parents of toddlers (or former toddlers)! advice sought.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

We are trying to decide whether we should go to Baitcon this year. It seems like it would be rather difficult to do it with a fairly active, happy, yet stubborn child who will be not quite 2 years old at that point. However, it's obviously been done many times by people who are not us, and so I solicit advice on how to do it without major loss of sanity or enjoyment.

One subject on which I'm torn: Would it be easier to request a cabin, which is kind of far away and takes a while to reach, or would it be easier to procure a tent, which we could set up closer to everything but has the added work of finding a spot and erecting it?

Comments

[ringrose.livejournal.com]

Susan was 2.5 years old last year when we brought her.
It took a fair amount of supervision, but there was enough to do that she had a blast and we had a good time.

We got a cabin and brought a pack 'n play. It turns out a queen air mattress and pack 'n play mostly fits in a cabin, and you can then put your stuff (including diaper supplies) on the bunks. I think the cabin being a ways off is a good idea, because it means that the bustle of main camp doesn't keep little ones awake. Also, having actual walls is a psychological benefit for a kid who's used to falling asleep in an actual room, and a cabin gets darker faster than a tent.

We basically resigned ourselves to having one or the other of us with her when she napped, and when she started sleeping. Once Susan was fast asleep we could come out for evening festivities and check back occasionally, but honestly one of us usually just fell asleep down there with her.

If we had thought of it, we would have figured out a way to battery power the baby monitor, since ours has a decent range. But we didn't.

This year we're going with a tent for the first time.

[mytheria.livejournal.com]

As a non-parent, here are my hints for organizing camping with kids.

Number 1 rule for camping with kids, tent or cabin: realize it will mean one adult basically tied to the child all weekend. But having that expectation up front for all adults involved and making sure all get time to be a grown up too, it should be doable.

Some other useful tidbits:
Get them used to the idea in advanced. Picture books about it are great.
Make it something fun for them. I don't know if there are good toddler lanterns or the like, but something that gives them a sense of control about the new space.
Bring things to make it more familiar for the little one. Their usual blanket, stuffed animal, bedtime books, etc.
Talk to as many parents as you can who've done this.

[beah.livejournal.com]

I'm taking my 1-year-old, and I opted for a tent. I have a huge one, so I'm going to bring a pack-and-play to use as a crib inside the tent. I am also going to bring my battery-powered monitor and hope it has enough range to prevent me from having to be tied to the kid after bedtime. My kid isn't quite mobile yet, though, so it's a whole different ball of wax.

[whuffle.livejournal.com]

Going to second what mytheria said; if you can individually or as a family unit accept that one of you is going to have to be tied to the toddler at all times, then it's just fine. We traded off a couple hours at a time. We talked it through each day so we would both know when we'd be free versus when we would be on kid duty. And being on kid duty doesn't mean that you don't have any fun of your own. It just means you're more likely to be spending time with other parents or kid-tolerant people who won't be annoyed if you have to break away in the middle of a conversation. We also negotiated which one of us would be staying in the tent after kiddo went to sleep each night.

Yes, it's not the same as Baitcon was without kids. But the truth is that's not going to happen again till the kid is a teenager. And remember that there are going to be other adults with kids there and some of them are going to be people you trust so if you both really need a break at the same time, you can talk to one of the people whom you trust and have them be responsible adult on duty for an hour or so....