Touring With Tots

[Alexander_374295091]

Hello

We only started touring towards the end of last season and are first time caravaners. We bought a Coachman Highlander/Amara 500/5 with the rear dinette and extra adult bunk above. We tour with our now two year old daughter who sleeps on one of the side seats with a tomy bed guard we bought at argos. She is rapidly out growing the one side bench and we intend to start making up the full double bed for her and pulling across the wooden partition when she goes down in the evening. However we are due to have our second child in a few months time and we are seeking solutions on how we can continue touring. Our idea was to rig up something where we could have the new baby sleeping on the adult bunk so they would be secure and not fall out of the gap and still have our two year old sleeping on the made-up double below. Any idea's would be great thanks. With the two kids tucked up behind the partition we would still be able to enjoy time to ourselves without creeping around, I had thought about just making up the rear double and putting a travel cot behing the toilet wall and our two year old sleeping on the rest of the bed, but would like to try and keep them separated.

 

[LadyMo]

Alexander,

Try this :-

www.riverswayleisure.com

Bunk safety nets 0067

 

[MAM]

Hi Alexander,

We bought our first caravan last October - and had our third child in November. He slept in the caravan at 2 weeks old in his carrycot. Recently we've been away and he now sleeps in a Samsonite Bubble. This provides safety from falling out of bed and stops our other two (4 & 5) from prodding him too much. We think the bubble will be big enough until he is around 18 months. We'll then switch him to a single bed with the seat cushions on the floor.

 

[Alexander_374295091]

Hi Alexander,

We bought our first caravan last October - and had our third child in November. He slept in the caravan at 2 weeks old in his carrycot. Recently we've been away and he now sleeps in a Samsonite Bubble. This provides safety from falling out of bed and stops our other two (4 & 5) from prodding him too much. We think the bubble will be big enough until he is around 18 months. We'll then switch him to a single bed with the seat cushions on the floor.

Thanks, do you think the Bubble would be safe to put up on the top bunk above the made up double in our rear dinette, are the sides quite strong, would a 1 year old be able to roll it over.

 

[Alexander_374295091]

The bunk safety nets look like a solution, though it might be a bit of a hassle taking up and down for night feeds etc, but think i might send off for one and give a try.

Someone else suggested a small pop-up travel cot to us, but the concern was our 2 year old prodding the baby if they were both on the same bed, thats why we thought about using the extra bunk to put baby on. Are the mattresses on the travel cots very thin

 

[CRUSADER2801]

My daughter is now 15 months and we have toured with her from 3 months.

Last year we purchased a Samsonite travel cot which folds dwon in to a bag not much bigger than a dinner plate and weights nothing so is easy to pack and store. We placed on top of the collapsable bunk cushions and my daughter slept in the cot on top of the cushions and this prevented her rolling.

This year we have bought the bunkguard from Riversway leisure as the travel cot is too small and she could easily climb out of it anyway and have found this easy to use.

Basically we have screwed the netting to the bunk and each remove the metal pole so this can be folded away with the bunk. Each evening it is simply a matter of putting up the bunk and sliding on the pole again to give the net its stabilty. This then simply clips into the roof fittings for holding up the net - takes 5 mins tops.As this simply clips into the holders like the staps on an a-frame cover lifting our daughter in and out is easy.

Hope this helps.

 

[Alexander_374295091]

Thanks SPG

Does the Bed Guard go right the way across your bunk to save a toddler climbing out the sides. We cant decide if to put the new baby on the bunk in travel pop-up cot with bed guard for extra safety or to put out two year old up into the bunk. I terrified that our two year old could climb out and fall on top of the baby if she were to be below.

 

[CRUSADER2801]

Hi Alexander,

The bunk my daughter now sleeps in is 5ft 11" ( from memory) and I beleive these are pretty standard in most makes. Apart from a few inches at either end the bed guard it is the full length. At the bottom of the bun is the toilet wall, the top the rear wall/lockers and the side wall means that the only way in is via the net.

Will measue the length of the net tonight and post on the site so you can compare to the length of your bunk. We laso cover the handels of the overhead lockers with some pipe lagging foam so that if our daugher sits up she will not bump her head on the sharp edges.

Hope this helps!!

 

[CRUSADER2801]

Alexander,

The top bunks in our Elddis are 170cm long and the bed guard is 152cm. When centered in the bunk there is not enough room to climb out the gaps at top and bottom.

In our previous van - 5 berth with bunk above the rear double our daughter slept above us in the travel cot on top of the bed cushions perfectly well.

In fact her first night in the caravan at 3 months was the first time she slept from 8pm until after 6am and has done so ever since. At the time I wanted to move into the caravan permanently!!!

 

[Jane_374240756]

Hi,

This is our third year of touring and started when out daughter was 2 and son was 1. Our daughter has always slept on the top bunk in both our vans. Most have bed guards which you fit when putting up. She has never fallen out yet. Our son has always slept on the bottom bunk. When he was younger we just put a tomy bed guard up and some cushions so he did not fall out.

Jane

 

[Alexander_374295091]

SPG.

Thanks for all your help with the Bed Guard, I have just ordered one which should be here in a few days.

I think that this will work great for us. We also intend to get a pop-up travel cot to replace our full sized one.

Thanks again for everyone's comments.

 

[ERICA_374227614]

We have an 18mth old grandson. We would like to take him caravanning with us but not sure on how to sleep him. We are 3 adults and have limited space in which to put him. Double bed at front and bunk beds on off side. Not sure if the top bunk would be ok for one so young.

 

[MAM]

Thanks, do you think the Bubble would be safe to put up on the top bunk above the made up double in our rear dinette, are the sides quite strong, would a 1 year old be able to roll it over.

Hi Alexander,

I wouldn't use the top bunk - mainly because the Bubble is slightly wider than our top bunk and I'd be concerned about our other two children pulling at it to see the baby.

 

[CarolineSimon]

Hi Erica,

The bottom bunk should be fine for your little one if you use a bed guard.

Myself & a lot of other vanners' have a prefernce for the "TOMY" soft sided bed guard which fold down flat when not needed. I have used it for my own small children and indeed the youngest is now only just 18mths old & we have had no problems. The onlt thing I would add is that when they are very young up to 18 mths we have always used baby sleeping bags for them on the bunks.

The bed guard is easily available from Argos, Toys R Us etc.

Good luck,

Caroline