How to Keep Child from Falling Out of Bed in Camper

You don't say how old the girls are, but what about making a side with heavy duty canvas and heavy duty velcro. You could put the velcro along the bottom of the bed (the soft side of velcro) and along the walls. Then the sticky side of the velcro on the canvas, where you can put it together, making a crib out of the table area. I would take the play and pack anyway if they are young, it will be a good way of keeping them safe outside.

As T C said, the pool noodle works great under the fitted sheet. This is what i use for my son's toddler bed. We don't use any type of rail, just the pool noodle and he's never fell out :)

After all the advise, and you still want to use the rail..... could you attach a 'U' shaped piece of metal (they make them but I dont know what they are called...) to the underside of the table, so the bars could slide in there instead of under the cushions????

Good luck and have fun!!

If you do want to use a bed rail, what about the ones with the bars that go all the way across underneath the cushions (as opposed to the ones with the short little bars that tend to flip up the mattress when leaned on)? Otherwise, is the area where the "bed" is narrow enough that a babygate would fit between there? Perhaps you could put your son on the cushions, then put the gate in place. It would be a bit tall, but would do the trick.

We have a pop up camper also and I thought we would have trouble with our 3 yr old daughter last summer (then 2) as she was still sleeping in a crib at home. We put her in the bed where the table is and she fell out twice, once didn't even wake up. If we had trouble with her falling out, I was going to try putting a pool noodle under the sheet towards the edge of the bed to see if that would work as a barrier so you may want to give that a try. Also, just a note, I was worried about her hitting the metal track for the end, so I took a pool noodle, cut it to size and cut a slit down the center and put it over the metal track to act as a bumper. Hope this is helpful.

I also have a pop up camper. I also thought the same thing last summer.My son was about 15 or 16 months then and we used the bed rail. It worked, but just to be safe I laid blankets on the floor so if he fell It would be cushiony. Just a forwarning, My son fell out the end of our bed while playing,So BE CAREFUL!!! I had to put snaps on the canvas and underside of the bed to prevent this it scared the hell out of me. Hope this helps you.

You could add extensions (PVC, aluminum pipe, broom handle, etc.) to the railing arms so they go the full width of the bed, then add ends that point downward over the far side, if there is an opening against the wall to allow for this. The extensions mean the cushions and child's weight are distributed more evenly and broadly, keep the rail in place. If you can negotiate the "ends" then they will hook over the far side of the bed and add more support. Depending on the configuration of the bed and related cabinetry, you might be able to bungee it or attach some sort of hooking device to each end to secure it to a cupboard. If the child is small enough to roll off w/o realizing, she is probably not too heavy to overtax this added precaution. Be sure to place a pad or pillows on the floor each night, just in case.

SAHM of seven, we do alot of traveling

What a great thing to do with your family! We love camping! For your childs bed, you could try folding a towel (or two) and putting it under the outside edge of the bed so that the cushions are slightly tilted toward the wall

How about duct tape?

The rail, not the child, of course. :)

We had the same issue last year with our daughter (who was then 15-17 months) and we ended up putting the pack and play on top of the bed. It worked for us because it was the spot for the table and didn't take up extra room. We removed the cusions where the extra bed was and it fit perfectly.

There was also enough space so that we didn't worry about the bed falling off of the "Table".

Good luck to you!

Hi J D,
We tried having our kids sleep the same way but, found that they were just never comfortable on the cushions. So we tried what our friends do, a blow up twin mattress. Just throw it down in the middle and no worries. It is way easier than turning the table into a bed, just inflate it with the air pump supplied and let the air out in the morning. The only draw back is they might be a little colder at night on the floor if its cold out or if your air conditioner is blowing out on them so extra blankets.

Camping is so much fun, we have been doing it since my daughter was 6 months old. You could try a baby gate. It doesn't take up much room and you can expand most of them pretty wide. Good luck and enjoy camping.

I have seen in the "One Step Ahead" catalog a blow up long tube that you place on the side of the bed. It is called "bed bolster to go". Here is the link:

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

We have never purchased one, but I have thought of it many times for when we stay in a hotel. Good luck. Hope it works.

Hello, we also have a pop up, and two small children that go camping with us and we have not had any problem with the bedrails staying in place. Neither one of the kids have ever falling out, because of the rail coming out or not working. They work jsut fine, no worries!!! Happy Camping!!!!!!!!!

JD,

When my daughter turned 19 months, we had to move her to a bed out of necessity. I put lots of pillows on the floor and just let her roll out of bed. After about three times, she never rolled out of bed again. My boys were the same - 2-3 times and they learned to hold still in bed. They weren't much older than she was, either.

Good luck,
S.

We'll be camping with our daughter for the first time this summer as well. You didn't say how old you twins were. Our pack n play looks like it will fit where one of the tables go (have to pop it up to verify yet), so that's the current plan. We have friends that tent camp with their little ones and they've actually used a suitcase for baby's bed. Open it up, take out all the clothes, put a blanket on the bottom, and set to go!

Years ago we had a pop up and we used a bed rail. She slept on an end bunk and the bed rail slid underneath the cushions. It was a metal bed rail and it worked slick.

You might try putting a large floating swimming noodle under the fitted sheet you will be putting over the cusions. (It will make a large "lump" on the edge of the bed under the sheets.) The fitted sheet tucked tightly under the cushions will hold it in place and if you get a larger sized noodle, it should be enough to keep your child from rolling over it and onto the floor. The noodle won't take up much room, and it might be something you will use on your trip anyway. Good luck!

I'm not sure how old your girls are but my son is 19 months and we take the cushions off the other bed (we have a bench that folds down into a bed) and put at the edge of the table bed. He has never fallen out yet. Body pillows work great too.

When my daughter was young, my husband built a rail to fit between the bed and the sink/stove areas in our pop-up. He used plywood which he cut to about 18 inches tall by the width of the camper. He then cut that in two and put a hinge on the two pieces so that we weren't dealing with a long large sheet. So that she couldn't hurt herself along the top, he split a garden hose and tacked it along the edge of the top. This worked perfectly through two children in a pop-up!

My youngest will be 26 on Sunday, and I just threw this wooden piece away last summer!

www.onestepahead.com has a nice detachable rail that works great