Coming to the end of an eventful summer

Hello All,

I hope you have all had a fabulous summer. Autumn is just around the corner and I can feel it creeping upon us as the evenings start to pull in.

It's been a very eventful and long summer, of which I have very much enjoyed with Master P. Sadly it feels as if everything is coming to an end... the summer, the long warm days, spending time in the park with Master P and long weekends as a family... in two weeks time, I say goodbye to maternity leave and hello world of work. Where did I park my brain?

Tomorrow marks my full year off work. OMG. Where has the time gone?

Even more scarily, in 10 days time, Master P turns one.

ONE

Mr P and I have been parents for one whole year and have survived... and very much look forward to the years ahead. Once Master P has turned one I will probably do a reflective blog post as I really cannot believe how much can happen in one year let alone the astonishing development of a baby!

As new parents, we were a little bit daunted about taking a holiday within the first year of Master P's arrival. But we thought we all needed to have a break and go and take some time out. I've been to and fro from Cornwall to see the grandparents with Master P over the past 10 months but Mr P hadn't taken a break. We weren't keen on flying and wanted to stay in the UK and thought that it would be  great idea to go camping.

CAMPING?!?!?

Yes, camping. With a 10month old baby. Surely, how hard can it be? You can imagine the look on a lot of peoples faces when they asked if we were going away this summer to be presented with a response of, "yes, we are going camping. Yes, we are going camping with the baby."..."Are you mad?".

Now, for people who don't know us, here's the funny thing: I love camping and have spent many a night under canvas. On the other hand, in 14 years of being together I have never managed to convince the luxury holiday, home comfort lover that is my husband to go camping. We have only slept in a tent together once for one night, 10 miles from home, in the 14 years that we have been together. Camping and Mr P do not go together.

However, add a baby to the equation and a little bit of male parenting ego and all of a sudden it seems like a grand idea. I started to sow the seed about it being the way to go for our family holidays, reminiscing about all the times I used to camp with friends and family. "It's perfect for the little ones", I say, "All that fresh air, freedom, other kids... it will be brilliant!"...and chuck in some prompting from another family with a little one whom we plot to go away with in the future and suddenly husband turns into Ray Mears overnight and the whole family go on a tent and camping equipment expedition. Within two weeks of sewing the seed, we were proud owners of our new family tent!

I must admit, it's a pretty swish tent which should last us a good few years. We were very good and had a practice run of putting it up in the back garden and it just about fitted! We agreed one of us would be team leader and the other, the gofer, so as to prevent the whole tent erecting ending in divorce.

And off we went to sunny North Wales for a week.

We did have a motive for going to North Wales. We have very good friends who live in North Wales, by the coast, and if it all went wrong, we had an escape route, a dry house, a bed and a bath close to hand. But to our delight, we had a week of wall to wall sunshine with 30C temperatures.

We kept an eye on the weather forecast in the weeks leading up to the holiday and to be honest I was a little worried as the weather was so variable and there was a lot of rain. On the day that we left home, the weather was horrific. It rained so hard that Mr P and I couldn't hold a conversation in the car, let alone have the radio on and the average speed on the motorway was 40mph for 2 hours! There were several glances at each other as Master P slept soundly in the back of the car.

But luckily for us, as soon as we hit North Wales, there was not a drop on rain in sight.

So, I here you cry, how did you get on with camping with a baby?

Well, beforehand I did a lot of searching for small, family friendly campsites and we ended up staying at Plas Farm Camping and Caravan Park and it was idyllic. The pitches were roomy, the facilities were fantastic and what was even better was the addition of a campers kitchen where we had access to a kettle and a microwave (great for sterilising bottles). There were baby changing and washing facilities in the disabled washrooms for us of which we were given an access key. We also paid for an electrical hook up as we took a small electric cool box with us so that we could keep some essentials cool, even though the campsite does have fridges and freezers available for use in the campers kitchen.

