Sleeping 3 kids in a Beach

[Mrpraline]

We've only been able to take our van out twice since the lockdown. We tried a different sleeping arrangement each time and both worked better than I had feared.

First time we put the (nearly) 2-year-old twins in the pop-top in readybeds (airbeds with built-in sleeping bags) and the 3-year-old under the downstairs bed. By sliding it as far forward as it would go there was plenty of space under it for his readybed and a big enough gap behind the multiflex for him to climb out. He did hit his head a couple of times though and even with the net I spent most of the night worrying that the twins were going to fall out the roof!

Second time we put one twin on the multiflex board, and the other in a travel cot which nicely held the 3-year-olds readybed in place on the bench seat. Worked a treat. Fortunately they're fairly heavy sleepers; with the front seats swivelled round there was still plenty of room for me and the wife to hang out in the front of the van until it was time to go to sleep upstairs. Not a great pic attached but gives you an idea.

Any other suggestions welcome. We're considering a driveway campout in the near future!

 

[tuono001]

Our youngest slept with us downstairs last couple of years, by the time we get away again he'll be 3! Had wondered what we would do next time, as he's quite some size, so thought we might try all 3 downstairs and us upstairs. It's going to be trial and error to start with, though if the weather is good the older ones can sleep in the awning.
Will be rid of 1 car seat soon so less bulk to cart around.

 

[Mrpraline]

Ah cute picture. Carseats and buggies are the bain of my life! Got a Quechua 2 second pop-up tent which is brilliant; we just fling it up and whack everything in. Don't even bother putting the pegs in.

 

[tuono001]

We have that too. Now we have the awning sides which work great.

 

[zinglefiffy]

We stick them all in the roof.
We have a 3, 5 and 10 year old.
When its bedtime for the 3&5 yr old, they go head to the rear, in the far end of the pop-top, one corner each in their sleeping bags with me in the middle doing the reading/singing routine. Once they're asleep, I exit and the 10 yr old beds down in her sleeping bag laid down the middle but the other way with her head towards the cab so she can read using the reading light in the 12v socket.
We then have the freedom of the lower decks while they're sound asleep upstairs

 

[tuono001]

Unfortunately my two youngest ones have more wriggles than a tub of maggots

 

[Amarillo]

On odd occasions we have slept overnight without unpacking, an adult and two children in the roof and the second adult on the unmade Bench seat. Being the adult in the roof is preferable to being the other adult on the bench seat.

Three young children in the roof should be fine.

Alternatively, can you rig up a permanent bed behind the bench?


There's plenty of space here for two children on a 1.50 x 1.0m bed. Push the bench further forward and I'm sure you could squish in a 1.50 x 1.40m bed. Buy two 140 x 70cm cotbed mattresses (£60 each from John Lewis) and you're sorted.

 

[Karlos]

On odd occasions we have slept overnight without unpacking, an adult and two children in the roof and the second adult on the unmade Bench seat. Being the adult in the roof is preferable to being the other adult on the bench seat.

Three young children in the roof should be fine.

Alternatively, can you rig up a permanent bed behind the bench?
View attachment 56552

There's plenty of space here for two children on a 1.50 x 1.0m bed. Push the bench further forward and I'm sure you could squish in a 1.50 x 1.40m bed. Buy two 140 x 70cm cotbed mattresses (£60 each from John Lewis) and you're sorted.

I don't think your kids like camping Tom

 

[3KidsBeach]

Hi we have three kids 10 months 5 and 8 and almost going to buy a Beach 6.1, are we doing the right thing? Is there enough room for 5 and all the things that go with kids, buggies, bottles, car seats etc? I love them but want to make sure it’s not too small for us it’s going to be my main car, selling my car.

 

[2haw]

Hi we have three kids 10 months 5 and 8 and almost going to buy a Beach 6.1, are we doing the right thing? Is there enough room for 5 and all the things that go with kids, buggies, bottles, car seats etc? I love them but want to make sure it’s not too small for us it’s going to be my main car, selling my car.

What else can you buy thats bigger?

 

[3KidsBeach]

What else can you buy thats bigger?

