5 best tents for camping with toddlers in 2023
Our round up of the best tents for camping with toddlers
The best tents for camping with toddlers largely depends on one main question:
Do you want to share a sleeping area with your toddler or have them in their own private room?
Another important question is how many toddlers you have and how much space you need.
You need to remember that you need space for potentially changing your toddler, or somewhere to store a potty.
Nobody wants to run a desperate toddler halfway across a campsite in the middle of the night.
While we’ve picked options to suit all scenarios, it’s important you know which set up you’d prefer before reading on!
In a hurry? Here’s our top 3 picks for best tents for camping with toddlers.
Best all-round tent for camping with toddlers
- available in 4, 6 and 8 person sizes
- center height: 6.6 feet
- can handle extreme weather conditions
Best budget tent for camping with toddlers
- suitable for up to 9 people
- 60-second setup
- center height: 6.5 feet
- features a room divider
Best tent for toddlers with separate bedrooms
- suitable for up to 5-people
- center height: 6 feet
- 2 blackout bedrooms
Best tents for camping with toddlers
1. Core Instant Cabin Tent
High-quality, family tent at a budget price
The Core 9-person camping tent offers tonnes of space for you and your family.
Depending on the size of your family, a 9-person tent may (or may not!) sound excessive.
However, if you plan to go camping often, it is actually a super perfect size. Being able to stand up and have plenty of room to walk around means you can truly enjoy your time spent on camp.
Many tents designed for family camping are often of inferior quality compared to many other tents on the market aimed at say, backpackers.
However, Core does produce some of the best quality family tents at a budget price.
While we wouldn’t recommend it if you plan to camp in extreme weather conditions or you expect continuous heavy rain, it is more than capable of handling spot showers and strong winds.
The tent features a super high center height of 6.5 feet, meaning most people can comfortably stand up at all times, plenty of storage pockets in the walls, a ceiling hook to hang a lantern or lights, and a room divider to create separate sleeping areas.
2. Coleman Rocky Mountain Tent
Features 2 completely separate bedrooms suitable for a couple and 2 toddlers
The Coleman Rocky Mountain tent offers two separate blackout bedrooms, making it perfect for a couple with one or two toddlers looking for separate bedrooms.
While the bedrooms are fairly small, they do offer ample room for one couple and up to two toddlers to sleep comfortably.
The blackout bedrooms will also help you and your kids sleep soundly without waking at the crack of dawn.
This is a huge plus if you have toddlers who don’t sleep very well. The rooms stay fairly dark in full daylight, meaning you won’t have grumpy babies on your hands in the morning.
The main tent area is extremely spacious. There’s tonnes of space to store your gear, to lounge, or to get your toddler(s) ready for the day without feeling cramped.
This design actually makes the experience much more enjoyable and makes your tent feel much more like home. Tents that only have one area for sleeping and chilling/storing your gear can often feel messy and cramped.
The tent has a height of 6 feet, meaning most people can stand upright while inside the entire tent, features tonnes of wall storage pockets and large mesh windows for ventilation.
One of the only downsides of the tent is that it isn’t an instant set up, but can still be put up by one person within half an hour, and even less after the first go.
3. Core Instant Lighted Tent
Soothe your toddler to sleep with this cozy tent featuring an LED lighting system
The Core Lighted Instant tent is a great option for parents with toddlers.
It features built in LED-lights with a dimmer switch that features 3 light modes including high, low and nightlight. The LED’s are positioned in a way that disperses the light throughout the entire tent.
This is a nice idea if you have toddlers that like to sleep with a light on. It’s also perfect for tending to your toddler in the night if they are crying or wake up as you have a handy wall switch that can control all of the settings.
The image above shows the lights on high mode. The LED lighting system requires 4 x D cell batteries that are not supplied with the tent but can be bought on Amazon here.
It’s available in a 6, 9, 10 or 12-person capacity so no matter how small or large your family is, there’s a size to suit you.
As we mentioned earlier, some sizes may sound unnecessarily large but the 6-person tent would actually be ideal for a couple and one or two toddlers if you also like some space to move and store your gear.
The tent features a peak height of 6 feet making it ideal to stand up in, plenty of accessible storage, and if you go for the 9-person+ versions, a room divider or two.
4. Gazelle T8 Tent
An extremely spacious, well-designed tent for camping with toddlers
The Gazelle T8 tent is designed with family life in mind.
It features a detachable floor that can be easily removed and re-attached to make keeping the interior of your tent clean and debris free.
Something that is usually quite the task when you have small children.
It features a zippered room divider that allows you to use the T8 as a one bedroom one main room tent or two bedroom tent.
If you choose to use the tent as a one bedroom, this leaves you tonnes of space in the main room for lounging, cooking and storing your gear.
While the Gazelle T8 is water-resistant, it isn’t waterproof, so this isn’t the right choice if you intend to go camping in harsh weather.
However, if you plan to use it as a summer camping tent with the odd rain shower or winds, it will be absolutely fine.
This tent is exceptionally spacious and will provide you one of the nicest home away from home experiences you will find when camping.
It goes up in less than a minute, comes down and back in its carry bag in less than 5 and weighs practically nothing for its size.
It features a peak height of 6.5 feet, overhead gear lofts and tonnes of wall pockets for storing belongings or attaching lights, and two D-shaped doors on either side of the tent for easy access to both rooms.
5. Nemo Wagontop
A luxury option for camping with toddlers
The Nemo Wagontop is one of the most premium tents to feature on our list of best tents for toddlers.
If you’re looking for a tent that will last you a lifetime and see you through all weather conditions, this is it.
If you’re into camping, you’ll already know that Nemo offers top-notch equipment. And the Wagontop is no exception.
Designed to handle extreme weather conditions and large enough to store a car inside if you really wanted to, there’s nothing this tent lacks.
Even the provided tent stakes are incredible (something you NEVER hear of).
While the interior of the tent is roomy enough for a small family, the vestibule provides tonnes of storage for gear you don’t want to store inside, or for cooking underneath during bad weather.
Another thing we like about the Nemo Wagontop is its ecosystem of products designed to be used with it.
So far they have introduced a garage (that you can literally park your car inside to keep it private), a luxorious victory blanket (basically an attachable carpet for the entirety of your tent floor) and a large sunshade.
Recommended accessories
D-cell batteries
A camping must have, particularly if you purchase the Core lighted tent.
