Camping with your baby may seem really daunting and practically not a great idea. However it really is not as bad as you might think. You may not experience the most ‘relaxing’ camping trip, but with a small amount of careful planning you will still manage to come away from a week or two of fun and enjoyment.

One thing you should always do is check the weather forecast for the period you are planning on camping. If the weather is going to be bad, postpone. You will also want to keep your first trip with your baby short, perhaps a weekend and make sure you are not going to subject your child to harsh weather conditions i.e. the cold.

It is a great idea to bring an extra bucket that you can use to wash your child or keep them cool if they overheat.

Take more clothes for your baby than you think you might need. It is much better to be prepared, especially when it comes to your children.

Invest in a good tent light
for at night. A lot of children are afraid of the dark and so a small, battery powered, glowing tent light is a great idea.

Take a travel cot. If not only for keeping the baby secure in the early mornings, it is also useful during the day when you feel although you cannot keep an eye on your child i.e. when cooking. Make sure your baby has slept in the cot prior to camping and supply additional bedding if necessary. If you use the sleeping equipment in the run up to your camping trip, the baby will associate it with sleep, making your trip a lot easier!

Campers will find a wind up lantern very useful indeed. These lanterns usually come with an attached crank, and you can simply wind the crank to provide up to an hour (and often more) of light. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of wind up lanterns:

Advantages:

1. Always have light – Worried about running out of fuel or batteries? With the wind up lantern, you don’t have to be. Whenever you need more light, just wind the attached crank and you will be able to light up your surroundings with bright white light.

2. Safety – Safety is definitely one of the best advantages of using a crank camping lantern. The risks of an explosion or fire caused by a wind up lantern is very low when you compare this to a traditional fuel or battery lantern.

3. Extra features – Crank camping lanterns often come with many extra features such as radios or a compass. Any feature that allows you to bring less on your next camping trip is a great idea!

Disadvantages:

1. Short light duration – When you compare the wind up camping lantern with the other kinds of lanterns, you will find that the light duration is much shorter. Fuel based lanterns can remain lit as long as you top up the fuel. This is not the case for wind up camping lanterns which will only provide a few hours of light with every few minutes of cranking. You will continually have to wind the lantern in order to continue having light.

2. Less bright – The wind up camping lantern provides adequate light for most purposes, and the light is provided by white LEDs. LEDs are less bright when compared to the design of a fuel lantern, which are basically powered by burning fuel. If you have a need for very bright light, you will probably need a fuel lantern instead of a battery or wind up camping lantern.

The safe and convenient wind up camping lantern definitely is a great invention and its advantages outweighs the disadvantages. I would definitely recommend one for your next camping trip.

This article is courtesy of Wind Up Lanterns.