A New (little) Addition

[sped372]

We have a new bus pilot in the making! After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, my wife and I were placed for adoption earlier this year and Leland Michael was born on October 15th. He's been wonderful! We are tired but loving life right now. Wisconsin's laws are really conservative so we are still just foster parents and need to wait for a court date to transfer parental rights, but hopefully the process continues to go smoothly.



So, already thinking ahead to next year, how have those of you with little ones taken them camping (specifically sleeping arrangements)? We have the front cot but I'm worried about him rolling into/through the cracks on the sides near the doors or getting into a bad situation some other way. I'm sure the cot is great once they're old enough to know what they're doing but I'm not sure about it when they're old enough to move around but too young to understand the space around them.

I suppose a side tent and a pack-n-play is always an option, but it would be nice if we could come up with some other solution to such a temporary "problem" - we like to keep things pretty minimal and most likely wouldn't use a tent long term. I was wondering about some sort of travel bassinet or something that could go on top of the cot or use the cot poles?

I'd love to hear any advice or experiences!

[Randy in Maine]

No advice, but he is a cute little guy!

[ruckman101]

Indeed, what a cutie! Congrats. But no helpful advice here, either.


neal

[hambone]

All my best!

[dtrumbo]

Congrats! What a little cutie!! For my two cents on the sleeping arrangements. We've always been a co-sleeping family. In other words, our little ones slept between mom and dad in our king-sized bed. The same goes for the bus. Mom and baby sleep on the 'normal' fold-down bed and dad sleeps in the pop-top. Just make sure to use rolled up blankets at the edges of the bed so Leland can't roll over into a void. Again, congrats. I think adoptive parents are simply the best!

[sped372]

Thanks for the congrats, all! We have an early bay so no upstairs bunk, just the cot up there too. I don't think we have enough room for all three of us to co-sleep downstairs. I'm starting to formulate a plan that involves using something like this:


http://www.kidco.com/products-page/peapod/

On top of the front cot, or at least the poles of the front cot with some sort of a self-fashioned stiffer platform. At least he would be confined and not able to work his way off the edge or into the gaps on the sides, etc. Still need to do more thinking, but we'll have the whole winter to figure it out. I saw they did a recall on this product but it looks like they've redesigned it so the lower portion is mesh and not a solid suffocation hazard any more. Amazing how quickly you start to see the dangers everywhere you look!

He really is adorable and we feel lucky to have him!

[yondermtn]

Awesome and congrats!

We have a 10 month old and unfortunately didn't attempt to camp at all this past summer. We had thought about keeping the lower seat/bed in the seat position and letting our son sleep in the rear cargo area where he'd have four sides, but now I think he'd just crawl over the back of the seat.
I think next summer we'll try what dtrumbo suggested, just have to work the dog in there somehow.

[Mr Blotto]

Hey CONGRATS!!! That is great! What a cute little guy!

Like others, I have a late westy which gives you more options in terms of sleeping, but we used to have a smaller "pack & play" (smaller than the standard ones). I swear that it would have fit on the Westy "kitchen floor". You might want to check into them. Congrats again!!!!

[hippiewannabe]

Quite a cutie, congrats. The kids were older by the time I got a bus, but when they were little we had a pop-up, and used the Fisher Price predecessor of a Pack-and-Play on the floor. You never know when they are going to first roll over, crawl or climb, so the best bet is to keep them in a baby jail. After the fourth kid, camping became untenable, but it can be fun with one or two.

[Ryno]

Congrats!....No advice other than an upgrade to a Vanagon Westy.

[airkooledchris]

Thanks for the congrats, all! We have an early bay so no upstairs bunk, just the cot up there too. I don't think we have enough room for all three of us to co-sleep downstairs. I'm starting to formulate a plan that involves using something like this:


http://www.kidco.com/products-page/peapod/

On top of the front cot, or at least the poles of the front cot with some sort of a self-fashioned stiffer platform. At least he would be confined and not able to work his way off the edge or into the gaps on the sides, etc. Still need to do more thinking, but we'll have the whole winter to figure it out. I saw they did a recall on this product but it looks like they've redesigned it so the lower portion is mesh and not a solid suffocation hazard any more. Amazing how quickly you start to see the dangers everywhere you look!

He really is adorable and we feel lucky to have him!

I think I still have our old kidco sleeper tent. we used it all the time when travelling (not just in the bus) and it was wonderful.
the nice one has a little blow up mattress that slips inside the floor section.

Unfortunately I couldn't find the picture I had saved for this, but there was a few Vanagon guys that built a small platform over the rear deck for their little ones to sleep on. This only works of course if you sleep with your head closest to the front of the vehicle, as you slide your legs under the rear platform and your kid sleeps up on top of it. It's like a rear cot for a very small baby/toddler, before they are ready to do the cot on their own.

[sped372]

I think it's going to depend a bit on how large he is by then, too. Crazy how fast they grow at this stage!

[sped372]

Well, it fits... we'll have to wait until the nice weather comes back around to try it out. Probably will do some test runs in the driveway next spring or summer before committing to an actual trip, but hopefully this works!

[BellePlaine]

Great idea, sped. You've got quite the family started there!

[sped372]

Well, after four months of holding our breath, we have finally moved a big step closer to finalizing the adoption! There was a court hearing last Friday and his birth parents can no longer change their minds; we were not expecting the uncertainty to last this long, but hopefully all is well that ends well. We now have two more months of follow-up visits with the agency but the future is in our hands at this point.

Definitely eager for spring and being able to actually get outside! This winter has been one of the coldest on record here and we've been cooped up for most of it! Really want to start introducing the (not so) little guy to the great outdoors... he's still a joy and bigger than ever. In 12 month clothes and over 20 pounds already! That front cot doesn't know what it's in for!



His smile is contagious!