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Fri Jun 24, 2016 4:22 pm

Hi all. I am going on a 2 week trip with our 18 month old who loves to climb and get into everything. During the last trip which he was a lot younger, he just slept over the engine with the seat up. I am worried that he will now just climb over and cut into our wine drinking time at night. Has anyone rigged something up to block the top of the rear bench or anything so that he can't climb out?

Thanks all!

Fri Jun 24, 2016 5:16 pm

Dog / cargo net above the rear seat cushion.

Volvo, BMW, Benz wagon accessories.

Fri Jun 24, 2016 7:00 pm

Welcome to parenthood. A toddler's mission in life is to take over adult activities.

Fri Jun 24, 2016 7:07 pm

Walk them, play with them, look at stuff, wear them out and they will sleep. :wink:

Fri Jun 24, 2016 7:32 pm

Cargo net it is. I just want to make sure that he is able to have proper naps. Thanks all.

Fri Jun 24, 2016 8:13 pm

Here's another thought;

A leather harness screwed to the rear hatch.

I know they are escape proof.
My Mom had one on me, one on my brother so we couldn't disappear when she went shopping.

One went one way , the other went the other.
The harness cured problem disappearing precocious youth instantly.

There's another option for ya.

Fri Jun 24, 2016 10:58 pm

On our boat, where the same uncontrolled toddler challenge could prove fatal, I built a structure we jokingly called "the microwave". The youngest slept and napped in it. It was about 3 feet by two feet by two feet and was a box up against the wall and off the floor with a secure door. We slept in the same spot so we could just sit up and check on them at night, pull them out for nursing, etc. I made a stout fabric mesh opening in the door so they could see and hear us, and I built it over a window that I'd made a cover for. For night time, it was their sleeping spot. For daytime naps and if we wanted to jump overboard and swim, we'd put the young one in it so we wouldn't worry about them while we swam around the boat or such. It had vent holes and turning a nearby fan on it down in the shaded cabin kept them cool.

So, you might consider a simple box structure up and out of the way. Done right, it's their cool skybox but also prevents accidents or the like if you have stuff cooking and you are sitting in a chair under the awning.

I know it sounds disturbingly like a pet carrier, but it worked out beautifully and both kids still have fond memories of napping in there with their stuffed animals.

Sat Jun 25, 2016 1:49 am

Or.......

While parenting IS a lifetime sentence, (speaking as a grandfather of Seven)......

Parenting toddlers is not. Yes, while in the midst of the task it sure SEEMS like a never ending task! But now standing in the future looking back on it, in reality it is only a brief flash of time.

Put aside your "adult" activities for a season or two and focus on being with and entertaining the toddler. Build some cuddling in the camper memories.
Way more enduring than a quiet glass of wine. (Do you REALLY think that a caged toddler will give you quiet?!?!?!? )

But this is only one man's opinion....... The cage, the box and the leash are all viable options I guess ............ Though the leash presents certain strangulation issues.

Dave

Sat Jun 25, 2016 4:08 am

Agreed Dave. It's not so much getting to do adult activities. I just want him to be able to sleep and not have the temptation of crawling everywhere thus keeping him awake.

Sat Jun 25, 2016 4:49 am

hogan029 wrote: Agreed Dave. It's not so much getting to do adult activities. I just want him to be able to sleep and not have the temptation of crawling everywhere thus keeping him awake.

I completely understand. My kids are older now but I was in your shoes once. My daughter, and son, started out in a pack-n-play in the galley, moved to the back like you, and now they are both up tip. At the end of the day after you have played wtih them, payed attention to them amd showed them great things it is time for them to go to sleep and yes you have some important adult down time. We never needed to use this but it would work.
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/guar...aQodVJUFMQ

Buy 2) 1x3's and construct an H shape to wedge between the cabinet and deck. If you are creative you could have it hinge to get the boy out in the morning.

Enjoy your adult time in the van!

Too bad you dont live near I have one you could have.

Sat Jun 25, 2016 8:47 am

The station wagon netting requires almost no construction, sets up fast, and no Boo-Boo's for the bambino.

David, the leash had no collar.
You are a madman--
But now that I'm thinking about it, if my Mom had thought about that, she may have used one on my brother & me.

They were brown harnesses.
Like the lederhosen type look with a leash on each.

Just saw a young gal with 3 kids, all on leashes & harnesses in a department store.
Had a good laugh, thinking about this.
If she only knew what I know--
Child contol in the 50's , and probably before.

Sat Jun 25, 2016 9:45 am

pet kennel any one? of course full of plush crew toys! :shock:

Sat Jun 25, 2016 10:40 am

For sleep, it was terrific because sometimes they'd point up at it ready to go to sleep. It also allowed US to sleep because we didn't have to worry the little one would wake up and wander out the cabin door in the middle of the night to who knows what fate. I built it with all panels connected by piano hinges, and it was held on by chrome quick releases. So I could disconnect it from the ceiling and wall, then fold the sides in and the door under and tuck it away. Later when the kids were bigger, we used it as a convenient "safe" storage spot for food, radios, firearm and other things you don't want a toddler messing with. So our little ones grew out of it and we put those things INTO it. It had a lock so we could swim off the boat when they were older, knowing while we were in the water they couldn't access knives, matches, bear spray, etc.

I can't tell you how well this worked and provided peace of mind. I'd have done the same thing in the Van if our kids were young when we joined the Vanagon world. I'd have put it up high right behind the driver's seat in our tintop.

Sat Jun 25, 2016 10:56 am

Boy,
Plus the spares you should be dragging along, tools, spray water bottles & a water supply, plus, plus, plus, now a piano hinged dog box.

Better consider a Prevost rather than the Vanagon.
You ain't got enough engine or area to haul all this garbage around.

The netting weighs nothing, and can be packed anywhere pretty easy without sacrificing area that there is none of.

Sat Jun 25, 2016 6:42 pm

We used a pack-n-play on the floor for our toddler to,sleep,in...we slept in the bottom bed...worked great!

Sun Jun 26, 2016 2:00 pm

+

+

=

also, as a bonus, it will keep your children safe from bears.

Mon Jun 27, 2016 3:57 am

^^^suspension trauma...:)

Mon Jun 27, 2016 4:07 am

You've got to be careful fabbing gates for toddlers. It is a flash in time in raising kids, indeed. Just launched the last two of six into college

My youngest jumped a stalled driver with the Eurovan this weekend and achieved supreme credibility from her posse.

Mon Jun 27, 2016 9:03 am

When my boy could just maybe start to get over the rear seat, I put a single shower curtain rod between the window and cabinet about 4-5" above the top of the seat. Low enough that he couldn't get his head stuck in there. It added just enough height to his cage that he couldn't climb over it. I had to put some 3M Safety Walk tape (thick rubber tape) on the window and cabinet to make a bit of a pocket so it wouldn't slide off.
-d