infant/toddler camping...what I did for a crib/bed!

[Lzerarc]

So our daughter will be turning 3 this camping season, but we were not going to let her first 2 seasons worth of camping slow it down...much. Our first summer camping when she was under 1, we brought her pack-n-play and set it up on the open floor space. Obviously this was very difficult to get around, plus it made watching tv at night after she was asleep nearly impossible. So I set out of figure out a better way for the next summer to avoid the PnP.

We have a bunk house model with a bunk over a bunk (Rockwood 2905ws) so the obvious solution was to contain her to the bottom bunk somehow. After searching and searching the internets for a solution, I was not finding anything I liked or trusted to keep a 1 year old contained. And then, one time, when I was coming up our stairs at home and saw her holding onto the rails of the swinging wall-fixed gate at the top, I had an idea. Would a sliding, swinging baby gate work?

Back to the internets I went to search for sizes and options on Amazon for gates. After taking some measurements inside the bunk house, it seemed almost too perfect of a solution.

So here it is:

I purchased an "extra tall", and expandable (sliding) baby gate on Amazon for roughly $50. Since both ends pivot on a full length hinge that screwed to a wall, it was able to span from the upper to lower bunk wood rail. 4 screws later, it was done. Some odd coincidence it is the exact height and length (once expanded) to completely fill and protect the lower bunk opening. And since it pivots and reduces in length, it makes getting her in and out very easy. We used it a ton, obviously for night time but also nap time. It works great because she could move around the whole bed surface (she rolls a lot at night) and no issue of falling out. This spring I plan on taking it down and using just a side rail, assuming she will be ready for that being nearly 3. I will just fill the holes in the wood rails with putty.

While traveling it works well to use as additional storage contained for bigger items.

Here are some photos.

[SecretSquirrel]

Very clever! But we need pictures!

Well I guess I posted while you where putting them up. Excellent job.

[KeithInUpstateNY]

Nicely done! I don't think you could get a better fit even with a custom built gate.