If you have been to one please talk to me about babies and festivals...

[DuelingFanjo]

...in particular Glastonbury festival.

if you have been to Glastonbury with a baby please can you be honest about what it was like? Particularly a baby of around 6 months. Was it worse or better than you expected?

I have a week to decide if I should go and DH has told me he won't come. Likelyhood is that I will be going with my sister and her bloke. DH is put off because last year it was so hot and he had to drag everything onto the site as I was pregnant.
I have been many many times and so know what the best and worst case scenario weatherwise and I know all the places to camp. The baby is breastfed but will be at the point where I will want to start BLW. I won't be raving but just chilling; I prefer the greenfields side of the site and I have a sling but will take a pushchair too. If it is very muddy or very hot I will go home but then that will mean I have wasted money.

There is no festival next year so I really do want to go but realise that carrying/pushing a baby around for hours over 5 days could be madness and not fair on the baby. If I don't go we could get a new bath and toilet!

TIA

hopeful bump.

Bump...am lurking with interest (ds, 13m)

I did it years ago with dd1, she was 11 months. I had her in a sling, but it was quite difficult getting her through crowds without people bashing her head. We mostly stayed in the greenfields area, and avoided crowds. She was crawling and learning to walk and really enjoyed it.
I'm not sure that a 6 month old would get much from it, but it probably depends on the baby!

If you really want to go, go! People do manage it and if you are a sling-wearing type mum whose baby will sleep anywhere and can be reasonably relied upon not to cover every spare item of clothing with vomit/poo etc. etc., then it's perfectly possible.

But I think it can be tough on a baby of that age, especially if they've settled into a comfortable routine etc. Many babies find it deeply unsettling to lose the daily landmarks and familiarities that they partially use to feel secure. You will know your baby best, however, so will be able to judge whether the LO can handle it or not. It's a bit early to tell at this stage if your baby will be of an easygoing, anything goes type or not.

I've taken DD to a couple of festivals (not Glasto, but I know it well) and I would advise this:
-pick a festival that is reasonably family-friendly and where you won't have nightmares trying to find a half-decent loo to use etc. and won't have too far to walk everywhere (so Glasto possibly not the best option...)
-if you're not breastfeeding, consider the problems relating to making up bottles etc.
-it's handy to be able to stay off-site if you can, but think about the amount of stuff you will have to lug if you're camping for you and a baby and how feasible it is. A campervan might be a better idea.
-make sure you have some baby ear defenders as infant hearing is very delicate. Our DD slept brilliantly in hers!!
-slings are much easier to get around a rural festival site with a baby than a pram or buggy, unless you own a serious off-roader. We just made "nests" on a blanket for her when she wanted to sleep - or stood and rocked with her in the sling.

FWIW, DD loved the WOMAD festival and she napped brilliantly etc. while we were there, so enjoyed it with very fuss. BUT we didn't stay on site, arrived at lunchtime each day and left by 21.00 each evening. We did feel we had a good festival though, despite missing the late night stuff.

We hadn't quite started weaning her at the time, so didn't have to worry about food. But if you're BLW, then yes, you need to think about it as much of the food available at the Glasto catering stalls will have far too much salt/sugar etc. in them to be suitable.

Camping festivals are probably the place to think about using disposable nappies (if you're usually a washables type - we are) and handy babyfood pouches. I doubt it would muck up BLW too much if it was only for a few days.

HTH and good luck with whatever you decide!

thank you :)

DS will be exactly 6 months so I am prepared to delay weaning until I get back, he's breastfed.

I am worried, I suppose, that I am just being selfish and putting my desire to go ahead of his needs. This is compounded by the fact that dh doesn't want to go and so I will be relying on my sister for things like holding the baby while I go to the loo.

Part of me is determined to go knowing I can leave if it gets too much.

I always go to Glastonbury but we decided not to this year when i found out i was pregnant with DS. He'll be 7 months in June. Having said that, i think that both DH and i, in hindsight, would have liked to have taken our DS this year. We'd have done a different kind of Glastonbury though - more chilled out, Kidz Field, Acoustic Stage etc rather than big headline acts and crowds. The beauty of Glastonbury is that it is very child and family friendly so if you think you can cope with it, go and enjoy yourself. Although having tented it for many years i think we'll be taking a caravan next time we go - purely because it would be so much easier with a child....

my mum took my brother and me when we were babies although it was a lot less populated 31 yrs ago!! I imagine it may be easier to go while he's young,toddlers are harder work! Enjoy,if you go :)

I've been to a few (smaller) ones with young DC/babies and the largest one we've done was WOMAD, probably. Have been to Glastonbury, I don't think I'd take a baby... definitely wouldn't take small DC would be abslutely para about them getting lost and too many people off their face

Have had great times at festivals with the DC (shit if the weather is awful - as you probably know though!)

