Any tips for keeping it dark to aid the kids sleeping up top?

[DamienP]

Just wondered if anyone had good tips on an easy cost effective solution to help keep it darker in the pop up roof for when the kids are sleeping up there?

 

[calikev]

eye masks

 

[Hotel California]

A roof topper ...
Or the inside insulation .

Some DIY with towels or some fabric.

Wait until dark

 

[WelshGas]

I must be unusual in that when I’m asleep I don’t know if it’s light or dark outside.
Never had a problem with the 5 children when camping or caravaning in that they were normally so exhausted at the end of the day we had no problem putting them to bed and normally had to wake them up in the morning.

To answer your question a Topper either External or Internal.

 

[Borris]

Brandrup Isotop

 

[Hotel California]

I must be unusual in that when I’m asleep I don’t know if it’s light or dark outside.
Never had a problem with the 5 children when camping or caravaning in that they were normally so exhausted at the end of the day we had no problem putting them to bed and normally had to wake them up in the morning.

To answer your question a Topper either External or Internal.

Paul , the roof fabric on the sixers lets more light thru ...i can imagine this beeing a issue with childeren going to sleep before dark in the summer

 

[bigmac77]

A Pucer roof screen will make it feel like midnight in the middle of the day. They are great at keeping our light.

 

[WelshGas]

Paul , the roof fabric on the sixers lets more light thru ...i can imagine this beeing a issue with childeren going to sleep before dark in the summer

No different to a Caravan with curtains and skylights, or a tent. If they are tired they sleep. All 5 of ours did. Never had blackout blinds/curtains etc:.

 

[Ryemslie]

If required a second hand roof topper will block out light as good as a black out blind & packs away between the rear seats in boot lid

 

[Amarillo]

We had constant daylight for 11 days and nights in northern Norway and Finland - and very long daylight hours before and after those 11 days and nights.

Ben and Jack, then 3 and 2, had no problem sleeping at 'night', even without the roof topper.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[Verity]

I'm a terrible sleeper, and used to get really stressed when on holiday if windows etc weren't blacked out. Then my husband kept coming back from flights with the free eye masks and I gave them a go. Being a stresshead, I thought they would annoy me/keep me awake, but once you get the right one and adjust it so it's not too loose and not too tight (a la Goldilocks) it's a brilliant solution. The best ones I've found so far came from Tiger Tiger - soft fabric and adjustable with thick Velcro band.

 

[Mark Garrett]

I found that the Comfortz topper certainly darkened the upstairs for our boys 7 & 5. There is a topper option without windows, but that for us defeated the point of having windows upstairs... Catch22...

We've only camped twice so far, the last was November, so not light at 5am... I'll tell you again in 4 weeks when we try in late May.

 

[iamchucky]

We have the internal topper supplied by Comfortz. Keeps it dark up top and our two kids (10 and 7) sleep in until after 8... but that might be to do with the long walks during the day!

 

[motacyclist]

Agree about the roof topper, as well as keeping it dark it keeps the temperature down as it can get unbearably hot on summer mornings (well, if we ever get any!).

 

[d1rtym0nk3y]

A Pucer roof screen will make it feel like midnight in the middle of the day. They are great at keeping our light.

We use a Pucer screen when camping with the kids. Works great and also keeps canvas dry when it rains.
I can put it up single handed without steps, but i am 6'5.

 

[PaulMilton]

The best change we made was a brandrup iso internal topper. Really reduces the light and our boys definitely slept in longer with it.

The best thing is that once it’s installed you’re not having to take it up and down all the time- it will stay in the roof.

We bought an outside topper for colder occasions- but it is a bit of pain by comparison.

 

[DamienP]

Thanks for the replies... we ended up with the Pucer screen and tried it out on the bank holiday weekend. It was perfect for our needs. Even managed to get it fitted after already rolling out the awning! I liked this option as i'm likely to fit a solar panel in the near future.

We noticed this weekend that it also helped to keep the roof bed space cooler.... literally minutes after removing it mid morning it was noticeably warmer up there.

There was perhaps reduced ventilation but I think someone has already mentioned about trying it over the top of the roof struts instead of on the inside so might try that next time just to see.