Best cold weather children sleeping bags?

[KalamityJane]

We live in Idaho and are looking to camp from about March through November with the kids - almost 6yo girl, almost 3yo boy, 13mo boy. All my kids are tall (the baby is 33.5" tall at 13mo, and that's my preemie). I've gone back and forth between which bags we should get for the kids until I'm blue in the face, so I'm wondering what you all recommend?

We have a 12x18 canvas tent/woodstove and we will be using that in cold weather. I'm picking up a REI Base Camp for summer use to fit on tent pads. Bags that are at the top of my list right now are the Asolo Picolo, REI Kindercone, Big Agnes Haybro. I have a Kelty Woobie for the youngest as he will likely end up in my bag. Ideally, I'd like something that would be in the 15-20 deg rating, though I will be sewing fleece liners for the bags.

What do you all suggest? We're car camping so doesn't have to be teeny tiny bags, just warm.

 

[ColoradoNate]

We have the REI kindercone for our 4 and 7 year old daughters. They haven't complained about being cold. The coldest night we have had was probably about 25. We always bring stocking caps to sleep in for those cold nights.

 

[007]

I would purchase full size bags for the kids, you can fold the bottom under or put a blanket in the bottom for now. If you purchase full size bags they will be useful for much longer, or become good spares when your kids start bringing their friends along.

 

[nwoods]

I have an REI "Tigger" that has done pretty well. Might actually be willing to sell it now that my daughter's grown a bit more

 

[HennyJenny]

I know it is frowned upon here... But, I got my kids the 5* Everest bags from Wal-M@&t. They had a 2 for $40 special going on during Christmas so I picked up 4 of them. My kids have tested them down to 18* (in hammocks no less!) and were super warm. I got these cheapie bags because my kids are hard on gear and one still has issues with bed wetting. I couldn't afford to be replacing expensive bags. So far I am actually pretty happy with them. They are big and puffy so if you are looking for something ultra light for backpacking, these are not for you. However, I think they will be excellent for car camping.

My kids are 6, 6, 8, and 8 by the way.

 

[Moody]

I would purchase full size bags for the kids, you can fold the bottom under or put a blanket in the bottom for now. If you purchase full size bags they will be useful for much longer, or become good spares when your kids start bringing their friends along.

That is the route we went with. We also found a nice twin sized baffled down comforter that we would throw over the two kids when it was really cold. They are still using the same bags now as when they were little.

 

[KalamityJane]

Thanks for the great info! So now I'm wondering... what would be good adult sleeping bags for them? I'm intrigued by the Walmart ones Also was going to throw a Nalgene of hot water in the bottom of the bags for them and tie them off so that they weren't as long.

 

[HennyJenny]

The Wal-Mart deal is online only. These are adult sized mummy bags. One of my daughters (8 year old) is a cold sleeper and she said she stayed really warm, so you might not need the hot water bottle.

 

[007]

The brands you listed earlier are good, I've been happy with the asolo brand. Having the nalgene bottles is a good idea, I camped with my 3yr old near the grand canyon and it dipped down to 0 degrees. I had a propane heater, but it wouldn't work because the high elevation triggered the low oxygen shutoff. I used my camp stove fuel to heat water and then poured that into nalgene bottles and we stayed cozy.

 

[KalamityJane]

I think I'm going to get the Big Agnes Haybro for my middle kid and the Lily for my oldest, they go down to 15 deg, and they have nice neck baffles for if it gets really cold. That should last a good while since they say they last up to 5'6" and my oldest is only 4' right now. Thank you guys so much, I really appreciate it!! Best part is, I'm getting them for $59 each through using the 20% code off at backcountry.com and also going through shopathome.com Amazon has them for $78 each, retail $130!