Using Our Campervan With A New Baby

[andy greenwood]

So life has changed recently and my wife is pregnant with our first child . We still want to use the camper as much as we can so were after advice please from forum users who also have babies/toddlers.
We were thinking that my wife and baby could sleep downstairs on the bed and i would sleep upstairs in the pop top . Any advice would be much appreciated

 

[Tourershine]

Congratulations @andy greenwood

@RedUn has a newish baby and might be able to help, albeit he doesn't have a pop-top, but still might have some good pointers.

 

[andy greenwood]

Congratulations @andy greenwood

@RedUn has a newish baby and might be able to help, albeit he doesn't have a pop-top, but still might have some good pointers.

Thank you very much, we are looking to some great times in our camper with our new arrival

 

[RedUn]

Congratulations!

Were not converted, we're in a kombi that I'm slowly prepping as a day van. Genuinely I can't think of a better vehicle to have with a baby and pram and all the stuff you need!!

We've not been camping yet as we're only a few months old but next year we shall be doing, more than likely mum and baby in the van more to keep the noise down for others if he cries and me in an awning or the tent!

The only thing to add is do your rear seats have isofix? The do as standard in a kombi and it's excellent!

 

[andy greenwood]

Congratulations!

Were not converted, we're in a kombi that I'm slowly prepping as a day van. Genuinely I can't think of a better vehicle to have with a baby and pram and all the stuff you need!!

We've not been camping yet as we're only a few months old but next year we shall be doing, more than likely mum and baby in the van more to keep the noise down for others if he cries and me in an awning or the tent!

The only thing to add is do your rear seats have isofix? The do as standard in a kombi and it's excellent!

Thank you very much, we don't have isofix , do we need it ?

 

[Eli]

Congrats
We have had transporters from when my boy was born, we done 2 weeks in France when we had a Kombi when he was 6 months old. We then moved to a conversion with no pop top and now we have a California. My lad is 5 now, he sleeps downstairs with his mum and I have the full pop top to myself. We have just done a week in the Isle of Man wild camping and it was fantastic.

 

[RedUn]

Thank you very much, we don't have isofix , do we need it ?

It's not mandatory but just makes life easier dropping the car seat in and out from the pram.

I think you can get isofix kits so worth having a nosey for your seat?

 

[tifflepops]

We had a T5 without a poptop for our first one, when wild camping the baby slept on a platform over our feet i made out of MDF in a sleepy head then eventually on a cheap kids argos airbed, on sites i just kipped in the awning those 2 inside. we had another one 3 weeks ago and have upgraded to a T6 with poptop this time mainly for space when wild camping. I'll sleep upstairs the girls can sleep in the van either 1 of them on the platform or all on the RIB. We were away for a fortnight 2 weeks after the first one was born and are going away this weekend with a close to 4 week old.

Never felt a need for ISOfix we never used the travel system thing of clipping the car seat on to the pushchair wheels either in a sling or in the layie down bit of the pram. The new recommendation is that they shouldn't be out of the car in a car seat for longer than 20 minutes now (changed in 3 years since our first was born).

Joie every stage car seat is relatively cheap at lees than 150 quid seen as though it'll do them from newborn to around 12 depending on fatness! It's strapped in with the seatbelt.

the key we've found is just being organised and tidy everything in its place and once your finished with it it goes away in the right place. we each have a bag for life with our clothes in, in the wardrobe just have to grab the right bag to get dressed or changed(we tried hanging stuff up but it got messy).

can't think of anything else right now. Hope you find some of that helpful.

 

[andy greenwood]

We had a T5 without a poptop for our first one, when wild camping the baby slept on a platform over our feet i made out of MDF in a sleepy head then eventually on a cheap kids argos airbed, on sites i just kipped in the awning those 2 inside. we had another one 3 weeks ago and have upgraded to a T6 with poptop this time mainly for space when wild camping. I'll sleep upstairs the girls can sleep in the van either 1 of them on the platform or all on the RIB. We were away for a fortnight 2 weeks after the first one was born and are going away this weekend with a close to 4 week old.

Never felt a need for ISOfix we never used the travel system thing of clipping the car seat on to the pushchair wheels either in a sling or in the layie down bit of the pram. The new recommendation is that they shouldn't be out of the car in a car seat for longer than 20 minutes now (changed in 3 years since our first was born).

Joie every stage car seat is relatively cheap at lees than 150 quid seen as though it'll do them from newborn to around 12 depending on fatness! It's strapped in with the seatbelt.

the key we've found is just being organised and tidy everything in its place and once your finished with it it goes away in the right place. we each have a bag for life with our clothes in, in the wardrobe just have to grab the right bag to get dressed or changed(we tried hanging stuff up but it got messy).

can't think of anything else right now. Hope you find some of that helpful.

