travelling with a baby Forums

isa

with the arrival of our new baby, we are selling our fiat ducato hymer and are planning to buy something bigger so we can travel with our baby.

i was wondering if anyone has any advice on what type of campervan would be suitable, we dont want to spend more than £15000 at the very most, but we need something big enough to fit a travel cot, but ideally small enough to negociate some of the narrower roads

we have looked at the hymer B544 which looks quite suitable but we are concerned that the driving position might be difficult and it is also quite wide

would be grateful for any advice

also wanted to know if it is still considered cheaper to buy in germany?
best wishes
isabel

Grizzly

Hi Isabel and family - and congratulations on the new baby.

I can't answer your question about what van to buy but welcome to MHF and I'm sure someone who can will be along soon.

G

bandaid

Yes, welcome, both to the forum and for the small person, to the world.

As far as securing the travel cot, or the baby seat whilst travelling, theres been in the fairly recent past, a looooonnnngggg and protracted discussion on the subject...and others....( you wont find it, thank the Lord,) anyhoo, the general conclusion was.

You need to take the motorhome to a baby seat expert type person and get trial runs of the various seats in the specific vehicel., its apparently the only way to ensure the seat peerforms correctly, and I think this would be good advice.

As far as buying from Germany, theres been, within the last couple of days, a thread where a member imported ( admittedly new) motorhome from Germany, and made sufficient savings to make it worthwhile, despite the low exchange rate.

There's also a huge amount of info, and most of it will be in specific threads " importing vehicles, " etc. which will explain in specifics the method of import if you need it.

Good luck. hope it goes well, whatever you decide.

hannah29

i cant suggest a van to buy as that is down to personal taste and what is available at the time you are buying for the price you want to pay.....i can however offer some tips on babies.....

we have been motorhoming for a few years now and our little one is now 2 and a half. we knew we wanted to buy an a class so me and hubby could use the overcab drop down bed, the problem was what rear end did we want......we also have another daughter who is now 10. we didn't want to be making up beds each night so opted out of a rear diner and bought one with twin singles at the back. it also has a large garage for all the added extras the baby comes with!!! the twin singles are quite high off the floor so whilst little one was tiny she slept in a samsonite bubble cot with a tomy bed guard fitted to the side of the bed just to be on the safe side. it also worked pretty well as a playpen and when she woke up she couldn't get out until someone opened it up. she was safe and sound until she got too big for it at about 18 months. we then put her in the normal single bed and invested in another bed guard so they fitted the full length of the bed.....she has been fine, by the time she was up and walking about she had got used to the van and the height of the beds and steps...we did have one or two bumps but she soon learnt....it is really nice now as both girls can go to bed in their own space, and we can stay up and relax or go to bed without disturbing them
good luck in your search
hannah

gevans55

If you can, go for twin single beds over a garage or a rear double bed over a garage especially if you plan on keeping van and kids Surprised

for any length of time. You will need the garage for the paraphenalia and to put the childrens car seats in when you want to use the seats they are normaly travelling on. The Samsonite bubble cot is ideal - its light and safe. In a rear double bed, you can usually block off the entry to the bed area quite easily to stop little ones getting out. Our two are 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 years old and sleep fine together in the double. A few nights of playfulness at the novelty but that soon wears off - especially when you wear the little tikes out during the day

As for fitting car seats - take some advice and get a car seat like the Concord Trimax. Excellent seats and very comfortable for baby and young ones up to about 4 years old. Many of the car seats we tried were very uncomfortable (we tried six in all Evil or Very Mad

) When you nconsider the children can often be in them for a few hours at a stretch - their comfort is almost as important as their safety. Concord are not expensive by the way - they are just darned good seats

The key to mounting childs car seat is to first stiffen up the seat that the car seat is to sit on. We added a piece of ply beneath the cushion and then when you fit car seat in place kneel on the car seat as you pull hard on the diagonal part of the seat belt and lock that into the car seat clamp. The more weight you can put on the car seat the more the seat cushion deforms and that aids in keeping the car seat from rocking or sliding. You have to get the diagonal part of the seat belt really tight in the car seat lock. It is easier than it sounds. You may also need to buy a seat belt extension - especially for the baby car seat due to it initially being mounted facing backwards.

If you want more info pm me