Glastonbury with a 3 month old

[JennaC17]

Hi everyone,
I am a camping enthusiast and regular Glastonbury attendee. My son (first baby) is currently 3 weeks old and will be 3 months when we go to Glastonbury this year. Has anyone else attended a festival with such a young baby? Or even just camped for 4 nights? He is breast fed with the occasional bottle of formula at night time. We plan to take his carry cot for him to sleep in and a cold water steriliser for his bottles. We will have him in a sling during the day and make sure we don’t spend too long out and about so that he can get enough rest. I am attending with a large group of family and friends, many of us are doctors, so we have a lot of support. Please no judgemental comments about taking him, just tips and advice on what items could make the experience better for us all!

If anyone has attended Glastonbury with a baby, I’m interested in what you did on the Wednesday in terms of queuing and arrival there. We usually drive down Tuesday night to get into the queue early, I’m assuming there’s no fast track or way to get through quicker with a small baby? I’m wondering if it’s better letting the family arrive Wednesday and we come on Thursday when it’s quieter.. We’re keen to get pitched on one of the family fields.

By all means bring a sling, because it will definitely come in handy at some stage, but a pushchair just makes everything a lot easier (and doubles as a means of transporting your camping gear from the car park to the campsite). The combination of his weight and a backpack full of baby paraphernalia will be too much, and many babies only sleep in the sling if You’re standing up. A pushchair sleep shade is handy for keeping the sun off during the day and for blocking out bright lights at night time. Just don’t forget the rain cover. And if you’re taking a pushchair with pneumatic tyres (which I highly recommend as they offer a much smoother ride over bumpy ground), remember to bring a bicycle pump and puncture repair kit. Pack some battery-powered fairy lights and attach them to your buggy. This'll help stop drunken people from banging into it in the dark.

Pre sterilised bottles, while wasteful, are the easiest and most hygienic way to go, given that you probably won’t have access to hot water for washing up. The other option is to use cold water sterilising tablets. The first-aid tent is a great place for expressing milk. The staff there directed me to a quiet corner and put a curtain up to give me plenty of privacy.

Take plenty of scented nappy bags!

We’ve camped with ours from about 5 months (but not at a festival) and I agree with the pushchair - sling great for our and about but somewhere you can strap them in awake or sleep off you is great.

If he only has the occasional bottle I wouldn’t take bottles at all. Breastfeeding is so much easier in a tent!

The thing that springs to mind is some sort of ear defender set up for baby. At least you've been before so you know the lie of the land.

Oh, and we double bagged ours for sleeping with 2 sleeping bags! We got fleece babygros too, I think from Amazon because it was the summer and no one was selling fleecy ones in the shops.

Why would we judge? Sounds a lovely holiday. Friends and family etc.
Just lots of babywipes

I posted on a different forum and a lot of people’s views were that it was selfish to take a baby so young to a festival!

We plan to take our push chair with the carry cot top so he can sleep there. It is a 3 inflatable wheeled chair which we bought anticipating the potential Glastonbury mud!

Thanks for all of your tips! Fleece baby grows is a great idea. Last Glastonbury was 36 degrees so we will also need a plan for the heat!

Something to keep baby out of the sun entirely, you can’t use suncream under 6 months I think it is.

If it is forecasted to be swelteringly hot I probably wouldn’t go. It would be awful for you and baby trying to keep cool and out of the sun.

Ear plugs for the neighbours?

Didn't do a festival but did camp with a 4 month old breast fed baby - was pretty easy, she slept between us.

If you can, I'd let other people queue on the Wednesday and pitch the tent etc and you go on Thursday. The queues are a nightmare, it's either boiling hot or pissing down and you'll be stood around for hours then trying to find a camping spot.

That way you and the baby can just turn up when all the hard work has been done. Not much happens on Wednesday anyway.

I think that age is a good one to take them as they're more portable. Get some fairy lights for round the buggy for night time.

I haven't done festivals with a baby but Glastonbury is so family friendly it's perfect as long as you adjust your expectations because it'll be a very different festival for you!

Primark had fleecy babygros in today!