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ShullsinUtah · 09-29-2013, 08:18 AM

Successful first night. So far, so good. The back bed was big enough that all 3 of us were able to snuggle in together. Tried posting a couple pics off the phobe, but couldn't figure it out. We 100% think we made the right decision.

Edit: ps: So far the F150 has performed beautifully as a TV. I'm going to post an update about the TV in another thread.

Advodna · 10-12-2013, 05:26 PM

We've spent about 100 nights so far this year in our 19' Flying Cloud with our daughter who was about 17 months on our first 5 week trip and was 21 months at the end of our last eight week trip.

Our system was putting her to sleep in her familiar porta crib set up on the back corner bed. We'd turn on the Fantastic Fan (more like "fantastic white noise") and close the partition (which we actually replaced with a heavy velvet curtain from Ikea). Then we could hang out at the dinette, watch a show on the TV with the audio routed to the speakers right above our heads, do dishes, etc.

When it was time for us to go to bed, we'd "levitate" the porta crib off the bed and onto the floor in front of the stove. At first we were really slow and cautious, but by the end, we'd pretty much just whip her down there. Occasionally, a brief rollover, but then right back to sleep. We'd sneak into our bedroom, close the curtain and have the already-tight bed all to ourselves.

Full disclosure, we're about to buy a 25' CCD for a little more room and to plan for #2 somewhere down the road. Eventually, the front lounge will be a toddler bed with a bed rail from Babies R Us and a curtain to section it off, and we'll either do the same maneuver with the porta crib with #2 or build a little co-sleeper above our feet while he/she's still tiny.

We find traveling with a little one to be no harder than staying at home with one!

Dave and Ann

PharmGeek · 10-12-2013, 05:42 PM

Excellent!!

T-3 weeks for us (if no delivery delay)

switz · 10-12-2013, 09:10 PM

PharmGeek

Keep a weather eye out for early mid West blizzards that could slow delivery....

andreasduess · 10-14-2013, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Advodna

We find traveling with a little one to be no harder than staying at home with one!

Agreed for one kid - we traveled extensively with #1 and also didn't think it was a big deal - but two and more change the equation.

Up here the camping season is drawing to a close and while I am sad to put our trailer into storage for the winter, I am also somewhat relieved that the twins will be six months older next time we'll take her out. We managed to get a couple of great trips in this summer, but it has been challenging at times with three young kids. At home, if one of them has a bad night teething we can spread them out, in a trailer if one is awake, they're all awake.

Travel time in particular had to be carefully managed, anything more than three hours pretty much guaranteed multiple meltdowns. Not impossible of course, especially with an Airstream. We just took rural highways and whenever we needed a break we just found a scenic spot, pulled over and had a snack, a snooze and let the kids run for a while.

One kid is easy, as it leaves one adult free to do adult things - prep dinner, a quick cleanup, laundry. Two are more challenging and have three and they outnumber you, which pushes the chores into the space where they either sleep or play without needing attention or killing each other.

switz · 10-14-2013, 11:58 AM

Even when older, three can be a challenge. There is five years between the youngest (1975) and oldest (1970). One evening when the oldest was about 12, we were at a restaurant we frequented regularly and had ordered dinner. The kid's behavior got to the point that my former wife took them home without dinner and I paid the waitress for a meal no one ate. We did follow through on our threats of punishment, no matter where we were.

Folks used to come up to us and say, "Your kids are well behaved!" We would reply that they knew what happened if they misbehaved....

Times are different today and many kids behavior reflects a lack of loving guidance and direction tempered with discipline and boundaries.

andreasduess · 10-14-2013, 12:17 PM

About ten years ago, when my wife and I had just met, we took an old ex British Army Land Rover across the Pyrenees from France to Spain, far off the beaten track.

We spent a couple of nights in an old mountain village on the French site, where we found a small restaurant where the daughter did the cooking and mom looked after the front of house and where we were being advanced from being perfect strangers to long lost members of the family within a day or two.

Every night, we observed a number of families eat there, with kids as young as three and under being expected to behave in a respectful fashion. There was no running around, no screaming, no fighting. It really impressed me, at the time.

Today, my own three year old knows what's expected from him when we go out to eat. It doesn't always work out, but like you, we always follow through, even it that means, rarely, that we have dinner packed up to take with us.