11 Toddler Sleep Tips for RV Life

Toddler sleep can be quite tricky, and it becomes even more tricky in an RV where everything is new and exciting, they are perhaps sharing a room for the first time, and there are more outside noises at inconsistent times.

Don’t worry though, we got you! Toddlers CAN sleep very well in an RV. Our kids are back to sleeping their typical 12 hours a night which was the same in our home. Here are our toddler sleep tips for RV life:

Maintain Consistency

It is definitely difficult when you want to create memories of roasting marshmallows by the fire, play with new friends, do a later dinner or event, or if you are going through timezone changes, but try to stay consistent. Roast marshmallows shortly before or immediately after dinner in front of the fire - it doesn't have to be dark or late. Know that they'll feel better the next day and will more likely behave well if they are well rested – and friends will be excited to play in the morning too. If you have a later dinner or event, try to stick to the 80/20 rule – do those late dinners/events less than 20% of the time to keep the consistency. For timezone changes (I'm assuming this is 1 hour at a time in an RV), split the difference, or if they didn't nap at all or did less of a nap than typical, just stick with the same bedtime despite the time change. Our toddlers expect bath, teeth brushing, two books, nightlights, sing songs, and bed every night beginning at 7pm (ish). 

Create a Dark Environment

We have always tried to make our kids rooms at our home as dark as possible. For my little, it's always dark. For the big, when we started getting afraid of the dark, we added a nightlight, but we still kept outside lights out. In a camper, this is especially important – you never know if you'll be parked under a street light or if headlights will pass by early or late. We use Reflective Insulation and actually put it between the screen and the window so the toddlers don't disturb each other in the bunk by removing it. Keeping it super dark also helps them sleep in with the timezone changes. 

Use a Hatch Nightlight

We love the Hatch Nightlight because it has music to choose from, color options, we control it from our phones, and it has a timer.  Our daughter insists on it being blue through the night despite our attempts to make it red as red is better for sleeping. She also insists on twinkle twinkle playing all night despite our attempts to change it to white noise. But the best part is that we can dim the light, turn down the volume, and we have it set to turn green at 730am. Before bed, we always discuss our two rules with the big – 1.) always stay in bed until our light is green (unless we need to potty) so we can feel our best, and 2.) never bother baby brother. Staying in bed until the light is green is still a challenge, but we just do a gentle reminder when we don't and move on. There is no sense ruining a day over not staying in bed until our light is green, especially when they sleep through the night. 

Crank Up a Sound Machine

You never know what noises will be outside your campsite. Noisy neighbors, a train, nearby sites packing up early…it’s endless. We check the dBs with an iPhone app, but we always turn up the sound machines to drown out those uncontrollable outside noises that have the potential to awake our toddlers.

Create a Crib

For toddlers still using a crib at home, don’t feel like you need to transition them to a big kid bed because you cannot bring a crib along in your camper. Transitioning our daughter to a big kid bed too soon completely destroyed naps for us personally - don’t take the decision to transition too lightly! Instead bring a side entry pack n’ play along like the Lotus Travel Crib or create a crib that works in your space! We used a the travel crib for a long as possible, but about a month into our travels, our son figured out how to climb out - so we propped it up on books to remove the gap between the top of the crib and bunk ceiling, and quickly worked on a new solution.

I’ve seen many camper crib solutions online and they are all specific to the camper space. We have a Montana High Country 351BH and this was our solution. We brought along our son’s crib mattress from home and placed it perpendicular to the queen bunk space. Crib mattresses are generally about 27-1/4 in. wide by 51-5/8 in. long and queen mattresses are 60 in. wide by 80 in. long. We decided we were ok with with a slight gap between the mattress and the wall, but we had to find a barrier that was 60 in. long to go against the mattress and was also tall enough such that he couldn’t climb over it. This proved more challenging than expected. We ended up finding a Regalo Baby Gate that was just the right height to close the gap to the bunk ceiling and was 58" in. long when fully extended. The length was obviously still too short, but then we found Gate Extenders (I had no idea these existed!) which covered those final inches…phew!

