Separate sleeping area's for parents and young kids

[Firesong]

Thought I would add what we did. We have 2+2 kids most of the time. When young we would use a larger tent (love MEC stuff) and stick the kids between us. As they got older we split the two older ones into their own tent next to ours. My wife is a worrier so this was tough at first but it was good for her to learn to relax. Lots of sleeping bags for extra warmth. We have one hurricane sleeper but he's a warm one. We soon discovered that if he got cold he would grab a blanket and tuck into it soon enough.

Our big problem was that we have a sleep walker. So we got used to listening for him. He would go to take a leak while sleeping and would always come back... But leave the zipper undone. Hard in mosquito country. Now we have two kids in one tent and the other two in their own. My wife and I sleep in our kamparoo. If in bear country we set up bear snags/ noise maker clotheslines

It's taken a while but separating us from the kids was a good thing.
I still remember kicking the first ones outside when we had a VW westfalia. My wife didn't sleep a wink.

Other tips that we use: glow sticks at bed time. Leave some lit ones near the entrance of each tent. Helps the ones who go outside to pee to find their tent easier without a flashlight.

Good tents don't weigh a lot. We don't buy the cheap walmart or such tents. It also means that after day 4 of crappy rain the kids and all their stuff is still dry. Yes it costs more but I still have an original moss stargazer in great shape, mec tarn3 and wanderer 4 after all these years.

 

[Runt]

You need a camping trailer with one of the big CVT RTT's. All your gear stays in....hook up and go. That's my 2 cents.

 

[Chris Boyd]

You need a camping trailer with one of the big CVT RTT's. All your gear stays in....hook up and go. That's my 2 cents.

This is what I did. Kids in the RTT on vehicle and me the wife in the trailer RTT. Still, kids are young, so we sometimes have to split with one kid with one parent if they get scared or can't sleep. If we want to do a quick trip, wife and kids in the RTT on the vehicle and me in the hammock slung between the rack and a tree.



When the kids are in the rooftop tent, I put some bear bells on the ladder so at least I hear them getting down. And so do the critters....

One day I'd like an RTT big enough on the trailer to do all of us, but then they'll be grown and want to be separate!

 

[stevil]

Here is what we are doing. CVT Mt Shasta with annex. Kids are going on top (3 and 6) and we are going below on a queen air bed.

We also have an ARB 2500 awning with the screen, so we could move out there if we were in a more remote area and not concerned w/ sleeping privacy.

I would rather have the kids on pads/cots in the annex, and us up top, but my wife is worried about them trying to get out in the middle of the night. The zippers in the annex are 6' up, so I don't see that as a problem...

We are doing our first shakedown tonight.

 

[GCAdventurer]

I have never tried to cram 2 adults and 2 kids into the van especially now with the newest little one. On our excursions without the kids, the wife and I would sleep in the van quite comfortably and all of our gear up in the action packer on the roof.

When we are with the kids, we have a 4 room tent (12-16person size) and it works well for long stays. We haven't done any quick one nighters with the kids and tent as they are all too time consuming!:yikes:
There are no current plans to go away in the near future with the kids but I will have to figure out something...
stevil's Rubicon setup looks pretty cool

 

[Rezarf <><]

I've got three kids too, I've backpacked, car camped, rv'd, and RTT camped too... We prefer a good but BIG ground tent. Two rooms, dividers, enough space to stand up and wait out the weather. Ours is a Columbia Cougar flats or something like that.

 

[ljense8]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oio9ZzEGlO0

I use this tent. I have three kids as well and this tent has worked great. It's not a high priced super durable tent, but it has lasted us 3 years with no problems and provides us with plenty of room. We usually only put the rainfly on when it is actually going to rain. Note: This is not my video.

 

[Pathwacker]

 

[jeepersjeep]

We let the kids sleep in the trailer, since it's heated and cooled, and we sleep in the tent.

 

[DieselFi5e]

You could really save space and get this instead of a tent...http://www.cabelas.com/product/Camp...40&gclid=CIGV3a7tgMYCFQWMfAodFbsAaQ&gclsrc=ds

 

[rayra]

Family size ground tent with two rooms / divider in the middle. Easiest and oldest solution. None of this RTT foolishness. Nor banishing very young children to a separate tent or locked in a vehicle. No way in hell. For a wealth of reasons, right in the same family tent.

Such tents are available, affordable (~$180), and break down into a bag that's about 1' in dia and 36-40" long. Don't make things more complicated than they need to be.

A family tent solves the sleeping arrangements in many ways. Make the vehicle secure storage and chuck wagon. Whole roof-rack open for gear. Keep the 'camp' and the vehicle separate, forgo the 'safari' fad of sleeping on top of your vehicle. That way your 'camp' is set and your vehicle can remain mobile. Setup is once on arrival and once on departure.

 

[sblanken]

We have mulled this over quite a bit. We aren't going to separate us from the children for years, as ours are very young, 10 months and just under 3 years. As of now, we all sleep great in a big ground tent- we have a tipi/ lavvu style with a single pole for quick set up. It has an inner room that divides the space as well if we want two rooms. However, we are looking at doing a long drive cross country next summer and hauling the tent AND all of the bedding in and out of the car everyday will be a little too much for us with two toddlers to chase after as well. So we are going for the van bed platform for one parent and one child and a roof top tent for the other parent and child. The platform lets us store our gear underneath the bed and some bedding will go in the roof top tent. I think it really depends on if you are doing one night stays, or if you are settling in for a bit. If no need to hurry, a huge ground tent is hard to beat and cheaper. I am excited to get our rooftop tent and have a quick option as well as the ground tent.

 

[cruxarche]

One vote here for a RTT for parents and annex for three kids and the dog. RTT's may be a fad, but it does not make them a bad idea! We love our family compound.. for solo trips or when the kids (3/5/10) are interested in their own tent, we will leave the annex at home.