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Our Spotty Otter Brecon Beacons National Park ambassadors @pereiramendez have put together a great blog to  help you get prepared to camp with your kids from a young age. 

As keen campers before our little girl (Martha, 21 months) came along, it was something we wanted to continue once she was born. But to say we felt a little trepidation would be an understatement.

Like many things you loved pre-child, it takes a slightly different mindset, a little bit more planning and a lot more packing!

But I’m pleased to say we’ve had really successful camping trips with our toddler – ranging from a nearly wild campsite when she was four months old, a full-on weekend at Camp Bestival when she was six months old and several weekends away ever since, including another festival this year in the Welsh mountains.

There was a fair amount of trial and error with what to take when camping with a baby or toddler, but here’s a list of seven things we couldn’t camp without.

Black out tent

Oh. My. Word. I can’t recommend these enough. Absolute gamechanger. We’ve camped in several tents over the years including our beloved canvas bell tent, but our recent purchase of a Quecha blackout tent from Decathlon has really made camping with a little so much easier. Early rising when you’re sleeping in the great outdoors is to be expected, but the blackout tent really helps keep our daughter asleep for longer in the mornings. But, arguably more importantly for us, it helps with getting her to sleep in the summer evenings when it’s still so light and bright outside. If you’re in the market for a new tent, get a blackout – you won’t regret it.

Insulated picnic blanket

A foil-backed, wipe clean picnic blanket is really useful to have outside your tent to sit on with your little one, play on their level, eat and relax. If you’re hiking for a day, it’s easy to roll up and pop into the section you’d normally carry your sleep mat – perfect to whip out for a scenic picnic en route

Toddler camping chair with tray

A lightweight, foldable camping chair with removable tray is so handy at mealtimes. If you’re camping with a weaned baby/toddler it’ll make mealtimes a lot easier and more comfortable for your child. We bought this one from Amazon and use it at breakfast and throughout the day; it’s compact enough to carry with you if you’re at a festival, for example, can fit in the shopping basket of a pram or can be slung over your shoulder as it comes with a carry case.

My daughter absolutely loves hers and drags it all around the house to sit in, relaxing, snacking, playing with her toys. It’s a permanent fixture in our sitting room. 

Clothing

This was probably the top thing I worried about – will she be warm enough? Investing in some good quality pieces will not only give you peace of mind but will ensure your child’s comfort for the camping trip. As well as the usual clothes (and plenty of them – think spares of spares!) I’d recommend taking:

-Merino wool base layers – onesies or a top/trouser combo that can be used in the day or under pyjamas on a particularly cold night. Merino is naturally antibacterial, moisture-wicking and will help regulate your child’s temperature

-Hat - in colder environments, babies lose heat much faster than adults, so a hat is key to keeping your little one comfortable and warm.

-Waterproofs & wellies – keeping them warm and dry in the day is important, especially if you’re wild camping or at a site with limited facilities; a nice warm bath is off the cards unless you take a collapsible tub with you (something we’ve done in the past but don’t bother with anymore). I recommend the Spotty Otter Forest leader range for ultimate warmth and dryness – no soggy clothes or nappies to contend with will make for much happier campers.

Toddler camp bed

We’ve tried a few iterations for that all important sleep; when she was a baby we simply used her carrycot – it was cosy and contained; perfect! As she gets bigger we’ve moved to an inflatable bed, like this one. It comes in two parts – the inflatable frame and the inflatable inner mattress. We love the tall ‘bumper’ sides – perfect for little wrigglers – and it’s pretty big, so lots of room for them to starfish in their sleep.

Caveat with this is it’s bulky and quite heavy, it wouldn’t be any good if you’re hiking to camp, and, of course, you need to take a pump. When she’s a little bigger and moves around less, we’ll move to a good quality sleeping mat.

Bedding

The bedding we pack for Martha is a normal cotton bedsheet, a fleece under blanket (we only use this if it’s really cold here in Wales) and a winter 3.5 tog sleeping bag – just a normal toddler sleeping bag that you’d use at home – we’ve not bought an actual camping sleeping bag yet, but it will be our next purchase as she gets bigger. When she was a baby, we’d pop her sheepskin wool rug into the base of her carrycot for extra cosiness.

Jetboil

Another essential for us, whether we’re camping alone or with our toddler, is the Jetboil. It’s a compact, gas-powered cup that boils water in under two minutes. Perfect for making porridge in the morning (a firm favourite camping breakfast) as well as that much needed coffee for mum and dad.

It’ll also be really useful for anyone who’s camping with a bottle-fed baby and those give-me-milk-immediately night feeds.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but hopefully a helping hand into some things that’ll just make your camping trip a bit easier.

But if you take only one thing away from this article, make it this - just give it a go! Don’t let any apprehension you may be experiencing stop you from going. If you’re really worried, camp somewhere close to home so you’ve got the comfort of knowing you can get back quickly if you really don’t like it.

But I think the fresh air, new surroundings, cooking around a fire and quality family time is just pure magic for children, and adults, so happy camping!