Cold Weather Camping - What To Bring - Part 1, Sleeping

Have you had the joy of a cold three- or four-year-old yelling at you because they lost their gloves (the second pair you gave them) and their hands are now cold, again, and you haven’t even left the tent yet? If not, it's a real treat, 5 stars.

On the flip side of that screaming though, is the joy of watching your kid learn and grow in a tough environment.

And besides, they look adorable when they're all bundled up, especially when they are sleeping.

We've done a bunch of cold weather trips now, some in the tent and some in the camper, and I have a few tips and tricks and product recommendations for you.

This is the first post in a series. In this one I will talk specifically about tents and sleeping accoutrement. If you’re going to be in a camper, you may want to skip to the outerwear discussions since it will likely be much warmer in your camper.

1. The tent

There are two primary schools of thought for tent camping with kiddos, especially in cold weather: you either get a small tent to conserve heat, or you get a large tent to preserve sanity. I chose to go with the large tent, the space is very nice and being able to stand up to get changed is key for my happiness. This REI Kingdom 6 tent is the one that we have, and oh my goodness is it wonderful, however they have discontinued it and you will have to get the even better version of it called the Wonderland Tent.

Things I love about this tent:

• It has tons of pocket space inside on the walls close to the floor.

• You can partition off part of it if you want some added privacy from your progeny.

• The tent itself is well made and the zippers are kid-tough.

• I can put it up myself with little effort. I am 5'9", which is important since the tent is tall - 78" tall!

• It has stayed solid in some nasty weather including hail and high winds.

The only thing I can think of that I do not like about the tent is that it is heavy, it weighs almost 25 pounds, so it is definitely a car camping tent, not a backpacking tent. You should also check the tent footprint area of the campground you're going to because you want to make sure it will fit.

Here’s a view inside our tent during a cold weather trip:

2. The Sleeping Bags and Pillows

I was in the market for a new sleeping bag for myself when I had a baby, then that took a backseat to other things, as it usually does right after birthing a human. But I was still on the lookout for the perfect bag, now for me and for my kid. When my son was 2 years old I bought him this Big Agnes Little Red 20 degree bag. It works as an integrated pad and bag solution which is ideal because the bag cannot physically slip off the pad. It’s not perfect since the little tyke can (and definitely will, at least once) flip the whole assembly over onto the freezing floor of the tent and let you know about it in shrill screams. For this reason, and just for more insulation, I like to put picnic blankets down on the floor just as added insulation. That only happened a few times and we have now been using the system very successfully for years. He’s six now and I will need to get him the bigger version soon, and I will absolutely get him another one of these combo systems.

I was afraid that I would regret getting integrated combos, thinking “but what if I am stuck and need to use my sleeping bag with a different pad???”, but it turns out that I really don’t ever need to use it without the pad. You may have a different experience if you change often between backpacking and car camping, but then you probably have two kits anyway (one ultralight, one comfortable). Overall I have not once regretted this decision and I will probably only buy these form now on.

For a pillow I searched high and low until I found just the right thing, a toddler pillow! It fits perfectly inside the hood of the sleeping bag, is super soft and comfy, and also packs down really well for other travel types (like airplanes!). I’ve had the same one for 4 years now and I’ve washed it many times and it is still going strong.

I liked the sleeping bag I bought for him so much that I bought myself one, too! I bought the same pad, just in a me size (I think I got the 30” x 78” – go big or go home). I got the Diamond Park 15 degree bag for myself, and it works the same way, integrating with the pad. No more fighting to keep slippery nylon bags on slippery ripstop sleeping pads! Yay! I do not like to be confined in my sleeping bag; I learned that after decades of sleeping in mummy bags. As soon as I slipped into the roomy, warm, comfortable Big Agnes bag, I knew I had found true camping Nirvana. As an added bonus, I am a side sleeper, and the pad allows me to do that very comfortably. I cannot feel the ground pressing into my hips or shoulders. I can’t say enough positive things about these bags and pads, Big Agnes all the way (they don’t even pay me to say that!)!

My pillow and I are like peanut butter and jelly, and I never go anywhere without it. The problem is that it’s a memory foam pillow. Now, if you have ever put a memory foam pillow in the freezer then tried to lay on it, you understand that at cold temps they turn into cement like blocks. YMMV but I have decided it’s worth it to have a cement block until my body heat thaws it instead of getting a different pillow. Maybe that makes me a sociopath, I don’t know, but you’ll have to find your own best camping pillow. All of the ones marketed for that purpose that I have tried, and I have tried many, have been absolute crap.

3. The sleeping clothes

Even when you have a 20 degree bag, if the nights are going to be 20 degrees, you want lots of extra layers, especially for a kiddo that can’t be trusted to keep themselves entirely zipped up in said sleeping bag. One of the Great Sand Dunes National Park trips we went on, the high the whole trip was 40 degrees F, so the nights were wicked cold. And we still had fun, in part because we had lots of clothing.

So, here’s what my kid wears at night:

• On the coldest nights the kid base layer is a layer of silky thermals, I like these from Fruit of the Loom, but there are lots of options out there.

• Having several sets of long underwear means that they can wear them all day and then also all night, these are the kind we have, and they are warm, and soft, and cozy. These either served as a base layer on warmer nights or a mid-layer on the coldest nights.

• There are tons of options for fleece footie jammies, but we’ve had really good luck, and really good quality with the Carter’s variety.

• A nice pair of wool socks on the bare feet under the footie jammies was the perfect sleepwear. Because their feet tend to be at the bottom of the bag and stay the warmest, I didn’t worry too much about the socks being 100% wool or super thick.

• A pair of thin cotton mittens can go a long way to keeping fingers warm during cold nights, we went through a lot of these because they are so light, but bulkier, heavier mittens tend to be more annoying than helpful in the middle of the night. Gloves would do the same, but my kiddo preferred the mittens when sleeping. We only used them on the coldest of nights.

• I tried keeping a hat on him, but it just would not stay and I didn’t want to tie anything under his chin at night, so he was bare headed and he was totally fine that way!

• I added layers over the top of the sleeping bag if it felt especially cold or he wanted to feel more ‘snuggly’. I put one cotton one on top of the sleeping bag, and then a down one on top of that. Nylon on nylon is too slippery and just falls off, so you must find a way to add some friction – the cotton blanket. Side note, the Rumpl blankets are so amazing for many activities, we use ours all the time!

What I wore at night:

• A silk weight base layer goes a long way for warmth, so I wore a shirt and pant combo.

• On a cool, but not sub 20 degree night I wore these wool joggers and a wool hooded shirt.

• On the sub 20 degree nights I changed out the lightweight wool joggers for a heavier sherpa lined pair, and added a regular old hoodie on top of the hooded shirt.

• I favor Darn Tough wool socks over almost anything else, and they work great as sleeping socks.

• I also wore a pair of cotton mittens when it was really cold and added a beanie if necessary. Pro tip on the hat, I like a slouchy beanie because it lets me put my hair up into it for sleeping, and do not get the ones with the poms on them for sleeping, they just get in the way.

I would be lying if I said we didn’t just roll out of our warm beds into the freezing air and take our outer sleeping layer off and put the outer day layer on. Usually we changed base layers (when we got around to it) during the warmest part of the afternoon, that way you don’t freeze your little nibs off. So, in my next post I will discuss outer layers.

Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps you get out there with your kids!

Anne Walsh,

A Cold Camper, The Kid Goes