Never done this before

Hi there and belated welcome from me. 

At this time of year I tend to leave my van heating on a low setting permanently so it doesn't get really chilly.  Once you are cold, it's harder to get warm again.   I also carry a low wattage oil-filled heater for emergencies.

I also find duvets easier than blankets but that's personal preference.

In time, if you stick with it, you might consider an awning to give you extra living space.

Maintain a sense of humour and I wish you the best of luck with it.

Thank you Jillwithajay.

We had duvets with us and lots of blankets.  I was wondering about buying a little heater and wondered what would be best.

We probably won't be going in January again - it was the best time to buy the van to get the best deal.  To get the deal we had to get it in January.  The van had never been heated so was really cold.

If we like it then an awning is something I definitely want to buy.  Fingers crossed all goes well this weekend.

Small  oil-filled  heater  might  be  the  best  for  continuous  use,  Newone,   but  fan  heaters  can  warm  the  'van  more  swiftly  despite,  generally,  being  noisier.  As  Jill  says,  an  awning  can  give  you  that  bit  of  room  to  spread  out  in  BUT  I'd  start  a  few  conversations  on  site  with  Awning  Owners  and  check  out  what  you  can.

It's  dead  easy  for  us  to  give  advice  on  here  about  such  things  as  awnings,  almost  as  easy  as  pushing  our  personal  preferences  over  your  needs,  I'm  afraid.  .

When  you  are  "Fully  Kitted  Up"  to  your  satisfaction  you  might,  just  might,  discover  Winter  'Vanning  can  be  great  when  its  not  hissing  down  or  knee high  in  mucky-slush. But  please  keep  on  telling  us  how  you're  doing  and  whether  our  advice  was  any  good 

Thank you ABM.   We probably won't be using the van in such cold weather in future.  Although we are going tomorrow for the weekend and it's now forecast rain and bad winds :-(      We booked this a few weeks ago when the weather forecast looked okay.   Hopefully the gale force winds won't get to us till we get home. 

I'll look out for a little fan heater or oil filled radiator for the future.  

It’s a bit of a learning curve, but you will get there. It does help if you try not to take too much with you, and put things away as you go, that way you get as much space as possible. Winter touring is always a bit different, you tend to have to spend more time in van, but come Summer and you will be loving it. 

A fan heater is great for almost  instant heat, Dunelm do little compact oil filled radiators for around £20. If you are used to being in a centrally heated home in Winter, still in fairly light clothing, it does pay to have something a bit thicker and warmer to put on in the van in Winter, and perhaps check out duvet weights. I’m sure after a couple of warmer times out, you will be loving lt.😁

We used to take a small convector heater with a thermostat, lightweight and very useful in our previous van with only one heat outlet.

Yes to small oil filled heater. Our little van has no other heating, nothing built in, and it's surprising how well the 700W heater gets it really nice and cosy.

That and thick walking socks to put on when coming in, for me, a real essential.

But I've only just seen this thread, and by now you're probably out there trying it all out, so maybe I'm a bit late to the party! Hope it's going  really well :-)

For heating up a very cold van, we use an electric fan heater on 2kw and turn the van's own heating to gas, which is usually more powerful than the electric side of things.

The fan heater will give you instant warmth while the van heating on gas works on warming the whole fabric of the van.

It is also good to have a fan heater as emergency back up, as things in the van can go wrong occasionally.

When you arrive, make something hot to eat or drink once you are set up, it does help at this time of year.

The floor will be the coldest place, we sometimes put a rug on the floor for extra insulation, it is good to have warm feet.

If it is very cold, we have fleece blankets to put over the duvets,  and electric blankets or heating pads are also useful.

You don’t say what type of Caravan you have.  It shouldn’t really beyond the wit of man to get a caravan warm.  But some makers to persist in having long runs of ducting uninsulated under the van with inevitable results. 

Do persevere, it’s well worth it.  We took delivery of a new van in January and as snow was forecast we took it straight to storage.  Three days later we were out in it, on the coldest day of the winter.  On gas the van warmed up in an hour so wife could take coat off.  (We have Alde heating so it takes a while. ) It then took me 2 days to get a sense of how the thermostat works. If I set it at 23 the caravan is 21!  Have it set at 18 over night. Even if you have an older caravan with the truma 3000 heater, the brown box, you should never be cold. Try running on gas to get it warm and then electric to keep it comfortable.  On another issue have you thought about joining your local centre?  Your little one would probably have immediate friends, and you would get any help you need.