Recommend me a toddler sleeping bag?

[Gman]

The wife wants to do a camping trip in December which means I need to pick up a sleeping bag for our 2 year old. Anyone have any recommendations? Our daughter is super tall and already wearing clothes that are 4T even though she's a hair over 2 years old. I've heard big agnes makes a sleep system where the pad slides into the back of the bag but the kid's specific pad isn't made anymore. We're in CA so not likely to camp in something below freezing with the little one but would love something that she can also grow into. Seems like most of the children's sleeping bags are for bigger kids so wondering if I should just stuff some clothes in the bottom of a kid's bag so she doesn't slip down in it and suffocate? Feel like a fish out of water on this one.
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[Cruiser]

I've got some kelty bags for the kids that are expandable with a zipper in the foot box. They "grow" about 12" longer so that little ones don't have all that extra air space inside to warm up. No pad holder on mine but they're old, maybe the new ones have that feature.

[schindlerpiste]

We used sheepskin sleeping bags that fit well in strollers. I think there is a company called Kaiser that sells them. They are very warm and comfy, but much heavier than down.

[canyonrider]

If you plan to camp fairly often in the future I would skip kids bags and spring for a warm small-sized adult bag. Our kids kept waking up cold in various "high quality" kids bags from Mountain Hardwear and Deuter, so I finally gave up and invested in 800-fill Marmot adult bags. Absolutely no issues since then, they stay toasty and comfortable.

[Gman]

If you plan to camp fairly often in the future I would skip kids bags and spring for a warm small-sized adult bag. Our kids kept waking up cold in various "high quality" kids bags from Mountain Hardwear and Deuter, so I finally gave up and invested in 800-fill Marmot adult bags. Absolutely no issues since then, they stay toasty and comfortable.

Did you go with a down or synthetic bag for the kiddo?

[canyonrider]

Down bags, IME sleep warmer and hold up better in the long run (at a price).

[yeahman]

Did you go with a down or synthetic bag for the kiddo?

LL Bean has good down bags at a reasonable price. Lots of sizes.

[Kinnikinnick]

Yeah get the small adult bag. It’ll probably work until she’s a teen.


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[gravitylover]

No clue on good mini sleeping bags but, 2 already? Wow.

[cravenmorhead]

We've had great luck with the REI Kindercone. 25 degree bag, and it has a stuff sack attached to the foot of the bag. You don't lose the stuff sack, and you can use it to cinch off the bottom of the back so that the kid doesn't have to heat up as much space. It'll then expand to still fit the kid until they're in their teens and ready for an adult bag.

We've been using it since the kiddo was 2.5, now 5 years old. Temps down into the high 20s have been perfectly comfortable, and we've probably logged 25 nights sleeping outside.

Usually I like down bags for drier climates, but our kid often eats breakfast in the bag on chilly mornings. So synthetic is nice for spilled milk and the like.

[gretch6364]

We've had great luck with the REI Kindercone. 25 degree bag, and it has a stuff sack attached to the foot of the bag. You don't lose the stuff sack, and you can use it to cinch off the bottom of the back so that the kid doesn't have to heat up as much space. It'll then expand to still fit the kid until they're in their teens and ready for an adult bag.

We've been using it since the kiddo was 2.5, now 5 years old. Temps down into the high 20s have been perfectly comfortable, and we've probably logged 25 nights sleeping outside.

Usually I like down bags for drier climates, but our kid often eats breakfast in the bag on chilly mornings. So synthetic is nice for spilled milk and the like.

We also have our kids in the REI bag. There was a big sale on them last year. Currently 2 and 5. We went with synthetic for washing if they pee the bed. That said...it took a bit for our 2 year old to get the hang of it and there were some rough nights. She always seemed to slide out of it...but she is a rather restless sleeper. I personally don't think little ones need a super warm bag because of their PJs. We have so many sets of one piece fleece PJs for if it is cold.

If you are car camping...I would also suggest bringing some extra blankets...just in case they don't stay in the bag well.

[yeahman]

We had Kindercones for our kids when they were little, and they worked pretty well (though as mentioned bring extra blankets). The problem was we started taking the kids backpacking at a very young age, and the Kindercone is pretty bulky and heavy for backpacking, especially when Mom and Dad have to carry everybody's gear. When my girls became teens I got them LL Bean down bags, but I wish I'd done that when they were little because we wouldn't have had to lug the Kindercones backpacking.

That said, if all you're doing is car camping, Kindercone plus blankets will work fine.

[Cruiser]

When mine were a little smaller I would skip sleeping pads for them on car camping trips in favor of some doubled over moving blankets. Being able to adjust the size of the pad (shorter and wider) was helpful and they're way less slick than traditional pads so the littles don't slide around as much in the night. Plus they're warmer than uninsulated pads, or no pad in the case of them rolling off onto the floor of the tent.

[RootSkier]

We use Kindercones too, but are only car camping.

This reminds me of last summer. I woke up in the middle of the night to my three-year-old struggling to get out of the bag, and then standing up. I asked him what he was doing (no doubt in a drunken stupor) and he yelled "I am getting the hell out of here" and charged for the door, whereupon I woke everyone else up laughing my ass off.

[Gman]

We also have our kids in the REI bag. There was a big sale on them last year. Currently 2 and 5. We went with synthetic for washing if they pee the bed. That said...it took a bit for our 2 year old to get the hang of it and there were some rough nights. She always seemed to slide out of it...but she is a rather restless sleeper. I personally don't think little ones need a super warm bag because of their PJs. We have so many sets of one piece fleece PJs for if it is cold.

If you are car camping...I would also suggest bringing some extra blankets...just in case they don't stay in the bag well.

She's pretty good about not leaking through her diaper but that seems like a good idea to go with a synthetic bag for the time being. I think for the most part we're looking at car camping for the time being because our daughter isn't really old enough where we could hike to a camp site without it taking hours to go a mile. She is already super tall so I'm tempted to take the advice of what people have said and get a women's regular bag for her which she can grow into. Not too concerned about costs as I can get the hookup on most brands.