Hi

That is really helpful and thanks very much for taking the time to write it. Its certainly going to be a learning curve for us , im not sure where the dog will be sleeping yet in the van and what she'll make of our new arrival

 

[sofakingwrong]

Hi and congratulations @andy greenwood . We are lwb converted with pop top. Intrested to hear how others coped with newborns. The longest we’ve been on the road in the van as a family has been two weeks.
Most time I sleep up top alone as it’s colder I’m always concerned if I put kids up there they’d freeze. I’ve got 2 kids that have both been away in vans from day 1. They are now 11 months and 4 years, they normally sleep downstairs with their mum and when dog was around she would either sleep on floor or at foot of the downstairs bed.
Stuff we learnt from our kids were, we used sleepyheads with both our kids just on the main bed as the raised bolster sides gave us piece mind that they wouldn’t roll down sides bed, less risk of suffocating or getting smothered. We also got them All in one sleep suits like sleeping bags so we didn’t have to worry about blankets covering them up. initially we were paranoid about running the internal diesel heater all night but over time have learnt it’s a great bit of kit.

We always took a cheap pop up tent so the minute we got on site the car seats and anything else got thrown on their out the way.
Prior to going on a trip we pack our clean clothes in ikea blanket bags and keep one spare empty for dirt laundry so as clothes are worn they just get put in and when we get back it helps with taking the one bag out to do the laundry. they sit in the driver and passenger foot wells when we get where we need to be.
I would like to say we kept everything organised but in reality we started organised for trips away, during the actual trip we just accepted things weren’t always going to be put back in their correct storage place or always be at hand. And we still struggle to this day with always taking too much unnecessary stuff.

We’ve found it good to keep a few handy toys or snacks in the van for the mornings when your kids decide as soon as it’s light it’s time to be awake, more often than not we found ourselves entertaining the kids in the van till the rest of the world decided to wake up.
I’ve found since having kids I use my van more, where as before it was just me solo doing events. I’m now entering new previously uncharted waters as my kids get older, discovering why porta potty’s in the van are essential and always having hairbrushes and spare knickers to hand are important. I just know your gonna have some great adventures with the new arrival and the van.

 

[andy greenwood]

Hi and congratulations @andy greenwood . We are lwb converted with pop top. Intrested to hear how others coped with newborns. The longest we’ve been on the road in the van as a family has been two weeks.
Most time I sleep up top alone as it’s colder I’m always concerned if I put kids up there they’d freeze. I’ve got 2 kids that have both been away in vans from day 1. They are now 11 months and 4 years, they normally sleep downstairs with their mum and when dog was around she would either sleep on floor or at foot of the downstairs bed.
Stuff we learnt from our kids were, we used sleepyheads with both our kids just on the main bed as the raised bolster sides gave us piece mind that they wouldn’t roll down sides bed, less risk of suffocating or getting smothered. We also got them All in one sleep suits like sleeping bags so we didn’t have to worry about blankets covering them up. initially we were paranoid about running the internal diesel heater all night but over time have learnt it’s a great bit of kit.

We always took a cheap pop up tent so the minute we got on site the car seats and anything else got thrown on their out the way.
Prior to going on a trip we pack our clean clothes in ikea blanket bags and keep one spare empty for dirt laundry so as clothes are worn they just get put in and when we get back it helps with taking the one bag out to do the laundry. they sit in the driver and passenger foot wells when we get where we need to be.
I would like to say we kept everything organised but in reality we started organised for trips away, during the actual trip we just accepted things weren’t always going to be put back in their correct storage place or always be at hand. And we still struggle to this day with always taking too much unnecessary stuff.

We’ve found it good to keep a few handy toys or snacks in the van for the mornings when your kids decide as soon as it’s light it’s time to be awake, more often than not we found ourselves entertaining the kids in the van till the rest of the world decided to wake up.
I’ve found since having kids I use my van more, where as before it was just me solo doing events. I’m now entering new previously uncharted waters as my kids get older, discovering why porta potty’s in the van are essential and always having hairbrushes and spare knickers to hand are important. I just know your gonna have some great adventures with the new arrival and the van.

Thanks for spending the time to write your response, there is some really great information to help us with our new adventures

 

[RedUn]

Some genuinely awesome tips in here that I'm making note of! I can genuinely say, use ebay for a lot of the items you need too, we picked up a silver cross travel system, pram, car seat, crib thing, two sets of colours, umbrellas, everything you could ever think of, 150 quid and it's absolutely spot on! Once we're done we'll flog it and someone else will get the use out of it too! Don't get drawn into spending serious money on kids stuff, save it for the van, that's my logic anyway

 

[andy greenwood]

Some genuinely awesome tips in here that I'm making note of! I can genuinely say, use ebay for a lot of the items you need too, we picked up a silver cross travel system, pram, car seat, crib thing, two sets of colours, umbrellas, everything you could ever think of, 150 quid and it's absolutely spot on! Once we're done we'll flog it and someone else will get the use out of it too! Don't get drawn into spending serious money on kids stuff, save it for the van, that's my logic anyway

That is great logic , extra van money

 

[Streakboy]

I've got a rib bed with isofix but it doesn't seem compatible with the car seat base. Has anybody found a baby car seat base that works with the rib bed? I use my camper daily to pick the kids up from nursery and don't want to be faffing around strapping it in with the seat belt every night!

 

[tifflepops]

all the bases we looked at had a leg on to prevent tipping, the RIB is too high for this to reach the floor of the van. We decided to go for the Joie every stage, it stays in the van you just need to strap the kid in. Don't know if that's any use, someone I know has a block of wood to put the foot of the leg on doesn't seem the safest like.

 

[RedUn]

We've got a silver cross base with a leg, on full extension if works with the kombi seat? Is the rib higher than that? Could measure it?