Camping with a 10 month old - Tips? Advice?

We regularly go camping with our toddler, and started when he was around 8 months. We have a large (6 person) tent and set up his travel crib in there. This obviously only works for car camping situations (not hike-in) but has been very comfortable and he loves it! We also have a Hiccapop travel chair/booster seat for him to sit in for eating. It's also helpful to have a picnic blanket to spread on the ground for chilling and playing. Bring lots of snacks and layers for warmth! We've found that the tent stays warm enough with three of us in there but we have extra blankets and layers as well and warm pjs for the baby.

I'd recommend at least a 6 person tent.  We brought an REI 6 person tent and with myself, my spouse, our 4 year old daughter and the pack n play, there wasn't much extra room.  Be super careful with blankets because of a SIDS risk.  We put or 8 month old in some fleece jammies and a sleep sack.  Make sure you bring a noise machine for your kiddo if they are use to that.  

You might want to think about bringing two separate tents so if your 10 month old wakes up early, they don't wake up the entire party.  Plenty of their favorite snacks are important to tide them over between meals and times when you need to be setting up.

We have done a lot of camping with our kids starting as young as 6m.  It's super fun.  A pop up chair is helpful and we also had a kidco peapod for naps in the tent.  You just have to roll with the sleeping -- they aren't going to sleep normally, will probably sleep less than usual, but as long as you don't stress too much about it we found it was fine. We brought extra little towels for clean up and had lots of easy snacks.  Everything gets super dirty so bring a few easy to clean toys but nothing that you would be upset about getting dirty.  We've also found a pop up sun shade is useful if you are spending time near a lake or otherwise shaded areas.

In my experience, I think car camping would be OK, and being OK with leaving if it is too hot. A drive-up campsite. My biggest fears would be a crawler or toddler getting too close to a campfire and also getting overheated if it is too hot or there is not enough shade. In good weather it could be fun to lay out a mat for the little one to crawl around on.

Have a great time! We love camping with our kiddo. Bring extras of everything and hide a few toys so you have some surprise "new" options for the drive home or for later in the trip. If you're camping somewhere flat (or even somewhat flat) we got a ton of use out of a canvas cargo wagon, both for kiddo confinement and so we could bring her toys/diapers/etc. along with us. We also brought a few different 'kid confinement' options, with the wagon, a carrier, and a pop-n-go style mesh tent. It helped a lot to give her some options when she got bored. So far we have always "cheated" with a camper trailer, which makes it a lot easier to maintain hygiene. If you'll be tent camping, make sure to pack extra water, soap, and hand sanitizer.

We regularly camped with our kids when they were babies starting at 3 months old. We have some great memories but it does require a pinch more gear than usual...  

My top tips (assuming you are car camping) are: (1) bring a pack-n-play (or similar) for outside - this is essential as it contains the kid while you do things around camp...put it under a tree and that kid will be happy as a clam, (2) if you have a bassinet attachment for your stroller, use that as the bed inside the tent (and a 3-4 person tent is more than ample space); if you don't have a bassinet attachment for your stroller then consider just using a sleeping pad barricaded by your duffle bags to contain the kid; if you have a huge tent, just bring the pack n play inside, (3) bring a baby carrier (either an ergo/bjorn if the kid is still small enough or upgrade to a deuter that will work for for the next few years), (4) invest in a clip-on high chair (like Phil & Ted's Lobster chair which we used....works with most restaurant tables and picnic tables but not all).

Take lots of photos... and wine!  :) 

It's so great that you are taking your little one camping! My family has been car camping with our toddlera few times now and we started when she was about the same age as your child. My child did not sleep in her pack in play while camping so we just had her sleep with us on the pack n play mattress. This continues to work now that she is a toddler. We tried to keep her sleep schedule the first time we went camping but that didn't work for us. Expect to modify any routines you have at home. We ensured she stayed warm by purchasing a wearable sleeping bag. They were a little pricey, but worth it in our opinion. We also use a white noise maker while she sleeps. We find it helps drown out the noise from other campers. We have a tall tent that we can stand in and that has made camping as a family more comfortable. I definitely recommend having some kind of seat for your child to eat in. Her pack n play did come in handy during the day. We would put her in there while we set up or cooked. Although, I will say to be ready for one parent to do the set up, cooking, and clean up while the other parent cares for the child. I would also recommend taking some kind of backpack carrier for your child so you can easily take them around the campsite, on walks, and hikes. I was able to help my partner with my kid on my back. Finally, bring a few toys/books for them to play with in the tent, on a blanket, or in the pack n play. I hope you have fun! You will figure out exactly what your child/family needs once you go camping more regularly. 

