Baby in Cave?

[AliCatWalk]

Would you bring a "babe-in-arms" (probably about 2mo) on a 1hr guided, mile-long cave tour?

YABU - Yes
YANBU - No

I expect many clarifying questions so will try to keep up, I am curious about initial impressions 😇

Thank you!

I agree with this, caves are often echoey, and what if the tiny baby had decided it needed to feed, would everyone have to stop and wait. We would've done 2 separate tours and the other one stay outside in this situation to be honest.

I wouldn’t want to because my arms would ache but I don’t see anything wrong with it and wouldn’t judge someone from doing it.

You can breastfeed a baby in a carrier. Or if the trip is only a hour long, and you give the baby a feed immediately beforehand, they would very likely be fine until the end of the tour.

We took DD to Disneyland Paris at 5 weeks old as we had already planned to take DD1. At that age all they do is sleep in the sling, so if the tour allowed it no problem. I bet it was so stressful for the parents incase the baby kicked off though.

Carried DS in a sling. He was always happy in the sling, could feed in the sling, and was extremely safe. He could sleep in it v securely with his head held, or look out, if he was awake and engaged. We did a cave when he was about 9 months old. I wouldn't have done it if he was going to be fractious, but if I carried him he never was unless he was ill. Clearly wouldn't be doing this if it involved climbing or getting through small spaces (have done proper caving as a younger woman, and clearly wouldn't do that with a baby) but just a touristy cave? For sure, why not.

Wookey Hole/Cheddar type caves? Yeah no problem in a carrier, especially if you're able to feed in the carrier

That made me smile ! So true!

My babies never really cried in a sling, at 2 months they’re tiny and easy to carry so I could see myself doing this.

Though with my first, I may not have been quite comfortable enough to feed in the sling by 2 months, I could later on or with later babies. Maybe her baby was hungry?

In answer to op’s question, you wouldn’t catch me in a cave tour, let alone me with a baby.

I guess the mum assumed it would be decent paths etc if it were a guided tour, rather than uneven footpaths.

Safety-wise, can't see a problem. That cave tour is very safe and tourist-oriented. Small babies can be pretty portable so why not get out and do things if you want to at that stage? It's a commercial tour of a popular attraction.

Absolutely I would bring the baby. If it is anything like Cheddar, Wookey Hole, etc, there would be no particular hazards that you wouldn't encounter going for a walk above ground. It's not like you'd be taking the baby potholing ffs!!

I suspect the people on the walk who tutted were just annoyed by the noise (although echoy baby cries sounds quite fun to me)

You can breastfeed a baby in a carrier. Or if the trip is only a hour long, and you give the baby a feed immediately beforehand, they would very likely be fine until the end of the tour

The key word there is “likely”. You roughly know what each of your babies ‘should’ be like in situations, but they bless mine were the exceptions you could never be 100% sure, there’s the odd occasion where mine did unexpected things and on occasion that may have been crying in a situation where they would normally be settled. In that case it’s completely selfish to inflict that on other people in an optional situation where you can’t take them away from others. Absolutely no one is going to think a parent extremely selfish and entitled if they take a babe in arms to their hospital appointment or similar, and people will 100% happily suck it up if the baby screams the entire time, and sympathise with the parent and wish them well, but on an optional 1hr tour of an enclosed space they can’t leave such as a cave, no way, that makes someone a complete arsehole for risking it.

Bit like any other non baby centric activity really - it depends on the baby.

If you have a baby who is generally chilled and sleeps when tired - sure. Mine was not like that.

I took DS2 around Wookey Hole too! He was about six weeks old and I had him in a front carrier. IIRC (he's 31 now!) I actually fed him most of the way round to keep him quiet (although he is bellowing his little head off in most of the photographs of that day). Also had the older three aged 5, 4 and 2 with me and it was perfectly safe.

I took baby DS through a couple of the Castelton caves when he was about 7 weeks old. He was fine, he needed feeding at one point but I just carried him along latched on till he was done.

If he'd been bottle-fed it would've been trickier though!

It was and it happened.

Sounds ok - if it was so treacherous it was a danger they could always go back.

Don't be ridiculous. Lots of babies barely ever cry as long as their needs are met. At 2 months old, the few whimpers most babies make wouldn't affect most people. If you want to make points about how you feel, then please do so, but stop pretending your thoughts apply to others.

I think it’s pretty selfish to take a baby when there is likely no escape if they start crying and you ruin everyone else’s experience.

Thanks everyone for the perspectives shared here so far! I honestly have very little experience with babies that young, which is why I was so interested to hear what actual mums think. Maybe I overestimate the fragility of babies that young, I've seen some commenters (on here and many other threads) say it's very difficult and hands-on in the baby's first few weeks even without being on holiday, but then others point out the ways the first few weeks can be easy (eg transportability, time spent sleeping, etc). Mumsnet has actually helped me to be far less judgmental of these situations now that I've read so many threads & comments from the parents' point of view.

I do think @HoppingPavlova summed up better than I did why this particular scenario seems less straightforward than a grocery store/park/everyday location. Love to hear what various people think!

And yes, there's no convenient way of "going back" out of the cave as the tour guide switches the lights off as you leave each area, so the group is warned not to get separated from the rest, to use the bathroom beforehand, etc. I did wonder what happens when someone does need to go back as there is only the 1 tour guide with the group? I imagine they have some kind of radio system and emergency protocol 🤷🏻‍♀️

Babies that young are usually ‘easier’ as all they do is eat and sleep.

If their belly is full, have a dry nappy and close to mum then they’re often completely content.

It can be a challenge for mum because she’s not long given birth and her body is still recovering, as well as having to deal with hormonal changes, lactating and sleep deprivation etc.

Babies can often get more challenging as they get older because they’re awake more and get bored, start teething, want to play or crawl etc.

If my body was up to it, then I’d much rather take an 8 week old places rather than a 6month old or older.

Not to feel as I need to explain basic anatomy to you or anything but two-month out babies can spit up a lot of gunk and get the shits. Both things happening in a cave would not be fun for the parents or the other people who paid for the cave tour.
@AliCatWalk I would not be thrilled because if I pay good money for a tour, I want to be able to hear the tour guide. People who think the world should be happy to see and hear (and smell) their little angel everywhere and anywhere are the most annoying people in the universe. They need to learn to read the room.

Yes