[jared_j]

What's been your choice for car camping sleeping setups with small kids? A big blow-up mattress from Fred Meyer / Big 5? A $$$ big mat from Exped or similar? Separate inflatable pads? My wife isn't a huge fan of the big pads as you can feel everyone's movement on it. I also feel like the affordable pads from the big box stores aren't as durable, but maybe I've just gotten unlucky. Experienced folk, enlighten me!

[Malachai Constant]

Cots and your old pads.

[Slugman]

Costco has some nice looking camping mattresses, foam, not blow up. The only issue is they are bulky even when folded up. I am going to buy one for the back of my Subaru wagon, as soon as I buy the Subaru wagon. "Your old pads" is probably the best idea. Lots of people have older pads they would sell.

[Navy salad]

I have 20 year old blow up car camping air mattresses that have held up fine. The downside of these is not so much lack of durability, but rather the heavy weight and time to inflate. Look for ones that are reinforced with nylon or polyester, rather than just using vinyl plastic.

[Bronco]

The wife and I sleep on a big air mattress, also bought a manual air pump at a second hand store to inflate it the second time... After backpacking with the kids for a few overnighters, I came to the conclusion that they don't really need anything more than maybe a blanket on the floor of the tent. I usually found them out of the bag, off the mattress, maybe with the bag draped over some part of their body. I swear they like the cool nylon on the side of their face, didn't seem to bother them in the least.

[spamfoote]

If really small kid, your welcome mat in front of your front door. The "brush" type. Your bed comforter can also be used for small kids just fine. If you want a cheap surface, a 2nd hand yoga mat is great for the $$$. Can probably ask your neighbors and they will gladly get rid of their mattresses to you for free instead of taking them to the dump. Cheapest? THE FOAM store in Bellevue if it still exists that is. Get CCF ultra cheap. Or BIg 5. PS. Kids young and medium age don't need foam pads. They are made from rubber and cotton candy. It is only adults and older whiny kids(15+) who are used to sleeping on ultra cushy foam mattresses who need it. In fact, if you practice sleeping on a thin foam pad on a concrete floor you literally will not be able to get to sleep on a normal mattress bed anymore.

[wakerobin]

When we first started car camping we went to the Pacific Fabric Outlet on 4th ave (Seattle) and got some end cuts of 2" foam and some cheap polar fleece. If you score the foam partway you can fold it a little easier. We made fleece covers (3 seams, open on one end) because touching foam is my own personal nails on a chalkboard. We used them for a couple of years and then passed them on to our neighbor and his son.

[Hiker Mama]

I disagree about younger kids not needing any pads. But maybe my kids were really picky/spoiled. It's important to have some kind of insulation from the cold and damp ground, as well as padding from rocks. There is not much worse than whiny uncomfortable kids waking you up in the middle of the night. I used the REI Kid pads that are partially inflatable/partially foam. Those worked great until older elementary. Last summer I upgraded my teen to a Big Agnes inflatable backpacking mattress, and he is a lot less whiny. My younger child is starting to get uncomfortable on the shorter kid REI mattress, so she will probably appreciate some form of inflatable. My husband and I started off when we were first married with a cheaper but comfortable combo style mat. We still use those for hubby, since he never backpacks with us and I don't want to spend the money on him. I discovered over the years that I appreciate buying good backpacking gear for the kids, even for camping, because it takes up so much less room in an already overpacked car. Now we have an SUV with a roof box, but we still manage to fill it up. Having some of my gear upgraded to backpacking size/styles leaves more room for the huge amount of food it takes to keep teens and preteens happy on a trip. Just my 2 cents.

[markh752]

I'm going to agree with Hiker Mama on this one. I use to use a 4" insulated, inflatable mat for both backpacking and car camping. My kids didn't even want anything to do with mats at the time. But when I purchased an Exped UL 7, my kids were frothing for a mat. Yeah, I purchased one for each of them. They are very excited to rest peacefully on a mat after a day of hiking. It adds to there enjoyment of the outdoors. Isn't that what we should be aiming for when it comes to our kids enjoying the outdoors?

[pnwchica]

I have been car camping with children for about 20 years. When my adult children were small, we always bought 3 twin Coleman air mattresses, one for each child. Make sure they have the non-slip texture, I made the mistake of trying to save a bit of money the first year, and they slipped and slided all night long, bumping into eachother, etc... I also had them write their names on them with a sharpie, and even let them draw pictures of things they liked on them. This seemed to deter the "lets jump up and down on them" because they knew that they would have to sleep on a leaking mattress all season, and they also seemed to take pride in the drawings that they accumulated over the seasons, therefore preserving them. I haven't had luck with backpacking pads, they seemed to complain about them a lot and tried to bargain for mine (not happening).. I think my kids must have been overly-picky, but the nice Coleman ones worked for them.

[mbtigger]

I trolled eBay/STP/Yard sales/Value village for gear for the kinder, and always made sure they had acceptable gear. (Good pad, bag, Synthetic pants, shirt and long johns, etc) In the last couple years the older one has gotten large enough that I have broken down and bought a full size down bag and a 65l pack with my REI discount. Right now I am at a stage where pants and boots don't last a year I may have to revisit the tag under my name soon.