Date:         Fri, 28 May 1999 15:01:09 EDT
Reply-To:     Ssittservl@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         S Sittservl <Ssittservl@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Top Bunk Safety
Comments: To: m.laycock@strath.ac.uk
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>  Date:        5/27/99 9:22:23 AM CDT
>  From:        m.laycock@STRATH.AC.UK (Martin Laycock)
>
>  How does the rest of the world stop their  kids (4 and 1 year olds) from
>  falling out of their 'upstairs' bunk in a camper van...
>
>  Martin

Until recently, we put our two- (later three-) year-old in the downstairs
rear, with the rear seat up (not folded flat).  This "half bed" was big
enough for her, and enclosed on 4 sides so she wouldn't roll out.
Her baby brother slept in a bassinet secured on the front passenger
seat.

But now baby brother's growing fast, and he's too big for the bassinet.
Last trip, we tried putting him in the back, while our daughter slept
on the rear seat.  Unfortunately, it took him about 5 minutes to
figure out how to scramble over the back of the seat, and he's not
old enough yet for that to be safe for him - he needs some sort of
crib-like confinement.  We ended up bringing in his playpen for
him to sleep in - which took up nearly all the van's floor space.
It was a miserable night, and we don't want to do that again.

We're thinking of trying to "wall off" the area over the back of the
rear seat with a net or something, but haven't really come up with
anything workable yet.

What do others do to keep older babies safe in the camper at night?

Oh, and of course my wife and I sleep upstairs - both so the kids won't
fall out, and because we think it's more fun to be up in the "tent".  Some
day the kids will probably decide it's more fun up there too, and we'll
probably have to give it up, so we're taking advantage of it while we
still can!

                                                  -Steven Sittser