CAMPING is all about being at one with nature and the great outdoors – but how much peace and quiet should you be able to expect at a campsite?
A debate has been sparked after a woman claimed her trip was ruined by the late night crying in a neighbouring family’s tent.
While on a camping trip, the woman said that a child also staying on the campsite was a habitual screamer, crying regularly throughout each night of the holiday.
She took to parenting site Mumsnet to ask if she was being unreasonable for expecting the kid’s parents to do more about the noise, describing the child as the “spawn of satan”.
She wrote: “Am I being unreasonable to think the parents are selfish k***heads?
“Fourth night in a row, toddler screams from 10.30 till 11.30 ish every night and then periodically every couple of hours.
“Not sad baby crying but toddler tantrum screaming and shouting. I am beginning to think it is the spawn of satan.
“Why would you go camping if your child doesn’t sleep, and why wouldn’t you go home out of consideration for others after a couple of nights?
“They are quiet now but I’m awake since the last screams at 3.30. Should I go and shake their tent?”
The post divided opinion between others on the site.
Some said that she was being unreasonable not to expect to hear other people while sleeping in a tent.
They wrote: “When your walls are made of plastic it’s unreasonable to expect to not hear conversations, drunks, laughing, sex, and babies crying.
“Next time take some ear plugs!”
Another explained that children react to different beds in different ways and that the parents might not have been expecting the tantrums.
They said: “I’m on holiday currently – not camping though! And my toddler has been very unsettled – it wasn’t expected at all though – they sleep fine at home! .
“So it’s a bit unfair of you – no one really knows how young children are going to be when taking them away for the first time.”
However, others were on her side, saying the parents should have done more to calm the screaming child in such a public place.
One said: “I always think this when I see the threads about people taking babies camping. I’d have to go and say something.
“If it was my child I’d put them in the car and get off the site. No way would I subject others to that night after night.”
Another said there was “no excuse for people to behave in an unsociable manner, allowing a toddler to scream for hours every night on a campsite.”
Others simply questioned their choice of holiday in the first place.
One user said: “Why would anyone go camping in the first place is the question that puzzles me.”
These activities are either cheap or free and can help keep kids occupied this summer.
Here’s how to deal with children when stuck in summer holiday traffic.
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