How to Sleep in a Tent

When I was growing up, my family camped frequently. We had a 1960s pop-up tent camper that my grandparents had handed down to us. It had the classic green canvas tent fabric and pull-out beds with orange vinyl mattress tops. As a kid, there was nothing like the cozy feeling of lying on those pull-out beds during a rainstorm, smelling the damp canvas and watching rain drops slide down the outside of the fabric. There was a screened-in room that zipped onto the front of the camper, and sometimes we would sleep on a cot in there. As our family grew, my parents added a tent to our encampment, and we would sleep in sleeping bags on the ground. 

Imagine my surprise when we took our kids camping for the first time, and I slept hardly a wink that night, even with the air mattress that my thoughtful husband had packed for me.

That night the temps dipped down into the 40s, and none of us were prepared for how much colder it gets in the middle of the night when you are in a tent in the woods. We spent that night huddling next to each other in our sleeping bags. All except for my husband, who was more experienced than the rest of us, and Luke, who was only a little over 1 year old, and was bundled in a snow suit. Luke has always possessed the amazing super power of being able to fall asleep immediately anywhere. One minute he was giggling and rolling around on the blankets we had laid out for him, and the next minute he had flipped the sleep switch and was sound asleep for the next 10 hours. 

The next time we attempted car camping was not much better. A van pulled in to the campsite next to us late in the evening, and the occupants partied loudly all night. Our kids slept, but my husband and I didn’t. We packed up quickly that morning and ate our breakfast at a nearby park. 

Even when the temperature was optimal and we had no noisy neighbors, the feeling of sleeping in a tent was unnerving. That thin fabric enclosure was nothing like the solid walls and roof in my cozy, quiet bedroom at home. Even in the relatively tame wilderness of Ohio, there were loud whippoorwills call through the night and bright full moons that lit up the inside of the tent.

I couldn’t sleep in a tent. My nostalgic camping dreams for my family were not coming true. It is hard to be a fun, outdoorsy mom when you haven’t slept. 

So I did a little internet research on how to sleep in a tent and discovered I was not alone in my tent-sleeping woes. Here are some of the tips that have helped me.

1. Choose a good site for your tent. Spend some time finding a site that is relatively flat and free of rocks and roots that will poke you. Look up to make sure there are no dead branches in the trees above your tent. These are called “widowmakers” and have actually been known to impale sleepers in the middle of the night.
2. Invest in your sleep system. Your sleep system consists of some variation of a sleeping pad and quilt or sleeping bag and a pillow. A sleeping pad not only cushions you but also insulates from the cold ground. An air pad is a little more expensive, but a lot comfier than a foam pad. Your sleep system will vary depending on the weather, on whether or not you have to carry your stuff, and on your sleep preferences. If you are car camping, don’t hesitate to throw in your favorite pillow. When I’m camping, my goal is to re-create my comfy bed at home as much as possible, so I like to use an air pad (I have a thermarest uberlite), an extra-wide down mummy-style sleeping bag (if it’s cold enough) so that I can sleep on my side (narrow mummy bags make me feel claustrophobic), and a small down backpacking pillowcase that I can stuff with clothes to make a fluffy pillow. When it comes to sleep, there is no need to rough it. 
3. Get tired out first. Make sure you get in a nice hike or other exercise during the day. 
4. Preserve your normal bedtime routine. I like to brush my teeth and wash my face with a wipe. I normally wear a bite guard at home, so I bring that with me. If you normally use ear plugs and a sleep mask, bring them. I can’t sleep with headphones or ear plugs on because I’m a little bit neurotic and feel like I need to hear my kids if they wake up at night, but many backpackers bring ear plugs because they weigh nothing.
5. Make sure your stuff is well-organized before bed. It helps to have all the little stuff you might need during the night next to your sleeping spot. You may need a water bottle, head lamp, or extra layer. Keep your shoes near the door. Make sure that you have secured your food bag. In Ohio, we keep our food bag in our tent with us, but in bear country, you will need to hang your food. 
6. Balance hydration and peeing. Stay hydrated, but don’t drink too much water or sports drinks before bed. In my normal life, I drink two cups of coffee in the morning and two cups in the afternoon, but when I am camping, I forgo my afternoon coffee. Make sure you go to the bathroom before bed. 
7. Bring sleeping clothes. You may want to bring pajamas or a clean and dry base layer. My kids always bring a little stuffed animal to sleep with.
8. Be still and quiet your mind. My girls usually share a tent and they spend some time chatting to relax. Natalie brings a tiny journal to jot down her thoughts before bed so that she doesn’t stay awake thinking. Sometimes stretching or a bedtime snack can help.
9. Consider ambient noise. I think it is lovely to sleep near a stream or river to have natural white noise. If you need white noise to sleep, there are white noise apps that you can play on your phone. 
10. If your dog is sharing your tent, have your dog enter the tent last and have a foam pad for them to sleep on if it is cold. Make sure your puppy goes potty before he comes in!

These tips have helped me get better sleep in a tent. I’ve learned that learning to sleep in the backcountry is part of the art of camping. Every new experience we have had camping as a family has given us an opportunity to dial in our system a little bit more and has given us a little more confidence for our next trip. 

Do you have a favorite tip for sleeping in a tent? Please share it in the comments!