Kidz bedz

D-Jack,
Up until our last holiday in September, our two boys had always slept on stretchers. We used to just take the legs off them and then roll the rest of the stretcher up for transit.... but as our guys got older, they're teenagers now, they drove me crazy at night tossing and turning due to not being comfortable. We bought two king-size single self inflating mattresses and leave them stored un-inflated on our bed in transit, they sleep on our soft floor in the trailer, we just put one of those rubber backed picnic blankets under each mattress. We camped in someplaces where the o/night temps hit zero and they were warm as! And quiet too!!

;-))

Brian

We went the foam mattress.
Had a 3mx3m touring tent for the four of us, so space an issue.
Wife and I had a 3/4" very high density foma mattress, double bed size.
Boys had the 3/4" (20mm) high desnity foam since we started travelling with them at 6mths and 3yrs old. Cut to 1200 long.
They are a lighter weight, so density of the foam is not such an issue.
When we got them they 'camped out' in the living room, then the tent in the front yard to get use to them.
Once they got beyond 18 or 10 their feet used to hang over the end. No problems.
Warmth is both something under you and over.
We used to put an extra sleeping bag under them when cold. Have been camping down to -5 or -7 deg this way. i.e. ice in the billy in the morning.

Don't know if this will work ( depends if they are wrigglers or not) but at home try them on one mattress with heads at opposite ends.

Someone will probably come up woth something different.

Mrs S

Hi D-Jack,

Stretchers aren't that bad. We use the bunk bed ones with our camper and they take about 30 seconds to set up. We have the 2 bunks allready assembled and rotate the support sections outward to store on top of our camper trailer bed. We then put the kids sleeping bags and pillos on top.

When we want to setup we take the bunks off, rotate the supports and fit the 2 leg bars and 4 bunk supports and then your done.

There is a picture of our setup on our website.

Regards
David

Hi D-Jack
we often go camping with the three kids, coldest to date is -10.3 in the high country over last easter. For us, below zero nights are not uncommon.
We have winter and summer sleeping bags. Winter one's are down filled. I understand for any sleeping bag, that it is the air trapped in the bags material the is the insulator. Thus the high loft down bags keep you warm.
Just after we got the down bags I had a -6 night at Dingo Dell. Mostly we were on inflatable materess and froze. The bottom of the sleeping bag can not loft - as you are lying on it and compressing the material.

I have since purchased some thermarests ( space is an issue for me so small pack up is important). The termarests are 40mm thick and work a treat. The air trapped in the therma rest performs the insulation job, in the same way the sleeping bags does around the rest of your body.

I have come to realise that the mat is just as important as the bag in cold temps.

So based on the above ramblings I would strongly recomend the foam materess if you are going to be camping in +5 and below.

I bought the kids the same gear we have, no point having cold kids - you only have to get out or your warm bag to attend to them when the wake up from the cold.

Enjoy the winter - Its fantastic. The colder the better, it only gets really cold when there are clear skies so the chances of a ripper morning are high. Try and pick your camp to catch the morning sun rays - more important the the afternoon rays.
Paul.

p.s. I understand sleeping bags are rated with the occupant in thermal and a beanie plus the hood and sholder collar tighented.

If you've already got the self-inflating mattresses use them; save money, and space (more importantly when camping). The insulating foam sounds good or you could put down a few layers of newspaper (which you take for lighting fires anyway) under the mattress which is an excellent insulator.

fold up beds?.....quick and easy....mattresses can be taken off and stored inside under camper cover while travelling (to keep dry) while metal framed bed could be put on roof rack or lashed to top of camper