How to Keep a Toddler or Baby Warm while Camping in Cold Weather
When taking our little one camping, my biggest concern was how to keep her warm at night. I knew I could layer her up during the day, but what about during the night when the temperature dropped? I wanted to keep with safe sleeping practices, so this became a tough thing to figure out. Learn here how to keep a toddler or baby warm while camping in cold weather.
First, I’m going to talk about your best and safest option for keeping babies warm during the night while camping. Then, we’ll talk about other things I read about that aren’t the most ideal but may work for you.
I googled this extensively prior to camping with my 1 year old.
Jump to How to Keep a Toddler or Baby Warm while Camping in Cold Weather:
Safe Sleeping for an Infant while Camping
If you have a baby, I’m sure you’ve read or heard about safe sleep practices. No blankets or items in their crib until they’re at least 12 months old. Safe pajamas that don’t cause any risk of suffocation. A relatively firm surface to sleep on.
Basically, you don’t want your little baby to get tangled up in a blanket and suffocate. You don’t want them to cover their face in any way that could affect their breathing.
Soooo how the heck are you supposed to get a child to be warm but also sleep safely while camping?
The temperature drops during the night, and I often end up cold in my 15 degree rated sleeping bag. I kept imagining my 1 year old being so cold. The thought of her waking up with freezing toes almost kept me from going camping with her at all.
We live in Colorado and had planned a camping trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. I knew the temperature could drop into the 30s during the night despite being in the 70s during the day. My 1 year old hadn’t slept with a blanket yet, and I knew she wouldn’t keep it on. I thought about a kids’ sleeping bag, but I was worried about her suffocating. Layers would help, but I didn’t think they’d keep her warm enough if my own cold-weather sleeping bag isn’t always sufficient.
I googled “how to keep an infant warm while camping in cold weather” one million different ways. I read a lot of things that were absolutely not going to work for us. I’ll talk about those later. But then I finally came across something that is PERFECT to keep a toddler or baby warm while camping in cold weather.
The Morrison Outdoors Wearable Sleeping Bag
This is it. This is the best thing on the market to keep little ones warm while sleeping in a cold tent.
It’s made by a small business that was started for this very issue I was having. They had a little one and didn’t know how to dress him to sleep in a cold tent, so they came up with this wearable sleeping bag idea.
It’s basically a cold weather sleeping bag with arms, made for infants and toddlers. It’s made with down to keep them super warm. It is awesome.
You eliminate the risk of your little one suffocating in a sleeping bag because this one cannot cover their face. They can move their arms, but their feet are together in a sleeping bag-like onesie.
It’s perfect, it’s awesome, and I’m so glad it exists.
I would love if you bought one from my link because I’ll get a small commission – that’s how I make money from this blog. But I also understand if you want to buy one from their site.
They sell the sleeping bag sacks sized for 6-24 months and 2-4 years. They offer 20 degree bags, perfect for camping in 20-60 degrees. Or 40 degree bags, perfect for 40-60 degree weather. The 20 degree bags are more expensive than the 40 degree ones.
They are kinda pricey, $100-180 regular price, but you can catch them on sale.
We put her in her normal pajamas in the sleeping bag sack. We did put a hat on her head to keep her ears warm overnight. Hat + the Morrison Sleep Sack and you’re set.
We were car camping, so we brought a pack n play. That’s what she was used to sleeping in when we traveled, and they definitely say not to put an infant on a blow up mattress. I did shove my heavy winter coat under the pack n play to try to keep her pack n play a bit warmer as well. This is not proven to work, I just felt like the ground and air would be cold against the pack n play?
She slept for 12 hours straight.
Read Next:
Other Ideas to Keep a Toddler or Baby Warm while Camping in Cold Weather
I read a lot of thoughts.
Some people said to just not go camping with your little one, stating it was too risky. Umm, no to this one.
Some people said to sleep with your baby in your sleeping bag. I was always horrified of falling asleep and squashing/suffocating my infant, so the thought of putting her IN my relatively tight sleeping bag was a big no from me.
Others suggested just bundling them up. You CAN try this depending on how cold it will be overnight. You can bundle with wool layers, a warm swaddle, booties, hat, etc. But if it’s going to drop into the 30s or lower, I can’t imagine that this will keep them warm enough.
Some recommended putting the kiddo in their own sleeping bag. I feel that a 6 month old/1 year old is too little to be in their own sleeping bag. Ours will literally sleep ALL OVER her crib. There’s no way she would have just stayed in a sleeping bag. Aaaand I feel like that’s a suffocation risk.
You can also try only camping in warmer weather, but then you might have super hot days – also not fun when camping with a little one.
The Best Way to Keep a Toddler or Baby Warm while Camping in Cold Weather is the wearable sleeping bag.
Especially if you want to get sleep and not wake up every hour wondering if your infant is cold. If you’re planning on camping with a 6 month-4 year old, it’s worth buying one.
Update: We used this while camping with our now 3 year old, and I still wholeheartedly agree that it’s the best option for toddlers and infants. It was perfect for infants, and I wondered if a 3 year old would still need it. The answer is yes. Our girl loves to move around, and she would not stay in an actual sleeping bag. The Morrison bag keeps her warm all night long.
What do you think? Is there a better way than the sleeping bag sack? I just really believe it’s the best option. Please let me know in the comments if something has worked for you! And share this with your fellow parents who love camping.
More on Camping: How to Poop in the Woods while Backpacking or check out Every Campground at Glacier National Park to plan your next trip!
Happy Camping!
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