Camping with a Baby

Camping with a baby or a little toddler is a lot of work but so much fun. Here are some things to think about before you embark on your trip. Things like making a natural mosquito repellent all the way to helping them settle into their environment and playing in the space.

We love to camp! Our son is just over 1 years old and we wanted to share the adventure of camping with him. He went on his first camp trip at 3 months old and was only able to lie down for most of the time. This trip was way more fun for him, walking around all over the place and exploring an all new environment.

#1 Make an All Natural Mosquito Repellent

The number one thing for me was a all natural mosquito repellent. I want something on our skin that is going to be beneficial for our bodies to be ingesting. The skin being the biggest organ of our body, I definitely do not want to be constantly spraying things on us that is just super chemically based. So I have been making this all natural mosquito spray for the past two summers, and I got to say it works exceptionally well. See how I make our all natural mosquito repellent here.

using essential oils for all natural mosquito repellent

When you are camping, just give it a little shake and spray it directly onto your skin. We do this multiple times throughout the day. For our son, I am also spraying it directly onto his clothes to give an extra layer of protection. I have also read about people spraying repellent directly onto the outside of their tents. That is probably a good idea if you have lots of it, we are using our oil sparingly on our bodies and that worked fine for us.

I want to address that I have read in places that some say that “natural repellants do not work”. I wonder if it is because they are not making them strong enough? Whatever the case, we have found this to be very successful. For our last camp trip and for the past two summers, this all natural mosquito repellent has saved us from mosquito bites. I’m not talking about going into a drove of mosquitoes and not getting stung, I just mean like regular camping where there are mosquitoes flying around and we don’t want to get stung.

#2 Bring Babies/Kids a Seat

The next thing I would recommend is bringing your baby or your toddler their own seat. This is something you may not think to do since they are mostly on our laps or walking around (maybe even running?), but give it some thought.

upseat on the ground with toddler playing nearby in dirt

Our son really loved sitting with us, which makes sense. Babies and toddler just want to do what we are doing, so of course he wanted to sit when we sat. At home, we all sit on the couch so it can be easy to overlook.

We really love this UpSeat. It can be placed on the floor, on a chair, or on the table. You can strap them in if you want them to be extra safe if they’re a little.

We found that our son just loved sitting with us when we were having a coffee together or eating a meal. Not to mention the whole process of figuring out the seat and getting in and out of the seat. What an entertaining process for him, which was.

Later on, he loved our chairs too wanted to figure out how they worked. I guess this is the big age of exploring and figuring things out. So bring their own seat.

#3 Involve Them in Activities

Camping with a baby requires you to involve them in your activities. Involving them is what we do at home, but even more so camping.

We involved our son in the setting up of the tent, unpacking gear, and showing him what we’re cooking.

Meal times is a great way to involve them in this adventure of camping and eating meals outside is a part of the fun. There are also other elements like making a fire, exploring the kitchen equipment packed into totes, and exploring the nature around them that are new.

woman and son peeking into camping kitchen tote

#4 Enjoy the Environment

Considered how to help them immerse themselves in the space that they’re in and enjoy the nature.

We tried spending a lot of time by the beach, in the forest, walking around, and showing him all kinds of things that would be very new to him, and then bringing some kind of toys to help him interact with the environment. For example, a shovel and a bucket is fun to be scooping rocks into or sand from the beach. packing leaves or flowers or sticks into into the bucket, or things like it to explore and connect with nature itself.

young boy playing with bucket and shovel on rocky beach birch bay

#5 Bring Some New Toys

Toys are almost not necessary, because the environment is the main attraction. Although I did find that when that kind of became redundant or he lost focus, it was helpful to have some sort of new toys.

#6 Bring Some Favourites

My final suggestion is to bring some new toys and some toys that they’re familiar with, that they already know from home. I think that brings the element of things that are familiar and it’s a way for them to play with these toys in a new space.

A mix of both old and new, I found that to be helpful.

little boy playing with orange toys guns

#7 Have Fun Yourselves

Have fun! Our kids feed off so much of how we feel and what we’re doing. If you can have a lot of fun and enjoy it yourself. I’m sure that they will enjoy it a lot too.

I loved reading this post on Parent.com giving 11 Tips for camping with kids and am always open to learning more. If you have any other tips for camping with a baby, or thoughts that could help other people or myself, I would love if you would leave those in the comment section below. I do read all of those and I’m very interested in the things that you have to share with me and the others who read here.