Toddler Camping Bedtime Routine
Sleep is one of the things that can make or break the joy of a camping trip with kids. There seem to be two schools of thought when it comes to bedtime while camping - let the kids stay up late and they will go to sleep quickly and easily, or, keep the same bedtime to prevent overtiredness. For us, keeping a consistent schedule and bedtime routine even while camping has been key to ensuring good sleep and lower stress. Because we tent camp in drive-up sites we aren’t limited by weight or space - so we try to replicate our home routines as closely as possible. Below I will take you step by step through our camping night time routine in excruciating detail!
6:30pm - Last call & campsite tidy up - About 10-15 minutes before I want to start our bedtime routine I do a last call for any food or drinks and wrapping up of play. I typically give my kid a pediasure shake at this time to “top her up” for the night as she eats poorly while we are camping and I like to ensure she has a full belly at bedtime (when she was a young toddler, this was just regular shelf stable milk). During this last call period I make sure our fire is at a safe level for us to walk to the bathroom (we have not camped in high fire risk environments so far, so obviously this will vary for everyone). I also spend this time putting away all kitchen items into their bin, cleaning up any lingering food, and tidying up any toys as needed.
6:45pm - Final bathroom trip (part 1) - I have a small backpack as a “bathroom bag” which is pre-packed with what we need for our bedtime routine. I specifically use a backpack so I can wear it and have my hands available for hand holding or kid carrying. Inside the backpack is: toiletries bag, locked medicine bag, half size microfiber towel, pack of baby wipes, overnight diapers/pull ups, kid sleep layers/pajamas, kid outdoor camp slippers. If the bathhouse is quite a distance or we have a little time to kill walking the campground loop I will also bring my soft structured carrier.
We plan for an unhurried/no stress walk to the bathhouse in an attempt to end the day on a high note instead of a battle. So we meander at toddler pace, wave to fellow campers, admire tents and fires (from the road), look for shapes and colors, and race each other to landmarks.
7:00pm - Final bathroom trip (part 2) - Once in the bathhouse we go straight to the toilet. Toddler goes potty first and then while I am sitting on the toilet I help toddler strip off all clothes/shoes. We put her pull up on in the stall. And depending on how much room we have to navigate we either put on her pajamas in the stall or move out to the sink area to put pajamas on. Next we wash both of our hands in the sink and faces (in the sink for me, wipes or sink for her). I use baby wipes or part of our small towel to wipe off any excessive dirt on us both - but frankly we don’t bother too much with this. Then we both brush our teeth. We take any needed medications and then pack back up the bathroom bag with the toiletries bag, medicine bag, and dirty toddler daytime clothes/shoes. Then it’s time to walk back to our campsite. The leisure of the walk depends on how much time we have left before I’d like her head on the pillow. If we have extra time or she seems like she needs just a little more energy release we will take “the long way back”.
7:30pm - Back in the tent - Once we are back in our tent, I get her settled onto her bed and in her sleeping bag. I then change into my own pajamas and camp slippers. We read three stories (same as at home) and then I turn on her nightlight and portable white noise machine. I leave the books out for her to thumb through again if she wants and offer to put on a book on her Yoto audio player (with the volume locked so she can’t turn it up to a level that our neighbors would hear). I remind her that she will hear cars driving, car doors shutting, adult voices talking, dogs barking, etc and that she can sleep through them all (with a no big deal attitude). I then give her hugs and kisses and let her know that I will be just outside the tent doing some camp chores and that she would be asleep by the time I come back. (She falls asleep independently at home as well, so this isn’t scary for her! For others this step may look like snuggling/laying together, back pats, etc.).
7:45pm - While she falls asleep - When I leave the tent I bring with me my jacket/blanket, a book/journal, and my headlamp. I make sure the zipper to my tent is all the way at the top where she cannot reach it to let herself out (we had an incident where she did let herself out to go on a night walk once). (Note: if I had a tent with a shorter ceiling/door that she could reach, I would be clipping a tiny carabiner on the outside zipper to “lock” it while I am outside the tent.) I then sit/hammock and read or write while she falls asleep, or if we are camping with friends it is my time to talk to my fellow adults. I will check on her if she calls for me or if I hear her rustling around much later than I expect. When it’s time for me to go to bed, I put out the fire fully, use the bathroom (either walking to the bathhouse if close, using her toddler potty in our vestibule, or on a tree if in a private area), and crawl into bed!
Good luck and good night!
