Junior sleeping bag

[Marco1981]

Can any of you recommend me a good 4 season junior sleeping bag please? It is for my 5 year old son. So far, he has had a dalmatian bag, a mickey mouse back and a Thomas the tank engine bag, all of which were only suitable for the height of summer weather despite manufacturers claims. My wife then bought him a gelert junior sleeping bag which claimed to be a three season, but he was cold in it last week, even wearing warm pajamas and the temp never dropped below 5C. I was dubious at the start as it felt too thin. So now, I am looking for a simple none-cartoon based junior bag which will allow me to take him camping in the colder weather.
I am considering getting him a full sized bag and just folding it under him so it also acts as a mattress. Is that feasible as it will obviously be quite wide for him as well?

 

[mousey]

I just use my old / spare sleeping bags - yes they are huge for the kids and sometimes two get into one bag - but then I don't go out in the real cold with them, just summer camps [longer days for them to mess around in as well] With the kids I car camp so have a few blankets/ quilts etc as well so if they are cold or if things get wet [usually camp near the coast] then there's plent to spare

 

[Goatboy]

I just use my old / spare sleeping bags - yes they are huge for the kids and sometimes two get into one bag - but then I don't go out in the real cold with them, just summer camps [longer days for them to mess around in as well] With the kids I car camp so have a few blankets/ quilts etc as well so if they are cold or if things get wet [usually camp near the coast] then there's plent to spare

+1 on that, but tie a belt/strap/cord just below where there feet will come to, that way they don't slip down and freak out, suffocate or have to heat up all the bags volume. the spare bit below the legs can be then tucked under as extra insulation. This also allows the bag to "grow" with the child. Specific kids bags tend to be pricey and are quickly outgrown.

 

[Marco1981]

Fortunately, we did have blankets in the car to wrap him up in. But its a long trek back to the car at 2am while raining and him wearing my coat back in the tent snuggled up to his mum. Good tip about tying the bottom off I hadn't thought of that.
Cheers gents.

 

[mousey]

Fortunately, we did have blankets in the car to wrap him up in. But its a long trek back to the car at 2am while raining and him wearing my coat back in the tent snuggled up to his mum. Good tip about tying the bottom off I hadn't thought of that.
Cheers gents.

Hope it doesn't put him [or mum] off camping it is not nice being cold - even less so when your wet

 

[Marco1981]

I have never camped the way I have to with them before. There was me, my wife, my son, my step daughter and 5 dogs. We had a tent for sleeping in, a tent for storing equipment and a tent for the dogs. Due to the lack of woods up here, I had to carry logs for 4 days camping as well. Add to that the sleeping bags, clothes, cooking equipment and food for 4 days for 4 people (and a 15kg bag of dog food) and a mile trek from car park to camp and I can honestly say that I would rather go on my own or wish they would all develop some muscles! But all being said and done, we had a good time and they want to go again.

 

[chrisinhove]

Vango certainly did a junior hooded mummy bag for tinies with an extended foot section that zipped in when they grew some. Worked a treat, as the bag was never so big as to swamp our little one, but worked as a proper sleeping bag.

 

[Goatboy]

I have never camped the way I have to with them before. There was me, my wife, my son, my step daughter and 5 dogs. We had a tent for sleeping in, a tent for storing equipment and a tent for the dogs. Due to the lack of woods up here, I had to carry logs for 4 days camping as well. Add to that the sleeping bags, clothes, cooking equipment and food for 4 days for 4 people (and a 15kg bag of dog food) and a mile trek from car park to camp and I can honestly say that I would rather go on my own or wish they would all develop some muscles! But all being said and done, we had a good time and they want to go again.

My dog used to carry his own food, water, toys and bed. Made life easier for me.

 

[snozz]

+2 on the tied up adult sleeping bag. My 8 year old has done this for years - he now sleeps in an army arctic bag and loves it. I'd recommend an arctic bag if he's prone to feeling the cold - they are cheap but very warm and the zip is a decent size.

