Wow, thanks so much for the great tips Mike! My favorite is the one about taking other kids with you. I think that would have helped us tremendously on this last trip.

* Plan for dirty kids. It sounds obvious, but it took a little bit of mental gymnastics for my wife to get prepared for the idea that we would be intentionally letting the kiddo get dirty then have to clean her “in the field” Having a set of clothing (especially socks!) that stay clean for bedtime only is important.

* If at all possible, meals should be comfort food/kid favorite items. I know for adults part of the allure of camping is getting to cook in a different way, but there are enough “new” things already so having a reliable go-to meal or three can really help return some normalcy.

* As a variant of the above, be prepared to improvise some comfort foods. I pack a few extra ingredients so I can always whip up a quesadila, a bean/cheese burrito, a grilled cheese, or a few other favorites should “emergency comfort food” be needed.

* If at all possible, arrange your first trip or two so that there will be other kids (preferably slightly older/more experienced campers) there. One of the happy accidents for us was on one of our earliest trips to the desert – we met another family at the trailhead while airing down. They had a son around a year older than my daughter and she spent most of that weekend following him around, playing, and generally trying to emulate his behavior. We still camp with that family on occasion and our best trips are always the ones where someone else is kind enough to bring a couple of kids along.

* Keep your first few trips short – weekend-length is about all the “new” and adventure a toddler can reliably handle.

* Have a “bailout” strategy – We’ve been lucky (and sufficiently prepared) that we never had to quit a trip part-way through, but I know other families with young campers who HAVE, and it’s usually been a blessing for them to be within an hour or two’s drive of home when things went really sideways. Weather, illness, or a terminal attack of Crankenstein’s Baby are all possible.

* Expect and plan for the Inevitable Fit – Every family has their own strategy for parenting and how to deal with “the fit”. My only advice here is to expect that there will be more than one, and to try to plan your response so that it doesn’t ruin the trip.

* Another Plug for Glow-necklaces and the like – I always kept the old-school large-form glowsticks in the emergency kit in our camper. On our first camping trip with the kiddo I busted one out for her and tied it onto a necklace for her. We immediately realized how much easier it made keeping track of her. It also doubled as a night-light for her first night in the camper. We buy entire rave-worthy packages of the things now and they’re a regular part of every trip. She gets a minimum of a glow-necklace and bracelet every night. As she gets older it really helps us to worry less as she wants to have a bit more autonomy to move around camp when it’s getting dark. (Also especially important if there are other people or vehicles around – it’s never happened but I worry the most about her getting into the “road” at an established campground where there always seem to be cars at all hours)