The Ultimate Guide to Traveling in a Camper-Van with a Little One
Van life is something we have fantasised for a long time. Visions of us all packed inside a van with epic views greeting us round every corner, campfires every night and sunshine streaming in. The reality was somewhat less like a fairytale but every bit as epic!
We were headed for the NC 500 or the North Coast 500 route around the Scottish highlands in the VW T6.1 Campervan, very kindly loaned to us by the guys over at VW UK, big thanks to these guys for helping with this trip. Beginning in Inverness we looped round, adding in Isle of Skye and finishing just shy of Dumfries. We’d knew we were in for a magnificent journey by the amount of recommendations given to us but nothing had quite prepared us for what was to come.
Read more about our trip around the NC500 & ISLE OF SKYE HERE
As van life novices things we’ve found out pretty quickly that would help with a toddler around.
If yours has a pop up roof tent, the upstairs is a lot cooler that downstairs, bring two duvets.
Pop up tent for toilet if yours doesn’t come with a toilet on board.
Dustpan / hand held vacuum - need I say more!
Depending on if the van is yours / you care about the seats, seat covers for greasing fingers
If still using a high chair invest in a clip onto the table high chair
Taking the car seat in and out is a bit of a pain but during the night we keep it on the front seat when we slept.
Hooks for hanging towels
Bag for laundry
Things to take when space is limited to keep your toddler entertained and us sane! on times when we’re not out exploring.
Tonies box - if you know us by now you know that we regularly recommend this product. Not an ad we just genuinely think this toy is a great one to have. We carry the figures around in a small zipped wallet but you can buy a purpose-made case and wallet for the box and figures direct from tonies.
Thin Books - We have a list of favourites but limit and rotate new for old between trips usually taking around 5-7, one for every day of the week.
Teddies - Mila has always slept with a couple of teddies in her cot so we carry these always as a little comfort to her when sleeping somewhere new.
iPad - Mainly Netflix and BBC iPlayer shows for us. Her favourites regularly change so we often take her iPad to cafes with us to refresh expired downloads and upload new ones.
My MUST FOODS for kids when on the go
Foods to have for each meal that don’t take up too much space and are quick, healthy and easy to make in the camper van that we had ourselves.
Breakfast - Porridge, bananas, brown bread, eggs, peanut butter, yoghurts, butter and honey.
Lunch - Cream Cheese and cucumber wraps, Omelette with veg and Halloumi, hummus, carrots and crackers, cheese toasties.
Dinner - Pasta/ Ravioli with hidden veg sauce, Fajitas, Mini burgers, toasted tortillas, Spanish Tortilla.
Snacks - veggie crisps, gingerbread man biscuits, rice cakes, yoghurt raisins, date bars, crackers and cheese.
Fruits - all fruits they like for us we Mila is a fruit bat. Bananas, blueberries, grapes, strawberries, oranges and more.
Water - offered regularly to keep hydrated during the day.
Always have plenty of these:
Wipes
Nappies
Nappy Bags
Nappy Rash Cream
Body wash (baby and adult)
Clean socks
Bibs
Jumpers for cooler evenings
Milk! if still drinking it.
How meal times work in the van
7.30 / 8am : For breakfast we’d make one big pan of porridge for us all, top with banana, honey and any other fruit you liike.
9 / 9.30am : We’d then make toast by toasting in the pan on top of the hob topped with peanut butter or toast and soft boiled eggs. ( dippy eggs as we nickname them are always a winner with Mila at any time of day).
10am : We would then wash up and boil a pan of water to put her milk bottle in to warm it 10/15 minutes before she was due it
11am : Milk & nap.
12.30pm : Snack time - one of the snacks listed above.
1.30pm : Lunch we would always pull over the van and have together. It would be a good opportunity to get out of the van and stretch our legs. Making a pan of pasta, or omelettes for us all.
3pm: Snack time - one of the snacks listed above.
5.30pm : Dinner by the time we were making dinner we would have found our pitch for the night and would eat all together usually around 5.30pm/6pm the time Mila usually eats just so we could wash everything up and move the van from van to sleeping arrangement before Mila went to bed.
7pm: Milk and bed
Routine - How it affects our travel days
We would always try to schedule our days so we’d set off for our drives when Mila was due her late morning nap.
Always pull over for lunch and have some quality time and excuse to shoot content if we find a good park up
For afternoon drives she would have small hand held toys she could play with in her car seat and snacks that she can feed herself readily available. We also have a case with a strap for her iPad that wraps around the driver or passenger head rest meaning she can watch her shows as we go, perfect for when she’s getting restless.
We’d always aim to park up no later then 5.00pm
We’d then have time to play / bath and make dinner in the usual tag team nature. One of us bath her, one of us make dinner etc
Eat dinner together
We’d then tag team again to wash up and transform the van from van to bedrooms.
We’ve always no matter where we are done the 4 B’s with Mila. Bath, books, bed, bottle. We’d read 1- 2 books.
Time for Milk
Bedtime.
We always put Mila to sleep up on the top pull down bed secured by the netting with our duvet. When we were ready to go to sleep Mila would come down to sleep with us to make sure she was warm enough and safe.
Additional Advice
Best advice don’t try to pack too much in to your days.
Take it slow, explore and get out of the van as much as you can.
Use app Park4Night when searching for places to park and hook up to electricity for the night. Depending on what time of year you go you might be able to book as you go only securing a spot the day before or day off arrival meaning you really can afford to take your time and play each day by ear.
If there is a campsite you definitely want to go too I would always call in advance of the trip to check they will have space.
Any questions or your own tips and tricks please leave them in the comments below :)