Baby sleeping arrangements.

We used to use the matress out of the fold up cot inside the tent. Then we progressed to a swag. Took our boy across the Simpson when he was 18 months old using this arrangement. First morning he cried because all the stars had gone. He was mesmorised by them at night in the swag.

Check out the travel cot from Phil and Teds
2.5 kilos, packs up real small and has a cover that can act as a mossie net etc.
Fantastic product, can be used during the day too to keep teh flies off your child.
No idea what to do about a pram, maybe buy a travel buggy that folds up small.

When we camped when our kids were that small we used a portacot, but with space at a premium, I have friends who use a king size swag for the 3 of them, with the baby inbetween. Another friend of ours has a 3 man tent, and joins their sleeping bags together, and their little one sleeps between them too!!

Hope this is of a bit of help!

Jo

We drove from Perth to Canberra and back last Christmas with 4 kids the youngest being 20 months.
We took a travel cot for him which he only used once as he wouldnt settle in it. As we didnt want to disturb the other campers too much(stayed in caravan parks) he ended up sleeping with us for the rest of the time in the camper trailer
We also took a small pusher for him which fitted nicely on the roof rack .

evan

If you have one of those foam kids lounges (the little ones that fold out and have prints all over em like wiggles and bob the builder). We used one of them for our kids up till they were about 3yrs. They squash down small and jam in places to stop stuff move'n around when traveling (the lounge that is not the kids) and coz they have the arms on the side they tend to stop the kids rolling off onto the cold ground.

We found the porta cot took up too much room.

Clayts

our little one (now 21 months) refused to use a travelcot.

In summer she sleeps on a hikers self inflator next to our 10cm one, in winter she shares the big one with mummy and I get the hiker mat.

we crossed last year with the kids abit older but watch out for the mossies & lice at dalhousie springs as they made a mess of our girl. there was a thread from birdsville about this problem.the insects last year were the worst i have experinced
in travelling in 40years & we got no break from them at day or night

We use(d) a porta cot for our kids. Yes they take up a bit of space but at least you know baby is safe and restrained. Our 2 yr old really needs constraining in a cot for sleeps otherwise she won't stay in bed so a cot was really a must on our 8 wk Kimberley trip last year. Apart from sleep, its a handy playpen if need be. As for the pram, trade it in for a stroller which are much lighter and less bulky. Another option is to get a backpack baby carrier. We've found ours excellent for both our kids and make bushwalking easy. Get the type that is free standing when placed on the ground and they also double as a restrainer chair. I strongly recommend that you take at least one of these three items as it is very handy to have somewhere safe to put bub when you are making or breaking camp.

:o) Melissa

Thanks to you all for your input. At this stage as our little one will settle in the portacot I think that would be the best way to go. Definatley would take the fold up stroller. After some research I have found that there is now a special fold up cot just desinged for camping which can take a baby to 4 year old. It folds up flat like the porta showers and it has a blow up mattress and is fully enclosed. Cost is about $120 and it is available at Baby Co. It is another option to give some thought to.
Once again thanks for you suggestions and advise!
OM&M