The Lollibop children's festival wants MNers' Top Tips for taking children to festivals

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello,

Next month (August 5-7) sees this year's Lollibop festival in Regents Park, and to help us get in the appropriate spirit, Lollibop organisers have asked MNers to come up with some top tips for taking children to festivals (one-dayers or weekenders). So whether you've breastfed at Bestival, glamped at Glastonbury or dragged a recalcitrant toddler around T in the Park, we'd love to know what your hard-won advice is: food, clothing, essential things to take, travel tips, how not to lose your child, or hilarious anecdotes about your PFB accidentally ending up playing bass with Motorhead.

There are family passes to Lollibop to be won here, and you can see the festival programme here.

We're off to dig out the Factor 50 and the portable potty (despite being 39).

MNHQ x

Buy an all in one rainsuit for little ones! They can then crawl about without getting wet clothes.

if staying overnight, write down roughly where you're tent is on a piece of paper (a description of your tent and how to get there from a main landmark is enough) and tuck it into a zipped up pocket or in shoe along with your mobile number. That way if your child gets lost and you cant find them an adult will know how to find you (obviously for older kids who can inform adult of the map). What to do when lost procedures also important. For little ones we have a wrist band transmitter that alerts us if they're more than 10m away from us (very useful in a crowd).

In the unlikely event that the sun shines, do not get so hung up about applying sun screen on your DCs that you forget to apply any to yourself.
(in fact my moisturiser comes with SPF30, and I have long hair so I'm OK, but DH ends up with a horribly sunburnt neck at every outdoor occasion because we always forget that adults need sunscreen too).

we went to Glastonbury with 4 children a couple of year ago.

Many of the tips covered - write phone number on their arm in permanent marker, take a wheelbarrow.

also we found that the toilets in the family field were much better than other ones.
accept that they will be dirty for a couple of days.
don't worry about germs or diet
don't try to do too much, or drag them around
let them dress up as fairies and they'll get lots of attention

Biggest tip though is to accept that this will be a totally different experience to the one you may have had without children. We didn't expect to see any/some bands, we didn't expect to get completely trashed, and we knew that our children would be up early. we spent more time in the family and circus type fields than the bands and changed our expectations and we were fine! In fact we had a good time.

The only thing that stops us going to festivals is the cost these days! (and the weather too actually).

If you are over 40, do not- repeat not- give any over 9s slalom runs in your wheelbarrow, especially on the first day. You will be in agony for the rest of the weekend

take high topped sturdy boots eg DMs- take them off and they make an ideal stand for pints of lager in flimsy cups on bumpy ground. Otherwise your booze will get kicked over by a marauding 3 yo and you will watch, helpless, as the liquid soaks into the parched earth

do not set up a nature/art/activity table for your little darlings, and LOUD PARENT them at 6 am eg "oh, Maya, what a lovely flag you've made! shall mummy fix it to this pole? hmm? hmm?"- all the shit parents who stayed up till 4 the previous evening everyone will hate your guts for the duration

do not let 8-13 yos with a frisbee out of your sight for a minute. They will be aiming it at unsuspecting punters' lunches

[all from bitter experience emoticon]

Camp away from the toilets and away from fences (men are gross)!!!!

Agree with Beattiebow. If you're taking kids then you have to treat it as a family camping trip only dirtier, busier and more hectic. I'll not be doing another festival until the children are much older. Far too much hard work.

don't take them.

it's hard enough looking after yourself at a festival, let alone anyone else.

,

For all those saying put your mobile number somewhere on the child's person: that's great but CHECK FIRST that the venue has reception for your mobile provider.

I went to a one-day children's festival with my family where neither my nor DH's phone had any reception and we got separated (he had ds1 and everything with him, my purse, the food and drink, the buggy - and I just had ds2). The festival organisers had a rubbish 'lost people' policy - more than one 'lost people stand' fgs, how was I to know which one to wait at?? - and they couldn't do tannoy announcements either.

So check about mobile reception and then work out your backup plan!

Hello, again. Thanks for all of these. I think the advice about not camping next to the toilets is the takeaway for all of us

Just wanted to clear up what happens with entering the competition: if you want to enter by adding a listing to your local site/adding a recipe, please do that by clicking through on the link given on the competitions page. That way you're automatically entered. If you go straight to your local listings/recipe page without clicking through from competitions, you won't be entered. I think.

Having taken DD2 to a festival aged 12 weeks my suggestion would be to take a sling, ear defenders, snowsuit and a rough terrain buggy. When out and about at night, attach some of these frog led lights to the front wheel of the buggy/pram and set them to flash; it clears people out of the way and means fewer people trip over the buggy. You may end up with a few looks headed your way but it's preferable to the ones!

Make sure your phone is fully charged, snacks, drinks and wipes are essential...many children are dressed in bright clothes so I always take a daysack (rucksack with safety rein), we have a Little Life Toddler Daysack which is brilliant as it has comfy shoulder straps and buckles at the front so not easy for kids to take off..I usually stick some treats in so DS feels like he is carrying something rather than being on a leash...and the rein goes around my wrist - always works in crowds, as DS is 4.5 now and not using the pushchair anymore. Also, agree on a meeting point in case you do get lost and are unable to use your phone. Have fun :-)

if your toddler is like mine,that just came out of the nappies and just make s wee on the potty,buy a portable one it folds away and even you van use it on the top of the toilet seat,is great for camping,festivals,travel etc.take plastic bags to put your rubbish and as well something to cover the floor or the grass is a essential special if your little ones want to have a nap...

We got a hi-vis jacket from halfords, write our phone numbers on in permanent marker, child loves looking like bob builder,is easy to spot and we can be contacted if he is proper lost (take solar charger for mobile as plan fails if no battery power).
Also we bought some plain wristbands and write our phone no on those too, as a back up.

Oh yes, we also write on the hi vis jacket the name of campsite we are in as an indicator to where to take him if he is proper lost or we have no reception.

Agree with the "don't take them" suggestion. Mine were bored silly at Hop Farm; they waited excitedly all day to see Prince and then lay down and covered their ears as soon as he came on.

Chloroform. That's the answer.

My single biggest piece of advice is, apart from the kids, don't take anything you'd be upset to lose.
We are into the environment in our house and so we use cotton bags for shopping, going swimming etc. instead of plastic bags.
We go to two festivals each year which are smaller than some others, and we only go for a day, (we don't stay overnight). Nonetheless, there are sizeable crowds and there can be mud - so we put a few nappies, wipes, a couple of comics, drinks, snacks and two disposable changing sheets (one for sitting on, one for changing DD number 3 on) in an old cotton bag. Depending on how much it has rained, that bag usually ends up in the bin at the end of the day.
So, wear old clothes, travel light and don't take valuables. That way, when you're trying to keep the brood all together, you won't be worried about losing anything else!

I don't get why anyone actually goes to ANY kind of festival, never MIND why they'd take children!

On the Lollibop website when buying tickets you can purchase tickets for 50% discount with a mumsnet password. Does anyone know this?!