Bongo Fury

Hi all,

I read most of the threads of the "Bongoing with Children" section and got some answers and reassurance, but I'd still like to hear about your experience going away with a small baby, even for just one night.

We have had our Bongo for 4 years now, and we love it, but we are expecting a baby for end of February and I thought "That's it! We'll never use it next year - probably not until the child is 3 years old and can sleep upstairs, maybe we should just sell it."

To be honest, we have gone away only twice this summer, and we have no excuses really ("we can go whenever we want, we don't need to plan" doesn't result in more travelling). So paying tax+insurance+servicing for no night out at all next year seemed just too much to me.

Our bongo was converted when we bought it: one row of seat taken out in the middle to place the little cupboard/gas cooker/sink, and we still have the original back row of seat.

We always slept upstairs, and it's great, except for the "if one needs to get up, everybody has to get up", which is ok when it might only mean the occasionally "I really need to go to the bathroom" trip in the middle of the night.

Now, I thought about going away with a baby (if we go between May and September, he/she will be 3-6 months), I am first wondering where will she/he sleep.

The first options are: back seat downstairs with moses basket? Travel cot downstairs? Yes, but what happens if baby is still feeding at night? Is it practical? Temperature issue? Experience?

Or baby could sleep upstairs with me so I can feed without a fuss? But where would my husband sleep? In a tent? That doesn't seem very practical for one night.

Obviously, it will depend of the baby, and we won't know until we get to that time... And it might be too late to sell the Bongo? Best is probably spring no? Or after the summer?

When the baby gets older, I imagine he/she can sleep all night and there is no more problem for sleeping downstairs.

Of course, I am also wondering whether all this will be any fun for any of us. If the trip is only stressful, then why do it in the first place? The baby is too young to really get the benefit (different with an older child)... so we have to be the one enjoying the night away.

Your experience is valuable to me. I am thinking "Sell and we'll see in 3-4 years if we want to buy something else." but we like our Bongo, and I like going away in it and my husband too. I'd love to be able to take the minimum with us and be relaxed and go away for a few weekends next summer, but I am afraid this is unrealistic

Also, last question, I've read about a "Cat flap" for the bongo, but can't find any picture or description of what it means.

Thank you and sorry for the long message!

here,s the cat flap thread.

http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... =1&t=58624.

ive done a few and my mrs has her own bongo which has been like this for several years now with no problems a all.

we have three girls that have all camped with us straight from birth, we found the bed across the drivers/passenger seat good for the younger as this can be made into a den.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Camper-Motorh ... 2ed73f343c.

its your shout really but we found the bongo brilliant for nights, but equally good for days out, and the normal day runs, shifting the prams around and feeding/changing in private.

Hi Northern Bongolow, thanks for the link! I see what it looks like now.

Regarding the daily use of our Bongo, it is great for other things than camping, it's true, but we use the other car otherwise. Mostly because it's better on petrol.

I like the Childs Cab Bunk Bed Hammock - does this one work on a Bongo? Did you use it from birth or did you have a different arrangement when your girls were very small? Did you sleep in the same "room" as the baby or were you upstairs while baby was downstairs like we would do?

Our other option is to find a way to create a bed downstairs for us too. I am not sure how much of an investment it would be when we have already the space upstairs.

the hammock does fit nicely in a bongo, but it would be unwise with a newborn unless it was railed at the sides,even then i wouldnt leave the little one by itself. mum would usually recline a front seat with her feet under the hammock, this would act like a single bed to be near ittle un.

driverandpassengers, a member on here uses the front of the upstairs with a cot rail across the exit. give him a personal message.

It's all personal preference isn't it. I'm too highly strung and found the whole camping with young children too stressful but I know plenty of people who do it.

For me camping with kids wasn't relaxing or cheap (when you average the outlay per nights away). A few nights in a hotel are cheaper and more relaxing!

We first camped in the bongo when ours was 8 months old. We also had a 3 year old as well.

Ours was unconverted so mum and the baby slept downstairs, 3 year old on a cab bed across the front seats and me in the roof.

On thing you can do depending on where your kitchen is to put a cab bed across the rear of the Bongo on the window ledges. We raised in on a few blocks of shaped wood which mean we could both sleep downstairs with our feet underneath the smaller child. Was a bit complicated but worked for us

The bongo is so useful with kids that it would be great if you can keep it

We've had great trips with our kids even when they were babies. We've also had some bad ones (think vomiting in the middle of the night!).

When we had one baby and whilst my wife was still breast feeding, she and the baby would sleep downstairs. We used a pop up travel cot with a side opening so it was easy to access for night feeds. When past the night feeding stage, the cot fitted very neatly width ways up top above the cab section of the AFT. The inside roof was left open.

When we had a second child, we juggled a bit more with one up top, the other downstairs....

We didn't bother with a cabin hammock since we use the front seats for the dog to sleep in and the child seats to stack.

Tips would be - plenty of easy to add/remove layers for cold nights & experiment a little before shelling out lots of money of stuff.

Thanks all for your replies.

The "stress and not relaxing" stay is exactly what I thought at first: it has to be relaxing and enjoyable, otherwise, there is no point going away at all.

I guess our issue will be that the baby will be small at first and probably still feeding at night and that we don't have any way to sleep downstairs.

I am not sure whether I would sleep on the front sit - it doesn't sound very comfortable. Again, it has to be enjoyable.

I still don't know what to do. If we don't use it at all in 2015, maybe it's not such a big deal after all. But between the insurance/tax/nct/servicing, it costs us around 500-700e without even taking it out.

In 2016, with a 1 year old kid, I can see us enjoying it with child downstairs and us upstairs.

Hi all,

I am back!

Baby is now 1 year old, and bongo is still in the driveway.

It hasn't been used since my last message except for a few day trips and buying furniture in Ikea.

Unless we can envision how we could make it work for the 3 of us this summer, we decided to sell it.

So I am back here to see whether somebody has some brilliant idea (you all have more experience than me) to save the Bongo

1. Bongo is converted with kitchen on the side, so we only have the row of back seats downstairs
2. Baby still wakes up a lot at night

I cannot visualise any good set up for now or later (when she'll be a little older). If we sleep upstairs and her downstairs on her own, it will be too hard/slow to get to her.

If she sleeps on the roof, we have no way to sleep downstairs.

We love our Bongo and have great memories with it, but spending all the insurance/servicing/taxes money for nothing is sad.

Help!!

Could one adult sleep upstairs and one downstairs with little one?

Whats wrong with the bunk bed across the front between the two door window ledges ? Then your all on the same level and can use the AFT for storage.

Yes, sleeping downstairs would be ideal with either of your solutions, but we don't have a "bed" downstairs.

Here is a messy picture of the downstairs:

With the bunk bed across the window - could I sleep comfortably on one of the front seat?

Also, I am afraid she is a bit young for this type of bed and will be standing and at everything (the way she is in her own cot). I guess a small travel cot would be best, but would take too much space...

I can't find a link to the pictures, but there are beds available that use two tubes across the front resting on the window ledges, the material is then supported across them, children up to several years old can happily use them.
ah see these on a search from Ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from= ... k&_sacat=0

Thanks Geoff, I think someone posted a link above.

But my issue is us, adult (at least one) sleeping downstairs with the little one, and for the first year or two, at easy access.