Our family is all about the sleeping bag and pad sleeping experience. It's so nice to be in a nice cozy sleeping bag when it's slightly cool outside. Though it does make it hard to get out of them in the morning! We like to say we are giant caterpillars or inch worms.
I still have my original sleeping bag from high school. It's a Pinnacle down mummy sleeping bag and it's really warm. At some point (I believe while I was still in high school), the pin fell off the bottom of the zipper, and the fabric was frayed. It was becoming more and more difficult to keep it zipped. I had used it without zipping, but some camp trips were too cold for that.
So eventually, I got a new sleeping bag, a REI Lyra ThermaWave Women's Regular. I've had it for several years now. For the most part I really like it. I only have two complaints - it's a little sticky when it's hot outside, and now that they make zippers on both sides, I wish I had one like that (it wasn't an option when I was purchasing my sleeping bag).
When P and T were one and under one, we could put them in the Pack 'N Play in our 5-person tent. In the summer of 2019, we tried that with V (who was almost 1) and she wasn't having it. She spent that weekend sleeping with either Marcus or I. Neither of us got much sleep that weekend. Thankfully, that next year V was almost two and loved sleeping in her own sleeping bag.
In 2019, we had purchased two sleeping bags for P and T. They loved them so much, that we purchased a matching one for V. They use the Kelty Kids Callisto 30 sleeping bags with REI Kindercamp sleeping pads. T has a green one and the girls had a pink & green ones, which make it easier to tell them apart. We had some nights nights in the low 30's in Rocky Mountain National Park in 2020 and the kids were fine.
These sleeping bags dry fast, which is nice when they've had an accident. We can usually rinse it off (or wash it if available), hang it to dry, and it's dry by bedtime.
P outgrew hers after two summers, she used my old one for a camp trip, but with the broken zipper, we ended up getting her a new one in 2021 right before our Out West trip. We got her the Marmot Trestles Elite Eco 20 - Women's. She absolutely loves this sleeping bag.
While we were at REI buying P's bag, they told us about an amazing local shop that could fix sleeping bag zippers for a reasonable price. We were too close to our trip to have them fix the sleeping bag before we left, so we went ahead with purchasing a new sleeping bag for P. I dropped off the sleeping bag before we left on our trip and it was ready for us when we got back. It was around $15 and well worth it! The sleeping bag is like new!
Marcus still uses his sleeping bag from high school. It's a synthetic bag and compacts down small, unlike my old down one. Marcus and I have old basic sleeping pads, though his is much thicker then mine. When P needs an adult sized one (which will most likely be this year), I plan on giving her mine, and getting a new one for myself.
We use a mix of camp pillows from when we were younger, and some new ones. I don't like the bigger ones, so I still use my old one. The kids like to have the pillows, but they hardly use them. I had purchased Marcus an inflatable pillow, but we haven't been able to find it lately. I'm not sure if we lost it, or if it's in a random spot in our camping gear. While we had it, I did lay on it, I due to weight and size, I get the appeal, but I'd almost rather do without and just use a sweatshirt.
Marcus, P and I use Sea to Summit compression dry stuff sacks for our sleeping bags while traveling. Marcus and I have been to the boundary waters, and plan to go again. So when it was time to buy new stuff sacks (our old ones ripped after decades of use), it made sense to go ahead and get the dry sacks.
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