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Holidaying in a Campervan with a toddler or kids would fill some people would dread. Others would dive in with both feet, and go for it without even a second thought.
If you are in either of these categories, but particularly the first one, this may help you decide and plan for your upcoming adventure.
There is a lot to consider. Sleeping, storage, and car seats for example. Will you need to take your own toilet? The one we own doesn’t seem available now, but here is one very similar.
Plus, what about a list of things to keep the kids entertained on the way?
Recently, we checked out the campervans and motorhome at an Exeter Campervan Show.
Feel free to check out this post for some amazing reasons for holidaying in a Campervan, but until then, let’s get into it.
Campervans. Not only are they great for holidays, but they are also pretty good for day trips, to the beach or park where you can spend some family time.
April 18th 2017. Was the first day we went on our first campervan holiday with a toddler. If you want to head to a campsite near a beach, for your first campervan experience, Pebble Bank is one we recently visited. It is not a massive site and maybe a good introduction for that first trip as it seems to be a quieter site. Certainly from our visit anyway.
Check out what happened when we hired one! It wasn’t all plain sailing!!
Photo’s in this post are from our rentals. It is always wise to give it some thought when thinking about hiring a campervan.
So here we go, let’s get into it.
Kids Campervan Child Seats
Campervans are ok with this, they are usually car seat friendly, some motor homes are not, and are only 2 berth.
As long as there is a seat in the back with a forward-facing seatbelt, you should be ok. We have seat covers in our campervan, so we can’t utilise the ISOFIX fitting. A highback booster with a seatbelt does the job for us.
Had he been younger, and we wanted ISOFIX, we would have left the seat cover off when travelling. We would have re-fitted when cooking/eating etc, as this is when the seat could get damaged or dirty. This is probably a key thing to consider when thinking about a holiday in a campervan with a toddler.
Space is important for Kids in a Campervan
Children and toddlers come with a lot of stuff. Pushchairs & toys. Extra clothes due to accidents or those unplanned beach adventures.
Plan ahead, and make sure you are ready to move things around. A lot.
Know what you are going to need when you get there so you don’t have to empty the entire contents of the boot to find something.
The boots on the campervans are big. Particularly in the VW California when you can slide it forward and cram even more in the back.
Child Friendly Campsites
All the campsites we have been to, have been very child friendly. Look for these. Ones that have a play park, or a play area.
Can you choose a pitch in advance? Many don’t allow this though.
If you can, book one away from any area where cars may frequent. The entrance, exit, or turning point for example.
Watch for cars traveling around the site, as it is easy to lose sight of the little one. In a split second, they can disappear as you are getting the deckchairs out, or putting the kettle on. An important part of a holiday when you campervan with a toddler or with kids.
Book in advance
We also recommend perhaps booking the first few sites up in advance, even if not traveling at peak time.
Knowing you have a place to stay on those first couple of nights, gives peace of mind if nothing else.
Prepare for the journey, and the time at the campground
Younger children are a bit trickier to entertain, and to keep engaged. So, check out this post, if you want a few tips and ideas for the journey, and for your time onsite.
Such as:
Sleeping arrangements
We put our little one in the pop-top. The “upstairs” bed that becomes available when the roof goes up.
It is a big adventure for him, but you need to be aware, especially if they move around a lot.
When Max was younger, and on our first trip in our campervan, we awoke to hear him crying. We looked forward to where you access the roof bed and found hanging down out of the space. We grabbed him, and luckily no harm was done, but from then on, we always use the safety net we get with the VW California.
Are they light sleepers? Are any of the grown-ups loud snorers? All things sleep-related need to be taken into account.
Let them join in
When you eventually have a holiday or a trip in a campervan with a toddler or with kids initially, in any case, they will love to join in. It is all an adventure, a novelty. Cooking with fire, plugging in a car to electricity, and making the roof go up. All these things will be fun and exciting to them.
Let them get involved as much as possible, and they can learn young.
Follow us to find out how we get on
So there we have it. A little bit of advice from a family of campervanners. We would definitely recommend hiring one if you were ever to consider it. Don’t forget to Check out what happened when we hired one! It wasn’t all plain sailing!!
Below are a few photos of the hires we made. If you are interested in seeing a review of a campsite, have a read here.
If you have any questions I would happily try and answer them, or if you also have any other tips, I would love to hear them.
We are a family that loves to travel around the UK, and thoroughly recommend you hire one, just the once, to see if you like it.
If you are interested, you can follow our travels over on our YouTube Channel. Until next time, thanks for reading, and Happy Travels.
Rich
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