Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2006 07:28:11 -0500
Reply-To: Stephen Steele <steeles@HORIZONVIEW.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stephen Steele <steeles@HORIZONVIEW.NET>
Subject: Re: Camping w/ 2 year old - suggestions
In-Reply-To: <008f01c61013$f1574810$1919a8c0@cspfr>
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on 1/2/06 22:15, BJ Feddish at bfeddish@NETREACH.NET wrote:
> We're going to attempt to take our 2 year old daughter camping this summer
> in our 83.5 Westy. Can those of you that have come up with clever sleeping
> arrangements send along some suggestions? Where's the best place for her to
> sleep? She's a light sleeper, how have you been successful in not waking
> your kid up?
At two years old our now four year old thought of the Westy as his personal
playground and fun house. The floor area was perfect for a traveling Thomas
the Train set and his favorite toy animal set. We tried to extend this play
area to the upper bunk with moderate success. Up until this year he has
slept with Mom downstairs while I enjoyed the upper bunk. Unfortunately,
unlike at home, he usually had to have Mom lay down with him in order to
fall asleep... and so did Mom. It was my goal to get him to sleep
"upstairs".
At EveryBus 2002 I saw a fellow Westy owner's home made upper bunk child
barrier. He had made a vertical frame out of small stock (1"x 1") wood and
covered it with netting. A bottom-hinged door allowed access to the "cage".
The whole assembly was held in place with small screws in the molded area
that supports the upper bunk bed. For months I mulled over his approach to a
secure upper bunk but couldn't abide the "jail cell" nature of it. I
thought about a one foot bunk extension with a lip which would prevent him
from falling. But then we could not stand up with him lying on the
extension.
By 2003 I came up with what was a solution for us. For the last two camping
seasons we have used a four foot bed rail guard; it has netting over a metal
tube 18" x 48" frame with leg extensions at each end that swivel out to form
two ells at 90º from the vertical guard. The legs are intended to go under
a regular bed's mattress and act as levers when the child rolls over against
the guard. In the Westy we place the legs on the molded horizontal area
where the folded out upper bunk rests. We then carefully lay the folded out
bunk section on top of the legs. After trial and error we came up with some
thin rug non-skid to wrap the legs in to prevent the legs from moving from
under the bunk. He is a large 4 y.o. and a very active sleeper. He did
manage to tumble out once this summer, onto his pillows, sleeping bag and a
blanket... without even waking up. Thunk!!! Scared the bejesus out of
us!!! He just kept sleeping! JeeezManeeez! I left him there on the floor to
sleep in his little nest after a thorough exam. Thank God for small
miracles!
1989 Pristine Westy... $12K
1 nights' stay at Lake Superior Prov'l Park... $22
Flawed rail guard...$19
MediVac flight to Nearest hospital (100km)... $6K
Uninjured, sleeping child........PRICELESS
I got up several times that night to check on him. Next morning we found
the non-skid in the bottom of a cabinet shelf and did the wrap which
prevents the legs from migrating away from the sides, even under a heavy
nocturnal onslaught. The bed rail folds flat and travels well behind the
folded upper bunk.
A 12V light hanging from the pop top support cross member either at playtime
or pre-bedtime allows him to play and look at books or his portable DVD.
When it's sleepy time we place a pillow or two between him and the rail
guard. A small light is left on in the lower area. Assurances of Mom and
Dad being right outside, just like at home, have seemed to work. This
allows Mom the luxury of staying up with the adults... IF she wants to.
Stephen Steele
Chillicothe OH
'89 Westy no name yet
'90 Carat "Parts"
'91 Caravelle "Hans"... new engine's in
'74 MGB My first car...yep, I've kept it since '74
'93 Chevy S-10
'91 Jetta Diesel My daily driver
'02 Jetta Wagon VR6 Wife's car
Ex Vans/VWs:
'81 Vanagon from 1985-1990
'84 Westfalia "Fritz" 2000-2004 now with Son #1
'87 Westfalia "Franz" 2002-2005 now with Son #2
'88 Jetta GL 1990-1992
'92 Jetta GL 1992-1998
'90 Jetta 1999-2003
'81 Rabbit diesel 1999-2003
'82 Caddy VW Diesel P.U. 1999-2004
