Keeping 1 year old warm

[gmilhouse]

Hi guys and girls!

I recently got back from a week in the Vic high country with the young fella. Night time temps were getting down to around 3 and sometimes into the minus digits. We took a ton of clothes and blankets etc for him but he was still cold. He tends to wriggle out from under the blankets when he is sleeping. We had him in polar fleece PJs and a baby sleeping bag but he still froze!

We ended up putting him in the bed with us but this always ended in tears cause he would wake up cold and find it hard to warm up.

Does anyone have any tips on how to keep kids warm up when in cold areas? He is in a porta cot and has always been a cold sleeper.

I know about layering etc but it seemed no matter how many layers he had, he still got cold. We are heading away again in a few months so want him to be toasty this time.

Cheers

Greg

[GGV8Cruza]

We used to put our kids in warm pj's and then a grobag
http://au.gro-store.com/grobags.html

GG

[Bird]

We used to put a sheepskin under Cammo, used to keep him warm

What sort of cot/bed is he in? Does it need better insulation?

[sschmez]

Have a critical look at your sleeping bag and decide if it's really up to the task. Most I've see aren't.

Our son Nick started high country camping from 4 months and not just in summer.
We dressed him in Pj's and had a fleecy type bag thingy with sleeves that we could zip him into. Socks were on, mittens and a beanie completed the picture. Under him he'd have a thermarest sleeping mat covered with a sheepskin and he'd be in an adult sleeping bag folded under, in half. This setup would obviously vary according to expected temps because too hot is no good too, if he got too hot he'd throw it all off and then get cold.

I'll see if I can find some pics for you.

Stevo

[gmilhouse]

He is just in a normal portacot with the mesh sides. I put a couple of wool blankets underneath the mattress but I think the lambswool would be a better option.

He had 3 polar fleece blankets and a doona but he wriggles and rolls around and ends up not covered. We use the gro bag style sleeping bags and normally they are great but they just didn't cut the mustard on the last trip, especially when we stopped at the poplars campsite and temps got down to -3! I struggled that night and all our water froze, there was a sheet of ice on the solar panels and the grass crackled under foot. Fun camping!

Cheers

Greg

[Bird]

but he wriggles and rolls around and ends up not covered.

both my kids still do this 14 and 9...

[kiva]

When our boy was one he was dressed in layers, with the outermost being a polar fleece jumpsuit (Kathmandu) or even two jumpsuits if it was really cold (though he did look a little like the Michelin Man). The jumpsuits have built in booties, mittens, and a hoodie. He slept in a portacot (mesh sides), with a blanket loosely draped over the top - no additional blanket directly on him as at that age, the blanket would never stay on. Additionally, we would also place a hot water bottle (with fleece cover) in the portacot where the ambient heat would keep the air gently warmed due to the covering blanket. We regularly had -5 nights and he was cosy. Too many layers and he'd get too hot, so it took a while to learn to get the balance right. You can find the jumpsuits on ebay. Kathmandu don't appear to sell them anymore. SWMBO just said that ours are for sale if anyone is interested 

[V8CRSA]

Our little boy is almost 2, and sleeps in a porta cot. Over easter we had a blanket folded up under his matress to prevent the cold through the bottom, and we tend to put a blanket or jacket around the head end to prevent a draft.
We recently got him a black wolf children's sleeping bag rated to -5. This seems to keep him cozy, it has a hood and you can pull a draw string so they can't wriggle out as easy.
We tend to dress him in singlet, bonds onsie and either tracksuit type pj's or flannelette pj's. He doesn't tend to keep a beanie on.
On particularly cold nights  we also put a woolen blanket over him.
Cheers
Brooke

[austastar]

Hi,
   some sort of a hood in the sleeping bag makes a lot of difference.  Beanies tend to twist around and cover the face.
Get a sheep skin to go under the bedding, a canvas cot style underneath will just let the cold straight through.


We slept on Mt Wellington one Easter with a 2 year old in temperatures that froze the washing water in a few minutes after it hit the ground.


cheers

[dazzler]

We find its the cold air around their heads that makes it hard.  Dont know the answer to that.  We just take a hiatus over the colder months...

[schmik]

We used to rug ours up with thermals under their one piece PJs and put a beanie on their heads.

[Muckinhell]

I have used these for adult keeping warm with great success. not this exact pack put something similer and will this winter after insuring it isnt going to over heat for my own body on my shirt for a couple of hours whack one under my 8 month olds blanket to project some warmth from underneath. there just a packet you unseel then pull off a plastic protective layer to keep the oxygen out and also a sticky layer, then stick them to your chest area on your shirt under your jacket. they just have some minerals in them that when exposed to air have a fast like rusting affect that cause the heat.

alternativly there are gel systems that you boil up, let cool and then click a disk inside them that causes them to go rigid and produce heat somehow.

[briann532]

Our kids have grown up winter camping.
Outback trips as babies and down the Snowy in winter.

We use thermals, and when they were younger the grobags were good.
However, we found that a good quality sleeping bag with a rope or tie so they cant slip down worked wonders.
As they grew we just move the tie down.

A good quality sleeping bag will keep you warm even in the coldest of weather.
We just did Easter down in the high country and were warm with just good quality sleeping bags.
Its one thing not to skimp on.

For kids that keep wriggling out the top of the bag, we used to use an adult size bag that was wide so they could still wriggle, but it kept them still in the bag.
The excess foot area was tucked under them as an extra layer of insulation.

The cold usually gets you from the bottom, not the top.
Insulating under is far more important than layering on top.

Good luck with it,
Brian

[swanny]

Plenty of great advise already for sure, I would try and keep his extremities covered hoodie socks etc, keeping his body heat in, warm blankets as mentioned, and perhaps a water bottle in a cover heated up maybe placed in to his bedding to help warm it up, and then maybe when and if he wakes again, put another in to do the same thing.

Food for thought.

Swanny

[gmilhouse]

Thanks again guys, lots of great advice for sure.

We managed to meet another couple who take their 11 month old twins camping all year round too. They suggested thermals and a "kinder kot" which is a pop up portable kot from Denmark. They are sids approved and have covers to block the draughts. They are also way smaller than our current portacot so win win.

I will definitely invest in a hot water bottle (and maybe one for me too!) And some flannelette sheets. Cotton is cold compared to the flannos. We are going to pick up a lambswool underlay this weekend.

His birthday is coming up so he might get a big boy sleeping bag from his dad!

Cheers

Greg

[crtsd]

Just get a gro bag... they're great. You can also double them up if really cold.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 in work time... meh

[steppenwolf]

Our g-kids find life here in the bush, with its much wider range of daily temperatures, hard to get used to, especially at about 3:00-4:30am when the temperature falls dramatically. My bet is that that's the time for difficulties for all little kids camping. We discovered BAMBOO blankets for the portacot. Not the cheapest but they don't seem to heat up and get kicked off, but do seem to maintain a more restful (for everyone else as well) even temperature.