Infants and Airstreams: sleeping arrangements

[KIMILI]

Hi everyone!

we've recently had our first baby and are now planning our AS season with her aboard.

The first get together/rally we'd like to attend is only a few weeks away and we've been doing tons of research on what and how to accomodate AS travelling with a baby.

She will be 4 months old and wonderful!

Our 25 CCD does not allow room for her pack n play. She's out of the bassinet and most portable travel beds because of her length/weight.
How did you do it? where can an infant safely sleep in an AS?

I'm thinking of having her sleep in our bed and we take the sofa but it's awfully big for her and even with bed rails I'm afraid of her rolling against the cold alluminum... sleep positioners don't work, she sleeps on her belly...

I spent days searching this forum for any helpful info but I'm still short of good tips. Any advice out there?

thanks guys

[overlander63]

First, congratulations on the new Airstreamer!
Does your coach have a dinette or couch, or both? If it has a dinette, I am thinking something on the outer edge to keep the little one from rolling onto the floor. The ends of the seats would act as walls, use the table as the base for the bed, but leave the cushions out, use the baby's mattress.

[Mrs_RedSHED]

If the mattress on the bed sits on a solid wood surface, you could remove the mattress for the first year and set the pack and play on that bed frame. It would be elevated but out of the way. And you would know that the baby is safe.

[2airishuman]

congratulations on the new 'streamer...

this family has experience....

http://www.airforums.com/forums/486545-post13.html

and this couple has camped in a bambi with baby...

so u might pm them about sleeping vessels,

plus the kiddo is way cute...

http://www.airforums.com/forums/374502-post203.html

cheers
2air'

[Frank's Trailer Works]

we bought a barrier that keeps kids from rolling out of bed. It cost around $20 and folds up for storage. Our baby has never fallen out of bed, but has fallen out of the door. The bed barrier was a cheap and easy solution. The kids take to Airstreaming very quickly and I advise you to not worry too much. If you are really nervous, just sleep with your self between the fall and the wall...

[Foiled Again]

Remove the table entirely (The connecters on the bottom of the table where the wall brace connects are open, the wall brace can be popped off with a flat screwdriver or a bit of side-to-side wiggling.) Set the table top on the floor leg side up, cover the leg with a heavy towel or other pad (sharp edges on the hinge) , put a folding portable crib - a pack & play - between the seats on top of the table.

My niece visited and her son's porta-crib wedged firmly in that space. Of course they ate on the couch without a table, but it worked fine.

Paula

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

My niece visited and her son's porta-crib wedged firmly in that space. Of course they ate on the couch without a table, but it worked fine.

Paula

If you want to go that route, a pair of folding tables (formerly known as TV trays) would work fine to rest your dinner plates on.

[Chuck]

Congrats on your new arrival!
(which rally are we talking about? you should come up to "Chilly Man", if only for the day to say "hi". Its just up the road!)

Our boy slept in his "bouncer" from 11 weeks to about 6 months (end of the season...he just turned 5 yesterday!). We put the bouncer on the front gaucho, and wedged it in w/ the pull-out table so it couldn't move. And he was a BIG baby; always at the top of the charts in height/weight.
(hey, I thought belly sleeping was a no-no at that age?)
Anyway, you don't have that setup...but I'm betting you could get it to work w/ the dinette, with some finagling.
for the next couple of seasons, I put the pack-n-play on one of the twin bunks. With the mattress removed, it made a perfect platform for it.

[KIMILI]

Thank you all so much and please keep them coming.

We would really like to have her sleep on our bed so that in the evening we may close off the bedroom and still use the rest of the airstream without disturbing her. We would sleep on the couch. Also, our dogs wouldn't enjoy changing their sleeping arrangements after 4yrs (the space under the dinette table is theirs).

We're going to try our full size pack n play on the wood as suggested by MrsRedshed, and see if that's too big/tall. Hope it works.

Our little girl is too heavy for the travel pack n play (<15lbs) and she's already rolling over, so that eliminates all sleep positioners and travel beds. We put her to bed on her back - as reccomended by the APA - but 2secs later she rolls over onto her tummy against the crib rail. The dr. said not to worry and let her sleep however she wants but always make sure there are no pillows, blankets etc.

We had thought of the bed rails, although they're tough to secure on a round cornered mattress...but I still feel she's too small to be in a full size bed against cold AL.

She naps in her bouncer but I'm not sure I'd want her to sleep in it for more than a night. If all goes well we're planning to go up to PEI this summer so we need a solution for several nights.

If I had known I woul've had my husband build her a wood box without the sides, we'd secure those with a breathable mesh and just place a baby mattress in it. He could secure that to the bed's wood platform....he's not liking the idea. lots of work and the rally (Chilly man) is next week...I need to find something I can buy fast.

Oh, did I forget to mention her little pony sleeps in the AS too? take a look at the pic

[tin sista]

Good luck!! How fun with the new baby. It is so much more fun camping in an airstream than a tent with a baby.
Our son Airstreamed at 4 months too... We had a vintage bassinet (they are bigger than the newer ones) so we were lucky that it was large enough to get us through the summer of camping. All great ideas here, I wonder if your pediatrician might have some ideas too? Have fun camping.

