CamperVanning with children

Comment by ScoutingSquirrel on May 30, 2011 at 2:03pm

I am just starting to camp with my 6 and 2.5 year old sons in our Multivan T5. We will have my husband with us sometimes and not others - he unfortunately has to work whilst I get the school holidays off!

We live in Southern Sweden and wish to explore as much of this corner of Europe as we can, as cheaply as we can.

We also have our trips back to family and friends in the UK to manage - this uear I am taking the boys and van for the whole of July and hubby is joining us at weekends.

And we then need to consider the long drives to and from England, and whether to spread the drive out further and to have more leisure stops along the way ...

I've just bought a Quechua Base Seconds pop-up gazebo type tent to use in place of an awning and for cooking and dining ....

However I am new to this form of camping and looking forward to hearing the experiences of others who have travelled with young children!

Helen

Comment by Big Blue's Driver on May 30, 2011 at 4:37pm

We have a 6-month-old and are just starting to get back into it after his birth. Good idea in having a forum with advice on this subject.

Comment by Big Blue's Driver on June 1, 2011 at 10:15pm

I'm still trying to figure out the best way to put my child's car seat in the bus. Way too much slack in the after market seat belts. Results in a car seat I can almost pull all the way over. The issue doesn't seem to be slack - seems to be more about angles of the seat belts. This is a serious issue as I won't put Little Dude in the bus until I figure something out. Any ideas?

Comment by whc03grady on June 2, 2011 at 6:06am

Big Blue's Driver--Does Big Blue have vinyl seats as well? If so, the slickness could be compounding the problem.

For our part, we never have had any trouble with the car seat (indeed, two car seats on one drive) in Ludwig. I suspect the seat belt mounts are in the same places across the years. Perhaps upgraded seat belts and a towel under the car seat? I'm no safety expert, mind you....

Comment by Derek Leininger on June 2, 2011 at 8:37am

I assume your lil one is rear facing?  The suggestion of a rolled towel under the base's foot end is an excellent suggestion.  Simply use the lap belt.  The trouble comes when the knee biters graduate to boosters.  My 6 y/o is requiring me to locate and install a 3 point solution w/ shoulder belt.  GoWesty is charging an arm/leg for what appears to be a late 90s jetta belt.  Anybody have any experience belting in kids in boosters?

Comment by Big Blue's Driver on June 2, 2011 at 7:19pm

Thanks for the tips! I'll try it and gauge the results.

 

Another friend who has a 80s westy is going through the shoulder belt issue. He's on the forum here - I'll see if I can get him to share a solution if he came up with one.

Comment by Scott on June 2, 2011 at 9:07pm

We have a 5-month old baby, and have had success with the Peg Perego base in the back of our 74 camper with a rock and roll bed.  We have stock seatbelts that go three lapbelts across the back.

 

As she gets larger, (and needs a bigger seat) I am seriously considering the following 4-point harness for installation:

http://wescoperformance.stores.yahoo.net/am4point.html

 

I came across the harness on another vw forum a few months ago, where someone was expressing that it worked great in their type 2 westfalia...

Comment by Jeremy Nix on June 7, 2011 at 2:14pm

We had a hadrd time with Penny's car seat in the back of the pig too. Once she was old enough to ride with the Car Seat facing forward, and have a bigger car seat, my problem was solved. My main issue was my aftermarket seat belts were way too long and the seat would move around too much.

Comment by Steve(Toby) Goldman on June 27, 2011 at 2:56pm

For our forward-facing car seats for our 2 and 4 yr olds, I copied this guys idea to create anchors for the LATCH system:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=309271

 

The locking carabiners can be much stronger than what you need (they are designed to catch a falling climber), and the seats can be tightened down very solidly.  The car seats in our van I can secure much more solidly than the ones in our subaru. I put the stock seatbelt through as well, just as a 2nd precaution, but don't think it's needed.

 

I'm considering putting a board down under the car seats, as they indent the foam considerably. Not sure yet what issues that may create.

Comment by ScoutingSquirrel on June 2, 2012 at 9:42am

Just saw this ...

It's in Britain, where I do much of my van-camping despite living in Southern Sweden, but I'm sure it is something that you could make up for yourself if you have access to the materials.

Brilliant new 'bedroom' for my 7 year old,

http://vw-beds.com/products/cab_bunk.html

Helen

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