Who doesn’t love the idea of sleeping under the stars, being one with nature and making summer memories while camping?
Have you thought to yourself that your next camping trip will be in the distant future because who’d be crazy enough to attempt to go camping with twins, at least until they are much older?
Well mama, we have good news…Camping, even with two kiddos under 3 years old, IS POSSIBLE!
Disclaimer…don’t expect it to be quite as easy as throwing some beers and brats in a cooler, tossing your tent in the back of the car and hitting the road. Even though it is no longer that simple, we promise that it can be done!
A successful camping trip with twins will require some thought and planning, which is exactly why we have compiled a list of essential tips to help you have a fun and fairly stress free camping trip.
Remember these 6 Tips when you are Camping with Twins
1. Health and Safety First
With open fire pits and the unpredictability of the outdoors, it is imperative that safety is always on your mind. While babies love to be held, more mobile babies want to get down and explore. You can’t hold your twinfants (like our made up word?!) for 3 straight days while you are camping so you need to create safe areas where your babies safely play.
A pack n’ play is a great way to contain a baby, but it doesn’t leave much room for your mobile kiddos to happily crawl and play. Consider a few different gear options to contain your babies, allow them space to roam and play, and keep them safe around the campsite:
- The North States Superyard Ultimate 8 Panel Playard is large and gives your twins a safe area to crawl and play. You can lay out an old piece of carpet, a large tarp, or these foam play mats by ProSource to give the play area a soft safe surface.
- The Summer Infant Pop N’ Play Playard is a larger pack n’ play, easy to setup or tear down and can be purchased with a canopy to protect your babes from the sun!
- The Summer Infant Pop N’ Sit Portable High Chair is light and convenient for feeding your kiddos around the campsite, but can serve as a camping chair that will keep your kids safely sitting around the campfire (at a safe distance of course). Just be sure your kids are positioned where they aren’t being blasted with smoke from your fire.
- A Bumbo chair can also be fairly easy to travel with and can be a great way to set your babies down safely or be used for feeding purposes.
- Create a hand washing station with an empty liquid laundry detergent bottle (the kind with the pour spout) that you fill with clean water, a plastic tub (to catch the dirty water….really, it’s less mess) and a small folding table.
- If you want to bathe your babes with more than just a wet wipe rub down, bring along a plastic bin (one large enough to seat your babes comfortably with a few inches of water), some wash rags and your favorite baby soap. Honestly, we prefer dirt….it’s camping after all.
2. Plan Your Trip Within Reason
Even with the most thoughtful and detailed planning, a camping trip with small children or babies can quickly go awry. For your first few trips, go for 1-2 nights and stay close to home. The more experience you and your children get after a few short successful trips will help in planning longer, more complicated trips in the future.
Taking kids out of their element is always challenging, so plan wisely so that you are setting yourself up for success and creating positive camping memories!
3. Do Your Research
Not every campsite is family or infant/toddler friendly. Before you make plans to go camping with twins, it
is wise to check out photographs and reviews of the campsite before you book it. This way you will know exactly what you are getting into.
The last thing you want is to end up with a campsite that is on the side of a cliff or a rapidly roaring river.
You will want to be sure that the site offers you plenty of space to create safe play areas for your twins and set up tents, picnic tables, contained fire pits, have access to some shade and easy access to your car.
4. Sleepin’ ain’t easy
New experiences and hours of outdoor playtime will will make your twins tired, really, really tired! When planning your trip, consider where your babies will be sleeping at night and napping during the day. Here are a few thing to keep in mind:
- Tents can get hot during the day and may be an uncomfortable sleeping environment for daytime naps. We rented pop-up campers for the first two camping trips we took with our twins, which made our sleeping arrangements more comfortable for ourselves and our twins. It’s not exactly roughing it, but hey, it worked great and ensured that we had well rested, happy babies!
- If you are going to use a tent, you need a large one. You will need enough space for your entire family to sleep with an area for kiddos to play if you need shelter from bad weather.
- Get creative with your twins sleeping arrangements. Pack n’ plays are bulky space suckers. We travel everywhere with the KidCo Pea Pod Infant Travel Tent. It is AMAZING and truly great for babies of all ages. You can also bring it along with you for napping on the go, which can help solve the napping dilemma.
- A noise machine will be your best friend. This myBaby SoundSpa is a great portable noise machine that can be battery powered with great sound and a variety of noise options. We already recommend that you use noise machines for creating the perfect sleep environment at home, but this will help block out the noise of other campers, wind, etc. and give your twins the comfort of a familiar noise from home.
- As best as you can, mimic the same routines and sleep environment that you have at home to help your kiddos sleep more soundly while you are camping. Expect some hiccups, but you can make your nights much less stressful by bringing along things to create continuity for your babies’ sleep routines.
5. Make Mealtimes Easy
Keep it low maintenance…
The more preparation you do at home for meals and snacks will save you a lot of stress and headache while camping with twins. Consider making meals ahead of time that you can freeze in containers. This only requires that you to pack it in coolers and reheat once you are at your campsite.
Word to the wise, crock pot meals are easy to make in bulk and freeze a week or two before your trip.
For your twins, also do your food preparation ahead of time. Pre-cut your babies’ favorite foods and store in snack size Ziplock bags or reusable containers. Freeze baby food pouches, yogurt tubes or applesauce pouches before you go.
For formula feeding mamas, bring a case of bottled water so you aren’t relying on a water source that may or may not be at your campsite.
And lastly, ALWAYS BRING EXTRA! Because quite frankly, you can never be too prepared when camping with twins!
6. Bring on the Adventure
You have put in a lot of time and effort into your camping trip that is sure to create unforgettable memories for your sweet family.
Be sure to make the most of your date with mother nature by getting out and exploring your surroundings. Find easy, yet beautiful hiking trails, seek out amazing landmarks, find a local recreation center or stroll around the nearest town.
Some of the most amazing memories we have made on our few camping trips have come from a few hours of swimming at the local rec center.
OK MAMA…get packing! Just remember to pack extras of everything. You don’t want to get into a bind. Trust us, you will want plenty of clean clothing, extra diapers and tons of wipes!
Did you think we would really leave you hanging like that? No way girl, it’s your lucky day. We have created the ultimate packing list for camping with twins, which you can have for free by subscribing below with your email address and joining our village of mamas! The best part is, there is an entire resource library waiting for you by joining us today!
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Whether you’re the type of person who loves camping and lives to get some grit and grime under your fingernails, the type who camps a little begrudgingly or simply the type that loathes sleeping on the dirt, there is no doubt that camping is a great way to create priceless memories with your family.
As Coloradans and nature loving twin mamas, we encourage you to brave the great outdoors with your twins. You won’t regret it!
What spectacular camping tips can you add? We would love to hear all of your creative ideas!
Chat with us in the comments below!
