Keeping your kids warm?

[CatPowerDude]

So I have a 1 year old, and I really want to take him and my wife along when I go out. I have a rei kingdom 8 tent, so that is plenty big enough for all of us to really glamp it up. I have an air mattress for the little guy that is sunken in the middle so he can’t roll out in the middle of the night. But when it is about 30-45° at night I have no idea how to keep him warm. When we are home his room is set at 68° and he sleep in one of those zippy sleep sacks. I’m sure if I kept him in clothes and all of his sleep sacks layered it still would not be enough to keep him warm much less comfortable. Any one have any solutions for what you do with the little ones? Or any products you may have seen that would help out? Thank you.

 

[smlobx]

Well my "kids" are both over 6 feet tall but when they were little we had a small mummy sleeping bag like this..


Depending on how your little one likes to sleep this may be a viable option. What ever you do make sure you have a good pad underneath to keep from getting too cold.

Another possible option is to get one of those Mr. Buddy heaters if you have enough room in your tent and are careful.

 

[CatPowerDude]

Yeah I was just talking to my wife about a little buddy heater.

 

[SomeGuyNamedPaul]

What ever you do make sure you have a good pad underneath to keep from getting too cold.

This is something I just recently learned. I normally just toss a bag on the ground but every once in a while an air mattress would be used. I would always put the blankets on TOP of the mattress to keep warm, but someone finally showed me to insulate the bottom of the air mattress. It makes perfect sense but the thought never occurred to me.
If the kiddo has their own little air mattress, A good pad or blanket keeping it off the ground would help a lot. But with such a young baby, you definitely need a heat source.
When my son was 2 I put him in the bag with me so my body heat would keep him warm. But he would squirm so much in his sleep I wish I had a tent heater! We only tried that twice. He’s 5 now and has his own bag.

 

[smritte]

X2 on the little buddy heater. I love mine. I turn it on, open up the bedding and let it run foe a couple of hours before I sleep.

A good pad or blanket keeping it off the ground would help a lot.

This. Air mattresses are poor insulators. I have REI's version of a thermo rest. As was noted, you can wrap the air mattress insulating the bottom and side's that would help too. I've been looking at down comforters too.

Scott

 

[Anak]

Pack & Play.

Put his bed in his own little cage and he will be fine. That is what we used to do. Mattress for insulation on the bottom. Blankets/sleeping bag over him. Odds are he still wakes someone up in the middle of the night at least once. Blankets/sleeping bag will get adjusted then.

Kudos to you and your bride for getting the little one out there early.

 

[Jeff B]

Definitely insulate from the bottom, air mattresses are horrible at that. I would get a good r value sleeping pad to go underneath. If you don't want rolling around, you could use a changing table pad that is contoured and put it inside of a small sleeping bag. I would use a synthetic sleeping bag in case of any over the night leaks to make sure he stays warm. Also like the other posts say, a small heater if feasible with a battery operated CO2 detector. You also could get something like this to insulate more of the bottom of the tent for when he is crawling around in there. https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/field-and-stream-6-pack-campsite-flooring-17fnsufs6pkcmpstfcsl/17fnsufs6pkcmpstfcsl?camp=CSE:DSG_pg31595_mk_PLA_454&gclid=Cj0KCQiA-JXiBRCpARIsAGqF8wVlCZflP3Hq683VtWfP8ZgRsv9fKTk414Us_DgKNpNuAJc9hGC9wvcaAuGPEALw_wcB

 

[CatPowerDude]

Thank you all for the replies and ideas. I think I will end up with a combination of y’alls ideas. Pack and play with good ground insulators, put him in his zippy sleep sack, add a decent synthetic bag, and a heater with the c02 detector. Worse case scenario he ends up in my bag with me and he sleeps while I stay awake and think “man I’m really dumb for taking a 1 year old out in the woods” haha. Keep the ideas coming, again I really appreciate this.

 

[smlobx]

.........Worse case scenario he ends up in my bag with me and he sleeps while I stay awake and think “man I’m really dumb for taking a 1 year old out in the woods” haha. Keep the ideas coming, again I really appreciate this.

In twenty years you'll look back on that first night and remember it as one of the best time of your life...trust me on this. ...

 

[JCWages]

You have a lot of great advice above so I'll just add, get yourself and or your wife a nice large rectangluar 0F or -35F sleeping bag like the Teton Sports Deer Hunter bag. If you end up in truly freezing temps the child may not generate enough heat on his own to stay warm. That happened to my 48lb dog in 20F temps in our RTT so I had to stick her in my bag with me and it was such a tight fit I couldn't get both arms inside. Basically I didn't sleep.... So I ordered the Deer Hunter -35F bag on Amazon for $129. You can buy 2 and zip them together for a big family bag as well.