I'd recommend maybe a smaller one? Camp Bestival v good

I've taken my three to festivals since they were tiny. We all enjoyed it. Not Glastonbury though. And not solo. I know you won't be going alone but how much help do you think you would realistically get from your sister and her bloke? Any? None?

FWIW we found the Big Chill too big and not chilled enough with 10 month old in tow, smaller festivals have been great though.

lurking with interest as thinking about Latitude w 5 month old.

we've been to big chill with a four year old and a four month old baby and it was great. DS1 LOVED it and DS2 just slept for most of the time and was still breastfed so it was easy.

i've been to glastonbury many many times and i have to say i wouldn't be that keen on taking babies or children there just because of the sheer size of it. to be honest if you're just going to be spending time in the green fields etc you'd be better off going to a smaller festival where perhaps your DH might come along too?

oh and we've also been to shambala which is a great smaller festival and very child friendly...

I took DS when he was 22 months, when it was a quagmire of epic proportions. The couple camped next to us had a 6 month old DD and they found it very hard work. Their pushchair gave up on day 2, and as we had our sturdy offroader I gave her my sling but she was so paranoid about slipping over she hardly went anywhere all weekend.
If you went last year then consider how you would cope in that heat with a 6 month old - it was too hot to be in the tent past about 8am, couldn't go back for a nap at any point during the day, and finding shade to shelter in was difficult.
We prefer the Greenfields too, but all of the family camping is on the opposite side of the site, so it's quite a trek (and they are messing about with Cockmills this year so the majority of family camping is going to be further away from the Kids Field too)
I couldn't justify spending that much money if i then had to go home because I couldnt' cope with the conditions.

It is family friendly, but without your DH I'm not sure you will have enough support to make it an enjoyable experience.

If you really want to do a festival this year then I'd go for Shambala - it's really got the vibe of the Greenfields of Glasto, much smaller site, and in my opinion the BEST festival to take kids to. they have a family yurt especially for babies of your age, with breastfeeding support/space, bathing facilities for small children and somewhere for you to have a cup of tea and chill out. Excellent stuff in the kids field (sensory tent is good for small ones), healing fields hidden away.

My kind of Glastonbury is largely centred around the greenfields area but I know when I was there pregnant last year I found it quite difficult to deal with the obnoxious crowds - being sober didn't help - so I do see what people mean about having to cope in crowds etc. There isn't one next year and I agree that taking a toddler would be quite a lot harder which is why I wanted to go this year. My sister isn't into having a wild Glastonbury and she is prepared to help but I wouldn't want to tie her down.

I guess if the weather is ok then it could all be fine but there's just know way of knowing in advance. GAH! I wish they would have some clause where peoplw with young kids could get a refund just before it starts but unfortunately I have a week to decide. At the moment I am lurching from wanting to go to deciding it's best not to and then back again.

I've been loads of times and I just want to be able to make a decision, stick to it and not regret it :(

ps, thanks for the tips about other festivals. I went to beautiful days once and although it was nice I just got bored with the limited amount of stuff to do. I think I would rather be at a muddy glastonbury than a warm boutique festival. Still not sure what to do, just wish dh would come too.

dueling - we are going to try shambala this year with the dcs too I think. I dont think 6 months is a great age for glasto - what will you be able to do? I think its just too big now - we are greenfields types too but you still get caught up in the massive movements in the evening and I find it quite scary.

Its not that bad to miss one - honestly - watching it on the telly is actually good and shambala replaces all of the greenfields stuff without the hassle of the marketplace/main stages.

Ooh Shambala looks good. But where is it approx? Don't want to buy tickets and then trauma of car journey getting there being worse than general baby at a festival woes.

Took my 11 month old to Bestival last year and she really hated it. freaked out at all the people and clung to me like a limpet. Shame, as her brother at that age was no problem . I guess it depends a bit on the child - but 6 months should be easier. i saw quite a few that age in slings and all seemed quite contented.

Yes, I've heard good things about Shambala for LOs.

I get your point DF about better a muddy Glasto than a warmer boutique festival, but you'll be much more limited in terms of what you can ,do with a nipper, so the more limited choice probably won't be such a problem.

I do recommend WOMAD. It's not as huge as Glasto, but is big enough to have a lot of choice and the camping experience is usually more pleasant than Glasto. Provided you're vaguely interested in hearing some World music, of course!

shambala looks ace, someone in rl recommended it to and she went with a lo.

I really fancy it but will be 36 wks pg and have an 18mo.

Woahmama the site says the venue is as yet unannounced, but there is a list of "distance from x" and it sounds midlandish!

yes market harborough is the nearest station...

Took then 7 and 9 year olds to Womad 3 years ago, they loved the music and the madness of the mud (beware welly burns on back of calfs) but we were spooked at someone coming into our tent at night looking for stuff to steal, security said they'd had loads of problems. Would love to go back and stay in secure pods but they're so expensive...