This summer, my wife and I are going to try our first real backpacking experience with our soon-to-be 3 yr old daughter. On past hikes, we've utilized our Lunar Duo tent with good success, and I'm hoping it will accomodate my daughter as well. Per the website, the tent is 54" wide. This means that with our 20" air pads side by side, we'd have about 12"-14" of room. This should be enough to accomodate a todder between us (or so we hope). A couple years ago, we tried an overnight trip with our daughter when she was 1 yr old, just using our BA air core pads, with mixed results. We also tried zipping our mummy bags together with our daughter between us which didn't work out so well.
My current idea is to use a closed cell foam pad for my daughter between us, cut to size. I was thinking of either getting a small Zlite or a cheap blue foam pad from Walmart. The trick will be getting the pad thick enough so it doesn't get buried beneath our 2.5" air pads on either side.
The other challenge is what sort of sleeping bag setup to use? Should we get a 2-person quilt and drape that over both of us? Or just have our own bags/quilts, and then get her a down suit of some kind? My concern is keeping her warm enough without overheating her (our daughter seems to sleep hot), also I don't want her to get lost somewhere underneath the quilt and not be able to breathe (she has a tendency to move around while sleeping).
I suppose I'm looking for the overall lightest setup that will also be practical. Also, I want a setup that isn't going to break the bank. I'd hate to buy a large quilt which we never use when the two of us go backpacking, or when I go solo.
Thoughts?