 

[Marco1981]

My dog used to carry his own food, water, toys and bed. Made life easier for me.

Where can I get some of those at reasonable prices? It would be ace if my dogs would carry their own tackle! Maybe even some of mine!

 

[Goatboy]

Where can I get some of those at reasonable prices? It would be ace if my dogs would carry their own tackle! Maybe even some of mine!

The Ruffear ones are never really cheap but they are well thought out and comfy for the mutt. Snoop had the Palisades pack as I got a deal on them, though they do others in their range like the approach pack which is less expensive.

Inner Wolf probably have about the best price range, although I think these guys still have a sale on Muddy-Paws.

I'd like to say you can have Snoops but the harness got destroyed by battery acid in the boot and I decided to keep the bags for sentimental reasons, packed and ready to go on our final trip together.

Hope this helps,
GB.

PS legally living in Scotland he can carry your gear, but it's supposedly still illegal to use a dog as a beast of burden in England, so he could only carry his own on holidays.

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

My nephew has two, one that's just big enough and then another one that is much bigger. It has a zip off foot piece. At Easter, when it was below zero, he slept in both. He had his fleece Onesey on too. I always get kids to wear Onseies when I take school groups, so no matter how good or bad their bag is they are warm.

 

[Marco1981]

Thanks Goatboy! A few of those bad boys and my life will be so much easier going camping.

As for my lad, he is going to have my bag and his mum is getting him a padded onesy thing as well. I rarely fasten my bag up, so know it is warm enough. I will be fine with a blanket most of the time he will be camping with me anyway, and I can use the bag when he's not with me. Will be on the lookout for a bag for myself in the mean time.
Thanks everybody for your input.

 

[Nice65]

My dog used to carry his own food, water, toys and bed. Made life easier for me.

Aww, bless him

 

[Goatboy]

Thanks Goatboy! A few of those bad boys and my life will be so much easier going camping.

As for my lad, he is going to have my bag and his mum is getting him a padded onesy thing as well. I rarely fasten my bag up, so know it is warm enough. I will be fine with a blanket most of the time he will be camping with me anyway, and I can use the bag when he's not with me. Will be on the lookout for a bag for myself in the mean time.
Thanks everybody for your input.

Obviously you don't want aid to over heat, but remember that due to their smaller volume they don't retain as much heat as we adults do. So as we were talking about in another thread don't get let them get in a bag cold as they'll stay cold. A bag only retains given off heat it doesn't generate it. So if you get in a bag cold your body internalises the heat rather than radiate it and you stay cold longer. So a warm sugary drink / snack before getting in is good as it will generate heat from within, 5 mins of games to raise body temp before getting in to bag as they'll be actively radiating and some form of safe hot water bottle very underrated and a great morale booster.

 

[londonscrub]

Can i bumb this thread? I have a similar dilema for my 9 year old daughter and see jack wolfskin do some ok looking bags? Worried about £ for her to grow out of it but could be a second hand market, on mumsnet if it here! Oh and hi, this issue brought me out of lurking.

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[Dark Horse Dave]

We've done the kiddy-sized bags thing, but in hindsight it was a waste of money as they grew out of them so quickly - plus most of them are summer weight bags. I learned subsequently that what you need to do is simply reduce the volume of bag/air that needs to be warmed - ie get an adult-sized bag & reduce its length by tying it off at the bottom.

Hope that helps

 

[Swallow]

We've done the kiddy-sized bags thing, but in hindsight it was a waste of money as they grew out of them so quickly - plus most of them are summer weight bags. I learned subsequently that what you need to do is simply reduce the volume of bag/air that needs to be warmed - ie get an adult-sized bag & reduce its length by tying it off at the bottom.

Hope that helps

Plus 1 to that. Same experience and Uncle Ray recommends the same solution. If you can't go new, go on the member classifieds.

 

[londonscrub]

Thanks. Sounds like plan a

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