Your top tips for keeping warm please!

[vwvic]

We are going camping this weekend to the lake district. our friends, who have two children aged 3 and 5 are coming with us. We've been camping quite a lot, but they are camping virgins.

Obviously, we've told them what we do to keep warm, but my friend is still a little anxious about being cold. So, can I Have your top tips for staying warm to pass on? Pretty please?

[janinlondon]

Have a shower as soon as it starts to get dark/cold. Put pyjamas and woolly socks on under your clothes in the evening. Use inflatable mats rather than airbeds. Line the floor of the bedroom with those foil thermal blankets (heat reflecting side up). Take fleece blankets for extra warmth if needed.

[dustystar]

Everything jan said plus thermals, hats and gloves.

[Lucycat]

Hot water bottles too!

and whisky for the grown ups - more alcohol to liquid ratio so essential to avoid 3am loo visits.

[McDreamy]

Book a hotel room

[Lucycat]

we use picnic blankets under our airbeds as we don't have the foil things

[dustystar]

We have roll up mats under our airbeds and a duvet over the top then us in sleeping bags plus duvets etc.

[JHKE]

We brought fleece sleepsuits for our 2 kids 3.5yrs and 2yrs and they wore pyjamas underneath them. We had readybeds for them, plus fleece blankets and Duvet/ Sleeping bag.. They were lovely and warm.

Us on the other hand - were cold.. in making sure the kids would be alright, we forgot about ourselves and took no jumpers...

[Blueblob]

Layers!

My toddler I put a vest with poppers underneath PJ's. Elder one a normal vest. Plus socks for both. Lightish jumper . long sleeve T-shirt and a pair of tracksuit bottoms to hand is good emergency measure if they wake up in the early hours complaining.

Early summer this year I took a duvet to chuck over all of them.

Roll mats under air beds works well. Often you don't want to buy lots of new things for first time trip so for bit of extra insulation a picnic rug in a bedroom tent helps. My brother tells me he's used black bin bags beneath and towels if it feels like a cold one.

This is the first summer camping with my family I've really had to deal with insulation underneath as being so important. We went to the same campsite in the same week this year in the same bed and bedding. But the ground wasn't as warm and on an airbed felt like I was sleeping on ice. Last year I was boiling.

If they have thin sleeping bags or Ready Beds then a thin blanket stuffed in is better than the same put on top.

Heads, we always have a couple of small fleece buggy type blankets in the car. So I've layed it out over pillow bit for comfort. If it's freezing when I've gone to bed them bunch the rest up around their head. My 2 yer old wouldn't wear a hat but loves the feel of it.

Having said all that been camping the last couple of weekends and we've been more toasty than earlier in the summer!

[dinny]

this soooo reminds me of Adrian Mole, where the YMCA keader Rick says "Snuggle up to a naked bird in a sleeping bag" and gets sacked, or something like that.

[Kbear]

The cold air rises under the air bed so layers under you are better than over you IME

I always chuck in two single duvets to put on top of the double airbeds (perfect fit).

[Rowlers]

Old stylee single sleeping bag opened up over airbed to act as thick "sheet".
HOT WATER BOTTLES.
Wear socks.
HOT WATER BOTTLES.
Wear long sleeves.
HOT WATER BOTTLES.

[PeachesMcLean]

Put those cheap foam mats on TOP of airbed, makes a huge difference.
Wear a hat in bed.
Don't drink beer - cools you down too much.
Don't get cold in the evening, really difficult to warm up in bed.
Bed socks.

[Janbo25]

I cheat and go electric so take an heater and electric blanket!! lol

[milliways]

Last time we went in the cold I took 2 sleeping bags each for the kids & put the smaller ones inside the larger ones. They loved it!

DD has just come back from DofE camping and was out in last night mini hurricane & rain!!

[toogs]

Camping with our two dds earlier this year we put them both in hodded tops over the pyjamas so that we could put their hoods up rather than deal with hats that fell off, worked a treat, particularly with dd2 who is only 18 months. That plus pjs, vests and socks

[Bouquets]

Noisy aerobic shagging.

[3andnomore]

we took a proper duvet, whihc helpes, and Kids slept in with us, so, that keeps warm and several tight layers of clothes, and waarm socks, help, imo...

[JossStick]

Wine
Beer
Gin
Whiskey
Rum
Sherry
Absinthe
Meths
lighter Fluid

[Skribble]

Stay in a hotel or at least a cottage .

Thermal undies.

[foofi]

Wear a woolly hat in bed. At night wear at least 3 times as many clothes as you would during the day.

[KKx]

Wear all your clothes plus extra, hats gloves, socks more socks. Yeh I would put the kids somewhere warmer too. They might freeze if its a cold night [shiver]

[lackaDAISYcal]

stay at home

take twice as many clothes as you'll need for daytime wear and double up at night! layering is good, as is hats.

this is reminding me why I have been less than enthusiastic about DHs proclamation that we "must do more camping weekends this summer" [wik]

[fireflytoo]

If you light a candle in the tent just before undressing it makes it nice and warm...of course make sure it is safe... and be prepared for outsiders to watch the shadow play against the tent sides.

[snowleopard]

Cosy pjs, big woolly socks and take your duvet and a proper pillow, and whatever extra blankets you have space for, and an inflatable mattress so you're off the ground. I've known people sleep on one of those reflective foil blanket things too - I don't know if it works.