Second the post below. We try to recreate home sleep conditions—our tent is big enough to bring our pack’n’play and has blackout siding, and we bring our portable white noise machine. We also invested in an Ergopouch heavy weight sleep sack so he has his own little sleeping bag and we didn’t have to worry about loose blankets (but brought extras just in case, as well as a warm hat). We also bring his portable high chair and, before he started walking, his Bjorn bouncer. You end up packing the whole house but it’s worth it. Have fun!

Yay camping with babies! We’ve been camping with our two since the eldest was 3 months old (we now go 50+ days a year with the kids, who are 5 & 7 - they are pro campers!)

We’ve had enough friends ask this question that I typed up my camping with kids advice and stashed it here - hope it’s helpful!

We camp every couple weeks in the summer with our (now almost 2 year old) daughter and started when she was around 7 months. We do both car camping and backpacking. Here are some things that have worked well for our family:

Sleeping: We used a peapod tent for her when she was <1 but now just have her sleep on her own foamie (we've been told to use the foam not inflatable ones still at that age). The peapod tent is nice because you can also take it to the beach and use it for naptime if you don't want to come back to the campsite (if it's not too hot / in the shade). We love the Morrison Outdoor little/big mo sleeping bags but if you are only going out once, I'd just do merino wool PJs + a fleece onesie + a warm blanket (or skip the onesie and bring them into your sleeping bag with you, but I don't find I sleep well when I do that).

Eating: Our daughter needs to be in her chair to be focused enough to eat so we have an Ingelesina portable high chair that clamps nicely on to the picnic tables. We don't bring this backpacking.

Clothes: We don't pack too many clothes and just rinse them off and dry them if we need more. We always bring a fleece suit and a rainsuit in case of weather. Mornings can be chilly so having a fleece hoodie or thin hat isn't a bad idea. 

Other advice: Our biggest piece of advice is pack light!! We have a thin cloth we use for diaper changing, and in terms of toys - nature presents many amazing opportunities for play. We never bothered with any sort of enclosure or blanket on the ground because inevitably she would wander off of it anyway (and also it tended to just get sticky with watermelon and the like as she was snacking). Instead we were comfortable with her being a little dirty the whole time. Denim pants or overalls are great for getting dirty. The one thing that really backfired was when she was crawling through the brush / dead leaves in her fluffy fleece onesies - I could never get the leaves or burrs out so won't do that again.

For Tahoe and the Sierras specifically, you'll be at pretty high elevation and it's quite dry so make sure the kiddo gets lots of water (we even try to make sure we have high water content snacks to help with this). We never find our daughter sleeps as well at elevation (true even when we lived in Tahoe) but it wasn't terrible. 

We've camped with our youngest since he was about 11 months old and have done both a pack + play in our 8-person tent as well as two inflatable bumpers that he sleeps in between. The bumpers are meant as a travel solution to a bed rail for older kids but they work great on the ground with a few blankets on top. The Hiccapop brand with the attached sheets are best so they stay in place. We've also put him in a heavy sleep sack plus a sleeping bag because inevitably he rolls around and kicks off the sleeping bag at some point, so the insulated sleep sack keeps him warm. Even if it's hot during the day it can get pretty cold at night so warmth is always a priority for me. We also brought a rechargable portable white noise machine which I think helps dampen the birds chirping at 5:30am when you want everyone to stay asleep. :)

A clip-on high chair for the picnic table can be great if you think your site will have one. Hiking backpack to take kiddo on adventures. If you'll be going to the beach, a pop-up sun tent you can all sit in, or an umbrella is a must since the sun can be intense. We love Baldwin or Pope beach in the South Lake area if you're around there. Have the best time!

We just did some camping with our baby at 11 and 12 months. If you co-sleep, using a two person sleeping bag works well, that’s what we did (optional single bag for the other parent). A good backpack carrier is good for  hiking and also just containing the kid when you need to (or a good off road stroller- we have a city stroller that was not useful for camping)… the biggest thing is just constant supervision, the tent is the only babyproof zone. Bring sunscreen and bug spray and a few more changes of clothes and diapers than you think you need. And the ergo which we never go anywhere without of course… Have fun and good luck!

Depending on how well your child sleeps, a black out tent or a slumber pod could be helpful with naps and falling asleep while it is still light out. 
 

We also made sure we had plenty of pacifiers and shirts that could fold over our child’s hands to make it more difficult to pick up and eat rocks/sticks/whatever he found on the ground.