When it came to putting the tent up, Master P was quite happy to watch us from the comfort of his pram with a snack, and when we took the tent down, he sat on the picnic rugs with toys and wasn't bothered at all (it might be slightly different now as he is crawling!).

Master P had his own little tent for sleeping in which was in one section of the big tent. It's great and it only weighs 2.5kg! We picked up a new one on Ebay for £30. When it arrived at home, we put it up in the lounge so that Master P could get used to it, then we moved it to his bedroom and used if for day time naps and then a few over night sleeps and he was fine. We picked up a Vango inflatable mattress to inside and also a Vango sleeping bag for babies.

I was quite worried about the temperature at night and what to dress Master P in. We did take one of our free Grobag room thermometers with us and I am glad we did! As we had such good weather, the tent was still 27C by 7pm which was normally Master P's bedtime, so we had to move bedtime back to 8.30pm and make sure he had an extra little nap at 5pm for 30mins. It didn't affect his routine and he would wake up between 6.30-7am each morning. So, he slept in a vest, a full length sleep suit and he was tucked up in the sleeping bag, but I didn't do the sides up as it was about 14C in the tent at night and the sleeping bag went down to lower temperatures. We did, however, place a light fleece blanket over the top of his little tent to keep some warm air in and it hung over the sides of his tent so he still had air circulating around him. It also acted as a blackout too. I was prepared for colder weather and took a fleece baby sleep suit too but we didn't need it.

When it came to milk and eating, luckily for us, Master P was down to two bottles per day by then, so he would have milk in the morning and milk before bed. We got into a really good routine of whoever was up first went to the campers kitchen, filled a flask of hot water to make a cup of tea back at the tent and heat the milk in the microwave. We took the pre made mini bottles of formula milk with us and they were so much easier. By the time Master P had had his milk and a little play in the tent, the other campers were up and about getting breakfast.

We took the chair part of his highchair with us which we actually bungee-cord to the picnic bench securely. Master P sat in his little chair, like Lord Muck, watching the world go by and waving and smiling at all the other campers. And as he is such a good eater, we never had a problem when it came to solids. We took some cereals and sultanas for him which he has at home and packed some other pre-made baby foods, but to be honest, Master P ate whatever we ate and I came home with more baby food!

Master P was so happy to be outside the tent on the picnic blankets, with some toys, watching everything that was going on around us. He kept a lot of other people amused too.

Not a moan, not a cry, not a whimper.... everyone on the site commented on how good Master P was, how they never heard him at night (he didn't cry at all) and how many lovely comments we got as parents for taking our 10month baby camping! And, to my surprise, Mr P asked if we could extend our trip and stay another night as he was having such a great time!

Would we do it again! Oh yes! We are already planning our trip away next year, abroad!

So, my top ten tips for camping with a baby:
1. Find a family friendly campsite with good facilities. They do exist. Give them a call and ask them what they have on site.
2. Take a small box of favourite toys.
3. Take plenty of layered clothing for the baby as its amazing how the temperature can change. Additional blankets are always a good idea as they can act as sunshades on the pram or extra layers if it gets cold at night.
4. You can never have too many nappies and wet wipes.
5. Review the area before you go and see what activities are available for wet/bad weather. Do you need to take any particular items with you like a pram shade if you plan to be outdoors a lot?
6. Take a well equipped first aid kit and include sun cream / insect repellent / Calpol.
7. If you are using formula milk, take the small pre made bottles of milk with you.
8. Take a good supply of dried goods and pre-made food for both you and the baby/toddler. Buy fresh goods little and often when camping. Think ahead about meal planning before you go away.
9. Accept that there will be a change in your daily routine. There is only one pace of life when camping so go with the flow.
10. Don't stress! Stay calm and relaxed and enjoy the experience.

And now as summer starts to fade, I've got two weeks left of my maternity leave which I intend to thoroughly enjoy with family and friends and also get ready for our sons first birthday, and his first birthday cake! So watch this space!

Take care,

Nic xoxoxoxo