Toddler/pack-n-play in RTT annex?

[Ben Cleveland]

Like the title says, has anybody used this particular arrangement for sleeping?

It’s been several months since we went on our last camping trip with our daughter. Last one she was barely sitting up on her own, so sleeping in the RTT together wasn’t bad. Now, she’s a crawling fiend, and she’s probably going to start walking soon. We can’t even imagine any of us being able to sleep with all of us in the RTT together. She’d just crawl all over us. And she’s too young for us to get her to stay in one spot. In another few months or year, I don’t think it will be a big deal, she’ll get older, understand more, and we’ll have taught her more discipline. For now though, she’s just a baby, who crawls everywhere and thinks everything is funny, and if not it makes her cry. We’re still in the simple stages of awareness here.

I’m aware this is a temporary issue, but we’re doing a big bend trip in 2 weeks and I’m sort of concerned our temporary setup is somehow going to not work at all. Plan is to have her sleep in her pack and play, in the annex. Floor zipped in, and a mr buddy heater on low so she doesn’t get cold (lows will be in the 40’s at night). Not really worried about her safety, but worried about her getting cold, and worried that somehow it’s just not going to work well.

Any other parents tried a setup like this?

 

[MA_Trooper]

Do you have any sleep sacks? I've doubled up on sleep sacks before to help with the cold since our toddler has a tendency to work her way out of from under the covers. Footy pajamas help. I'd be worried about the heater making it too hot. I have one and unless the temps are below freezing that thing steams us out. Youll also want to be sure the annex is well ventilated. I woke up gasping for air once. wasn't a great experience. Lesson learned.

 

[Ben Cleveland]

I guess it’s also important to note that we’ve never co-slept at home. We’re not a co-sleeping family, it’s never worked for any of us the few times we’ve tried it. Our daughter always sleeps in her own crib all night. And rarely wakes up unless she has a bad dream or some sound wakes her up.

 

[Ben Cleveland]

Do you have any sleep sacks? I've doubled up on sleep sacks before to help with the cold since our toddler has a tendency to work her way out of from under the covers. Footy pajamas help. I'd be worried about the heater making it too hot. I have one and unless the temps are below freezing that thing steams us out. Youll also want to be sure the annex is well ventilated. I woke up gasping for air once. wasn't a great experience. Lesson learned.

We do have sleep sacks and footy pajamas! Great suggestions. This is one of my concerns as well since I’ve never used a heater for myself in a tent. It’s a foreign concept for me.

Do you think the heater is even necessary at all? I was considering setting up the rtt and pack and play this weekend and doing a test run with the heater running, just to see how warm it got.

 

[MA_Trooper]

We do have sleep sacks and footy pajamas! Great suggestions. This is one of my concerns as well since I’ve never used a heater for myself in a tent. It’s a foreign concept for me.

Do you think the heater is even necessary at all? I was considering setting up the rtt and pack and play this weekend and doing a test run with the heater running, just to see how warm it got.

I don't think the heater is necessary at 40 degrees. couple sleepsacks and some thick blankets should do well. if you run the heater, run it for a few min to warm things up and shut it down til you have time to really figure it out. Don't test it out with you baby. We've found that our toddler doesn't really move around the tent when she is in her sleepsack. So may be able to keep the kiddo in the tent with you instead of in the annex. Get those tiny caribiners and biner the zippers together so they can't be opened ;) Wouldn't want the little one trying to sneak out of the second floor window.

Edit: We like to keep the kiddo up with us cause the pac n play is not rated for any kind of insulation underneath and no matter how many blankets, she is just going to be cold anyway.

 

[Ben Cleveland]

I don't think the heater is necessary at 40 degrees. couple sleepsacks and some thick blankets should do well. if you run the heater, run it for a few min to warm things up and shut it down til you have time to really figure it out. Don't test it out with you baby. We've found that our toddler doesn't really move around the tent when she is in her sleepsack. So may be able to keep the kiddo in the tent with you instead of in the annex. Get those tiny caribiners and biner the zippers together so they can't be opened ;) Wouldn't want the little one trying to sneak out of the second floor window.

Edit: We like to keep the kiddo up with us cause the pac n play is not rated for any kind of insulation underneath and no matter how many blankets, she is just going to be cold anyway.

That's great. Thank you for the suggestions! We'll be out there 3 nights, so we'll have time to experiment.

 

[MA_Trooper]

That's great. Thank you for the suggestions! We'll be out there 3 nights, so we'll have time to experiment.

Def bring the heater. I use it intermittently when needed unless we are in 0 degree weather and need to run it full time. Takes no more than 3-5 min to toast up the tent. for the most part, everyone does ok with layers and blankets.

 

[MA_Trooper]

For anyone not knowing what we are talking about when we say sleep sack:

These are the fleece sleep sacks we have. work great.

 

[Ben Cleveland]

I’ll take some pictures and share our experiences this and next weekend here too.

 

[MA_Trooper]

I’ll take some pictures and share our experiences this and next weekend here too.

Awesome. I hope to see that it went flawlessly! I happened to be working on an article for my site about bringing kids on your adventures when I saw this post. So it is all fresh in my mind