Favorite light weight camping gear for toddlers.

[denaverbena]

Whats your favorite sleeping bag and sleeping mat for toddlers?  I'd like a bag that she won't grow out right away and is lightweight but warm so it wont add to much weight to my pack.  I know therm-a-rest has half mats for adults, I was thinking about going with one of those.  What do you use? Thanks!

[mckittre]

We made a homemade synthetic sleeping bag for our toddler, and use one of the extra-small thermarest prolite mats (the tiniest red one).  I can't imagine an adult using that comfortably, but it's a full-length mat for him.  Our son wiggles a lot when he sleeps though, so we always have to barricade him with hiking gear to make sure he stays on the pad.  We've spent months at a time in the wilderness with our kids, and that worked well for us. 

[denaverbena]

Good for you, making your own!  I can imagine how  little ones would slide off mats,  that synthetic material is so slippery.  Months at a time, really?   That's so awesome, what age did you start with them?  Last summer camping with our two yr old was just a drag, we got covered in bug bites and she woke up all night crying and itchy and so unhappy.  I'm hoping for a funnier time this year! 

[mckittre]

Started at 3.5 months with the oldest, and I think the youngest didn't get out overnight until a little older, maybe 6 months.  The 2 month expedition was this past fall, when they were 2.5 years and 8 months old.

[jocelyndale]

We use an ALPS short self-inflating pad for kiddo.  He doesn't have his own bag as he refuses to sleep inside covers, so we've had to stick to fairly warm weather camping.  For chilly nights, I put him in layers (cotton PJs, socks, hat, fleece footed jammies or fleece two-piece).  When he was smaller, he slept inside a sleep sack.  They do make toddler sleeping bag sacks, but those would be of fairly short-term use.

[MamaInTheDesert]

I love love love the KidCo PeaPod. It's a mini tent that comes with a sleeping bag and a little air mattress and even it's own pump. It comes in it's own travel bag that my kiddo has been able to drag around since two years old. You open the bag, and the tent part pops open. You hand pump the mattress (5 minutes tops) and throw the bag on top. The little sides roll down if you want to give them privacy and shade, or they roll up and still have mosquito netting to keep the bugs off, and allow you to see in. I actually set the thing up inside our family's big tent, and DD feels like she has her own room within the tent. The travel bag has enough extra room in it that I can throw a pillow, extra blanket, and a couple of stuffed animals in there without even using the extra side pocket. I found a video of the one I got so you can check it out. I got mine for cheaper than the $99 they say it retails for, but it's totally worth that. I've had it since DD was just over 1, she's now 4, and I think it will last even past 6.

[macandcheese]

Mckittre, that is amazing!