[Journalist]

Don't have any kids of our own, but the wife and I have a little experience from when our nephew was still an infant. When I first got out of the Army, we were full-timing in my dad's '78 Sovereign for about 8 months while we were searching for a house.(My AS was ripped apart at the time having some rotten floor replaced.) The 31-footer is a rear twin model, so it was easy when my wife was babysitting to make a makeshift pallet on the floor between the twin beds. I used a Thermarest brand self-inflating mattress from my backpacking gear, a couple of fleece blankets, and a couple of firm throw pillows to line the floor area and keep him from rolling around too much. The trailer's folding bedroom door held well enough to keep him from crawling away in the middle of the night. We could easly reach down to check on him at night, and I honestly believe he slept better being closer to us. It had the added advantage of being able to put him to bed early while we stayed up to watch TV in the living room. He slept there on several occasions, and we never once had a problem. Childproofing a vintage Airstream for when he was awake was a whole different story, little hands can get into places you wouldn't believe on the older trailers. That kid was like a little tornado in such a confined space!

[Andrew T]

Hi Kimili

Our daughters slept in Airstreams from the time they were a couple of months old. We had a neat fisher price portable crib that folded up into a small bag when not in use. In a larger unit we just put it on the floor on smaller ones we would open the sofa into a bed and set it on top. I wired it to the window handles so it could not fall off if they go rambunctious.

Andy

[Andrew T]

Hi Again

I went on the Fisher Price web site to see if I could find the portable crib we used but all I see is a very complex looking one that may not fold up that small. I guess things change in 19 years.

Our daughters are 16 & 19 and very independent yet they are still looking forward to going away in the Airstream this summer so starting them early seems to help. I was always a mean Dad we did not have TV in the car or trailer when we went away so it was family time. I taught them to read the atlas about 5 so they could figure out for themselves if "we were there yet". When they got a little older they often planned the trips we took so they were part of it. Now that they are older they remember trips we took and the family time together.

Enjoy your Airstream.

Andy

[Frank's Trailer Works]

mean mean Dad, forcing the kids not to watch TV.... making them learn geography. How can you look at yourself in the mirror?

[Davis]

Hi Kimili,
We have a 3 month old little girl and we plan on taking our first trip in May .SO by that time she will be 4 1/2 months old. My trailer had twin beds in the rear and I converted them to a full so it left a small space between the matress and the wall on both sides. On one side we have a doggy bed and the other we are using for a lamp and nick nacks so the lamp and nick nacks will be removed and we are going to try a portable travel bed right there. If that does not work then we will use the dinette area to put the pack n play. I am looking foward to this trip since we have not used the Airstream since November 2007 and I have aluminum fever . Good Luck. Davis

[KIMILI]

very neat ideas

Congratulations Davis!!

All the small/compact travel cribs, play pens, positioners that I found have a weight limit (which my daughter exceeds) or you can only use them until they roll over (which she already does).

The full size equipment seems the only viable solution - although it makes it so tall that I'll need a 3-step!!

Now it's hubby's job to secure it safely onto our bed, we'll remove the mattress.

..by the way we're proudly mean parents too...no tv in the car and only one at home which she won't see for a while and have limited access time to.

[EllieZ]

We had a baby boy, April 10, 4 days ago. 8lbs, 2oz, (3.7kg, 53cm) and we had him in the Flying Cloud already. We took a big drawer, bedded it with a firm pillow, he was fine.

When he outgrows that, my guy said he'll go to a foam supply, and make him a custom Tempurpedic- stack some foam, bevel the edges up, and make it long enough for him to fit until we don't have to worry- we can pace it on the floor, or the bed, and if he rolls, he'll hit a gradual incline and naturally stop. The grade is just enough to stop him, but not sharp enough to be a smothering point like a pillow barrier would be.

[Melody Ranch]

Congratulations.
Keep one of those little Airstreams for him. He will love you EVEN MORE!

[KIMILI]

What a cool baby!! congratulations!

I'd love to see the pic in the drawer

[Becky B.]

Ah, the memories of babies and camping. Unfortunately, we didn't own an Airstream when our children were small. We had a pop-up. I put our 6 month old down for a nap in the bed on the end with barricades so he wouldn't fall off. I sat right outside the door and waited for him to peep. When I heard him, I went right it to see only his arm sticking into the camper because he rolled over to the canvas end of the camper and the bungee strap that held it tight stretched with his weight. I dove for him, but he actually fell out before I could reach him. He landed face first on concrete. It was traumatizing for both of us, and painful for him (he cut his gum wide open and was bleeding everywhere). Thankfully, he recouperated. At least you don't have to worry about an experience like that! I think you I would make a board that fits across the entire side of the bed & secure it to the bottom with a few verticle strips of 2 x 2's. As she gets older, you could always add another board so she can't stand up and fall over the side. (I'm assuming you want something a bit more permanant! After my experience, I bought a small playpen to fit in the camper, but that was 20 years ago and I'm not sure what's out there anymore!