One last thing to mention is to ensure that your sleep spot is safe for your toddler! Ours had an outlet and light within the designated space. My husband disconnected/secured and duct taped over the outlets and removed the pushbutton from the light we couldn’t electrically disconnect behind the plate.

Create a Comfortable Sleep Space

Just because they are kids doesn’t mean they don’t need good quality bedding! Upgrade your camper sleep bunk mat (those things are awful!), buy comfortable toddler pillows, make a place for their stuffed animals from home, and ensure their sheets and comforters are comfortable to them.

Hang Curtains

In addition to the reminder to not bother baby brother (see Hatch Nightlight), creating a visual boundary helps to keep the big from bothering the little toddler. Our little guy is still in a crib, so he can't get out and bother her. The curtain (and rod) helps mask the disturbance if she wakes earlier or needs to potty. Curtains also help ensure the environment for our little stays dark while the big’s nightlight is on and drowns out that twinkle twinkle all night. Our little still sleeps until about 8am most days. 

If you use a tension rod, like we did, be sure your curtain hanging opening will fit over it - rookie mistake!

Monitor Temperatures

Our RV has two AC units. One in the master and the other for the living and bunk room. The living and bunk room AC unit also has a heat pump integrated into the unit. The thermostat for the bunks and living room is right in front of the entryway door and it always reads higher or lower than the bunk temperature.

When the AC is running, it is not uncommon for the living room to be warm, the top bunk to be very cold and the bottom bunk to be slightly warm. When the heat pump is running, the living room will be chilly, the top bunk will be hot, and the bottom bunk will be comfortable. The heat pump is also very loud when it cycles on and causes early morning wakings, so we rarely use that. We do have a furnace, but we try not to run it as it uses our propane (which we pay for) instead of the campground included electricity.

We monitor each of the kids bunks with our Eufy Baby Monitor so we know the temp in each space and constantly adjust clothing, add space heaters, add battery powered fans, add duvets (and duvet covers), etc. as needed.

White Lithium Grease 

Haha! What is this for?! Our camper doors squeak so quickly! Keep those hinges lubed up so you don't awake the kids when you leave the room or so the big doesn't awake the little when they wake to potty. 

Melatonin (for Occasional Use)

This is definitely not a daily use for us and in fact we were afraid to try it for a while. We found that this helps when going through major transitions or when you need to reset a habit. When we first moved into the camper our 3 year old had the wildest tantrums at bedtime – like nothing we'd ever seen from her. We tried everything but as soon as we turned out the lights she screamed and flailed and actually hurt us a few times. Finally, we resorted to melatonin – we did this for a week, corrected the habit that seemed to develop and got back on track. We really like Zarbees Sleep. We've also used Zarbees Gentle Bedtime which is more natural for times we are staying with friends or have another odd transition to work through. 

Get Help

We decided sleep was extremely important to us from the time we were first pregnant. We both woke up at 4am for our jobs and commuted an hour away. We took the Taking Cara Babies baby sleep class setting a good foundation and getting them to sleep 12 hours/night by the time they were 12 weeks old. As we transitioned the big to her big kid bed and started to get more stalling at bedtime, we took the toddler sleep class. While we didn't do things exactly by the books, we implemented many parts of the class to achieve success. We believe getting advice from professionals is invaluable - don’t be intimidated to seek help!

Bonus Tip: Naps/Quiet Time

We do the same stuff we do at bedtime (minus melatonin) for naps. Keep it dark, quiet, monitor the temperatures and go through the same routine (including pajamas). Our big put up a big fight so for some time I'd have them rest in separate rooms, but further she totally has FOMO and even quiet time for her in our bedroom didn't work. I found giving her a sensory toy (like kinetic sand or her fairies), books and sometimes an educational game on the iPad and letting her just be on the mat outside is what she needs. She plays independently, uses her imagination, and we get a little break to workout or write. Don’t be upset if quiet time for you looks different than others (like in the same space as you instead of in their room) - life is different in an RV so it’s better to embrace it. Though dropping a nap was really hard for me, meeting her where she needed to be worked for us. It’s a bonus that she's on the same bedtime routine as our little and we get early alone time in the evenings.  

Do you have any toddler RV sleep tips we are missing?!

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