Nothing, that I know of?(Our only alternative is keeping my car and buying a separate motor home a like a Sunlight or something)I’m just trying to get feedback from people who have spent time as 5 and hear that they are happy with their choice? We haven’t been able to rent one or test drive one so just basing our decision on reviews.

 

[2haw]

I’ve had a Beach for 5 years.
My kids are now 14(b) 9(g) & 6(g) and my kids have loved it.
It is a:
Family Bus
Camper (5 hols to France) All 5 of us have slept with full camping load and 3 kids bikes inside in boot in Central Paris last year!
Mobile Office (had several meetings in it.
Football Changing Room
Mobile Shed
Play House
And many more.

My girls begged me not to sell it a couple of months back. Earlier this year, we gave them the option of Disney or a Holiday in the Van. They chose the van.

Its not all Rosy though. Be prepared to move a lot of things around whilst camping, but you do find a routine though.

+ if you buy any other 50k car, be prepared to lose 15k as soon as you drive away. That just won’t happen with a Beach if you get a good discount.

 

[3KidsBeach]

Thank you, just what I needed to hear that it’s do—able I love that you kids picked a holiday in the van over a trip to Disney. It’s such a big investment want to make sure we’ll manage with the smallies.
Out of interest - do your kids sleep upstairs?

 

[2haw]

Thank you, just what I needed to hear that it’s do—able I love that you kids picked a holiday in the van over a trip to Disney. It’s such a big investment want to make sure we’ll manage with the smallies.
Out of interest - do your kids sleep upstairs?

It varies. Whilst overnighting on the way through France, we sleep 3 up (Mum, boy and youngest girl) and once we are on site, normally 2 up and 3 down. My missus doesn’t like it downstairs as she for some reason feels claustrophobic so its often her and our eldest daughter up with me and other 2 down! Fortunately we don’t want any more kids so that suits us!

 

[jamessclarke]

We have had a seven seat Beach for 6 years. Kids were 5, 7, 10 and 12 at start. We slept 3 upstairs and 1 downstairs with Mum and Dad. They loved it. As they got older we used a small tent , 2, 2 and 2. Used Beach as our family wagon every day also. It’s the best family car ever. As other posters have said, also great as a heated sports changing room, spare room, office, removal van, taxi. Planning to keep it for the foreseeable.

 

[ThomasHJ]

Ok, so we own a SE (and a T4 previously), so not a beach, but we have quite a lot of experience with different sleeping arrangements in the van now.

If the parents sleep in the upper bed, there's the entire lower bed for the kids. Ours are 6 and 4 and they sleep next to each other, sideways on the downstairs bed. I bet we could fit 4 kids there (sideways) no problem. And that's a 2 seather bench next to the kitchen, not a 3 seater bench/wide bed like I believe the beach has?

Also there's the option of a DIY child bed over your feet, when the parents sleep downstairs and the otehr 2 kids sleep upstairs, like we did in our T4.

 

[danvan]

We have three kids (10,8 and 6) and all three sleep in the downstairs bed in our SE, with us upstairs. It’s starting to get a bit tight. If they grow much bigger then we may have to consider ditching the kitchen and going for a beach (at least that would save lifting out the 5th seat every time we camp).

 

[Borris]

What a delightful crew. They remind me of when our kids were that age. Ours were all close together as well.

We have four children b,g,g and b. They are all grown up now but I dread to think how they would have behaved in a Beach, if such a thing had existed when they were young. As teenagers the boys spent most of their time trying to wind up the girls who always rose to the challenge, much to the boys' delight. As younger kids the boys liked to rip the heads off their sisters dolls just to get a reaction. I returned home from work once to find a severed dolls head bobbing gently in the downstairs loo like some form of gangland message!

We now have eight grandchildren of which some have slept in the van with us on occasions. The three that we look after regularly ( b 10, g 9 and g 6 ) helped choose the spec so have a sense of shared ownership which is what we had intended. All our grandkids love the van. The girls usually go upstairs whilst our grandson has in the past slept downstairs with us. However he's getting a bit big for that now so it looks like the awning or external tent for him in future. Fortunately, they aren't usually as bad as their parents were at arguing. The boy tends to keep his distance from the girls who are a formidable duo. He does have a fairly short fuse though so the fur and feathers do fly on occasions.

So on the whole they love sleeping in the van once the initial bed time shenanigans has passed.