too much. We had no troubles at all. He's breast fed so there was no need for sterilising anyting.

He is now just over nine months and our last trip was to Teewah beach where he was loving all the crawling around in the sand and chewing on old charcoals. So this time it was a bit tougher as we had to watch him all the time. The earlier you go the easier it is in my opinion. Camping gives the family an oprtunity to spend some quality time together without any outside interuptions.

Cheers.

R

We Have taken our 2 from 3 weeks old Camping & boating (now 11 & 8) its easer when they are smaller & not moving around. Just Take the useal amount of crap & you will proberly find it more relaxing than before as You will not be trying to do as much.

Please Remember the Golden Rule what came in, Goes Out (Nappies) you,l find a 20 ltr barrell with O-ring seal straped to wheel carrier keeps the smell at bay. (Coth or desposible nappys) remember Desposible they take a very long time to brake down if you bury them, MAKE sure you dig them Deep & No were near a water course, recently on a simpson desert trip someone had buried a desposable nappy & a dingo had dug it up & it would have been aleast 4feet deep

Enjoy traveling with the kids

We took our little girl away at 3 months, the missus said I had to wait for her to be able to hold her own head up. Fair enough, good compromise. So the first trip was a 5 day jaunt through southercross, Yellowdine and Kalgoorlie! In the middle of summer and bush camped with no ammentities!! LOL And you know what... You have to seralize, feed, listen to crying, cuddle, clean and all that crap while your at home, so who cares, it not any harder to steralise a bottle with a billy than it is a kettle. We've been away lot's of times with her since, some better than others, but hey, if she's going to have a bad day it doesn't really make much difference where the hell you are, you still have to deal with it, and she loves being outside! so it's all good.

And my recommendation is take a sling (lot smaller than a backpack or stroller, folds up to the dimensions of a towel). And if you solely breastfeed you don't need to sterilise anything. Our bubs is 14months old now and loves camping, regularly comes to dad with the sling in her hand asking to be put in it. But i gather its not something you can introduce easily when they are older.

We have two kids - 2.5 and 8mths. Its easier to take them when they are really young and breastfeeding as you dont need to take bottles and do all that sterilising. when they get onto solids it get a little harder and you dont really want food sticking to the side of the tent. We have a two room tent which is great when there are lots of flies or the weather is a little wet. We just move things into a pile and there is enough space for the kids to play. When they get a few years older we'll start taking them bushwalking and have them carry some light packs.

Camping with kids is lots of fun - get them out as soon as you can.

kym

Cheers everyone for the replies. Great advice as usual and am looking forward to our next trip in Feb(manage a restaurant and no time off 'til the end of school hols). Probably heading for Moreton Island which is only a couple of hours away from home(Murwillumbah) and we haven't been there yet; want to go somewhere new.
Brian

Congratulations on your new son. We had two boys and they first camped at 2 weeks of age - up to Teewah (in the days when there was nothing there). As babies they lived in a bassinet, had breastmilk which required not much sterilising etc. - as the mother I didn't see why I should miss out on fishing each weekend.
They were very good sleepers and happy babies and if they weren't asleep in the bassinet they kicked around on a blanket in the sand whilst I fished.
I loved the reply about babies having a bad day - well, quite right you might as well be outside in the lovely fresh air or fishing or sitting under a big gum somewhere as being at home.
When I had my kids (in the 70's) we didn't have all the baby paraphenalia - my choice because I thought the KISS principle good to live by and I had made a conscientious decision that my kids were to be an extension of my life, not my whole life, and it has worked out reasonably well. I don't think they hate me and we all still love to go fishing. Be happy, take it easy, enjoy today and I hope your wife can enjoy her trip too. They seem to go from babies to adults overnight - enjoy every moment of them.

Our first was 12 weeks, the second and third kids went much earlier, the eldest by his sixteenth birthday had had only two birthdays at home, all the rest were in far flung corners of Oz, Anne Beadell, kimberleys, Arnhem Land, CSR, etc etc. That's what you get with a birthday on the 1st July, smack in the middle of the travelling season.
Don't worry about the dirt, clothes last for days when camping, if they don't stand up by themselves then they can go back on the next day.
My wife breastfed so didn't have to worry about sterilisation etc, but always washed up with very hot water and kept a clean camp.