If you follow us on Instagram then you know our family loves to travel and we go camping often. We’ve camped all over the place, we love camping at the beach but there is also something equally wonderful about camping in the mountains. Between family time and being connected with nature and a more slow paced lifestyle camping is really the perfect way to take a break and relax. There is definitely no age too young to camp or explore. Leif was just three weeks old on his first camping trip and by this summer at age 1 he’s a pro! The younger your start camping with your toddlers the more adjusted and used to it they will be as they get older.

Since we’ve camped so much with our toddlers I though I would share a few tips to make your camping trip easier. Here they are:

1. Stick to your usual nap time schedule. For us this is crucial, we’ve attempted trips where we skipped naps and they have resulted in sleepless nights. Some people are lucky and their little ones will nap just about anywhere but it’s mostly important for your toddler to get good, quality sleep. The better a baby sleeps during the day, the better they will sleep at night!

2. Always pack a rug for your campsite. We purchased a large, waterproof outdoor rug to keep right outside our camper. We found one for less than $20 at our local Ocean State Job Lots. It’s perfect for the kids, they play on it the whole time and it keeps them out of the rocks and dirt and they also do not get scraped up while playing on those hard surfaces.

3. Pack wipes, tons of them! We find ourselves using wipes for everything-faces, butts, hands, feet before they come back into the camper. You name it, we are using wipes non stop while camping. It’s like a bath in between real bathtime and it just makes everything so much easier.

So, there you have it, 3 tips to make your camping trip with a toddler easier. I hope those three little tips make a big difference in your camping trips! Do you have any tips to share? We would love to hear them in the comments below.

We also suggest picking out a great sleeping back for your toddler, you can read a guide to the best kids sleeping bags here.

For more camping tips in general check out this Ultimate Guide for Camping in the US.

Here are some great tips on camping etiquette, definitely read up on this if you’re new to camping!