Camping with a baby- advice needed :)

[travelmumma]

Hi Mummas,

I just thought I would pop over here to ask this question - hope thats ok!

DH and I are expecting our first little bean this Christmas (still farily early at the moment)....

We have been invited by my family to go beach camping in mid January... Which (hoping all goes well) would put bub at about 3 weeks old.

Would this be possible?? Or just completely crazy insane?

(Both DH and I plan on wearing Bub and breastfeeding.. And family would be there if we need a liitle break... But we would be staying in a tent in the middle of Australias Summer....)

Thought it would be best to get some real advice from Mummas with new bubba.

Crazy? Do-able? Yes? No? Would you have have able to do it 3 weeks post partum? Could a 3 week old handle this?

Thanks Mummas, and I hope all the little ones are gorgeous, healthy and chubby :)

[katelove]

Is that 3 weeks old if s/he is born on or v close to your due date or is that factoring in a late arrival? I ask because my LO was nearly 3 weeks over and the average date of birth for a first baby is 41+ weeks.

Assuming you are 3 weeks postpart I admit I would still be reluctant. I think the baby would probably be fine but I was still bleeding, still having B/Fing problems and still taking very easy post-c/s. Do you have to decide early or could it be a last minute thing? Because of course the flip side of what units said is that you have the babe at 37 weeks, sail through the post-natal period and go camping with a 6 week old. It's just not something you can predict either way KWIM?

[travelmumma]

Thats a good point... I was only thinking of Baby at 3 weeks.. I hadn't factored in myself.. And that could make a big difference...

DH and I are discussing it now and its looking more like a No...

(And yep that was factoring going about 2 weeks "late")

[rtjunker]

My LO arrived 1 1/2 weeks early, so we would have been good vacationing with family a few weeks after my due date. I actually felt really good within a couple days of delivering drug-free vaginally. I had a lot more energy than I'd had at the end of my pregnancy, and it was such a relief to be able to bend and turn and twist again. I did have bleeding for a few weeks, but no worse than a heavy period. My labor was short and quick, and the first words out of my mouth once it was over were, "That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."  My LO latched on within a few minutes after birth, and breastfed like a champ from day one, though did want to BF 24/7 for the first few weeks. I did take it pretty easy the first few weeks, mostly because it was winter here, but by 2 weeks we were out visiting family and friends regularly, and it honestly would have been awesome to be surrounded by family 3 weeks PP. My LO would have been super easy to travel with at that age, she could nap anywhere, since I was BF she could eat anywhere, and she rarely cried, and never minded being passed from person to person. Camping wouldn't have been a big deal, especially with the support of family.

So, it really depends on the specifics of your situation. It may be entirely feasible if your labor and early weeks are easy. But there's no real way to know until you're living them, so if you could decide last minute, that would be your best option.

[Peony]

Heck no would I have been able to camp then. I was feeling fine physically by then, but a bleeding, weepy mess. The baby kept screaming, wasn't sleeping, it certainly was not a vacation time. It is one of those things that if you can decide the day before then loosely make plans, but if you have to either commit now or not, I would't do it. I do new mom support and many moms would not be able to camp then, it would be a select few that would pull it off. Many are having breastfeeding issues or still recovering physically, etc...

[tanyato]

you may get to that time and go 'I could totally go camping right now!" but do NOT plan it and have that pressure to stick with your commitment looming over you. If you're able to join up last minute and feel like doing so, good. see how you feel. but whatever you do, don't commit. it'll just stress you out. 

when I say "you" i guess i mean "me" as I can only speak for myself...but there's my two bits :)

[Magali]

Nope, no way.  At 3 weeks, I am a wreck.  I've taken both of my kids camping as infants....but at 3 weeks postpartum, I couldn't have done it.  

[parsley]

I don't think I could travel before 3 months and I wouldn't do camping before 6 months.  It would make me nuts to be camping and unable to put the baby down anywhere at any point!  At least around 6 months they can sit up.

[lalazap]

I'm 3 weeks postpartum right now (birthed by unplanned C/S at 41+5, uncomplicated post-op recovery, easy breast-feeding) and though I am a fairly seasoned and enthusiastic camper, there is NO way I would want to be camping right now! First of all, I can't imagine sleeping on the ground or anywhere but our comfy king-sized bed. Secondly, we are still figuring what 'routines' work for sleeping, diapering, babywearing and it sounds totally overwhelming to be doing that in a different/temporary environment. Not to mention my own physical needs for pain meds, naps, downtime, meals, bathing (I am not normally a daily bather but absolutely have to shower every day these days since I wake up covered in milk every morning). Packing enough towels, burp cloths, blankets, etc could also be a challenge, especially depending on your capacity to do laundry on the trip.
Granted, I am a bit of a homebody and do enjoy my creature comforts and my 'nest'. Someone else (you?) might really enjoy being in a new environment with a new baby, especially with lots of family to pitch in. Let us know what you decide and how it goes if you do it!

[Magali]

Just wanted to add...we took a 17 hour car trip our dd was 4-5 weeks old.  I didn't feel ready to do it then at all.  I don't think I was getting any sleep at that point. I started feeling more like myself while we were visiting the family for a few weeks.  But I distinctly remember thinking the night before we left "How the heck am I going o do this?".  The baby was fine though.

[MidnightCommando]

It depends on how you feel and how baby is doing. We took dd2 camping at 4 weeks but I was feeling great and dd seems to sleep better outside. In fact, I joke we should set up camp in our yard since she seemed to like it so much. We do have a travel trailer which made things easy, I.e. could throw the heat on at night if it got too cold. For dd1 we took her camping at 7 months in a tent and that was fine too. My mom bought a mosquito net that fits over a bassinet, playpen or caraway and that was a lifesaver with both girls. If you feel up to or, I say go for it! Dd2 is 6 weeks now and we are going camping again this weekend
Edited by MidnightCommando - 6/26/12 at 7:24pm

[blackbird2]

I went to visit family with my first at 3 wks post-partum (uncomplicated vaginal birth), and while do-able we all got home and thought, wow, that was too soon.  There is just too much newness and recovery to figure out.   And hormones.
 

[herenow2]

I have to say I am a big fan of the whole rest and relax and get to know your baby for the first 6 weeks thing that most cultures do around the world.  I went overboard with my first and was out and about after a couple days like nothing happened and it took my body a lot longer to heal and made me more stressed than I needed to be those first couple of months.  With my second I followed my midwifes postpartum advice (5 days in the bed, 5 days mostly on the bed, 5 days near a bed) and prioritized me and baby for 6 weeks and things went much better!

[Carlin]

We camped with our DD at 4 weeks. It was just a couple days and it went OK. In some ways it was way easier than camping with her a year later.

I guess my advice would be to play it by ear. If you are feeling well, nursing is going well and you are ready to get out of the house, go for it. If you are feeling like you still need some adjustment time with the new baby, don't hesitate to stay home.

I'd also take into account the weather, and how rustic a camping trip you're planning. I don't think I'd go to a place without running water, electricity and access to the outside world at that stage. And if the weather is going to be really hot, I'd make sure there's some way to cool baby down if necessary. For our trip we were tenting, but the ability to use a friend's air conditioned motorhome was a god-send for naps.

[inkslinger]

I don't know that I'd be ready to camp at 3 weeks pp. I've camped with older babies - 5-6 months old and it went very well, but I'm usually still not feeling great at 3 weeks.

[MeepyCat]

I think the trip would be super easy on the baby.  No one's going to expect the baby to help light a fire or pitch a tent.  If they won't expect you to do any heavy work either, and your recovery is going smoothly, it could be lots of fun.

If you can hold off and decide at the last minute, and you feel up to it at that minute, I'd see nothing wrong with it.  Or if you could plan for a motel room near the beach for yourselves, that you could retreat to at need?  But don't commit yourself to anything that might be physically challenging until you're sure it'll go okay.  (Also, lochia seems like a potentially bad combo with wildlife, as it's bloody and stinks to high heaven, and what are the toilet facilities like, and and and...)