What’s it like to taking a baby to a festival? What should I pack for a baby going to a festival with a baby? Where can I go for advice from seasoned festival families? The answers are right here…. With huge thanks to our guest blogger Kirsty (@heartsandbramble), who has kindly shared her experiences of taking her six-month old baby (and the rest of her family) to BlueDot Festival 2019, along with some beautiful photos of their adventure.
We turned up at the festival and it was absolutely lashing it down. It was that special kind of sideways rain that finds its way into your underlayers, regardless of how sensible your festival outerlayers are.It was one of those moments where you contemplate your sanity and briefly wonder whether you should turn the car around now before it’s too late. But you quickly snap yourself out of it, because a) you’ve long since accepted that you area little crazy; b) you know that all the best things in life take a little more effort to achieve; and c) you refuse to stop doing the things you love just because you’re parents now. But those ‘what have we done?!!’ thoughts are totally normal. Don’t give in! It’ll be so worth it, I promise!
So after a little positive self-talk, we fully committed to doing this!
We hit our first challenge as soon as we pulled into our spot in the festival carpark. We had to get to the boot of the car without getting drenched, to recover the (not so strategically placed) wellies, waterproofs and fishing umbrella, which we’d squeezed into the last available space in there. We’d been on the road for a couple of hours, so as soon as we turned off the engine, our little human alarm was triggered, reminding us that it was time for a feed. Our six month old, Freya, proceeded to wail loudly from her carseat, hungry and needing a change.
Meanwhile I was doing strange yoga moves outside, teetering on one foot, wiggling into each welly, as I simultaneously poured myself clumsily into my waterproofs. All this whilst holding a huge umbrella, trying to minimise moisticity levels (that should totally be a word) and not poke my partner in the eye.
Having a solid plan for hydration is super important too. It’s so easy for babies to get dehydrated, especially when in a warm tent or out in the festival sunshine. If you’re breast feeding, remember to keep yourself hydrated and whether bottle or breast, you may need to increase the number of feeds you do. If your baby is weaned / weaning, remember to keep a clean and full bottle or sippy cup of water to hand at all times.
The festival we were at (Blue Dot) had ‘baby stations’ where you could top up with boiled water – great for babies on formula or if they’re not quite old enough for tap water yet. This also meant that once we were in the festival, there was no need to return to the tent to boil water every few hours! Like at home, you just have to remember to allow for bottle cooling time.
So… I’m in the back of the car feeding Freya, whilst my other half is sorting the pushchair (keeping the seat covered from the rain as best he could) and loading it up with our camping gear. We brought one of those little foldable trailors and loaded that up too, so we each had a rucksack and something to push which worked really well.
If it’s going to be a wet one, I recommend taking a baby rainsuit (one of those waterproof onesies). Covering baby from top to bottom like this is going to help stop them getting wet as you transfer them between car / tent and pushchair. It also means that for lighter rain, you can have baby out of the pushchair more, which makes it possible during showers for them to still have a dance with you, which our little girl really enjoyed. If you’re blessed with the sunshine (which we really were at intervals, but alas not when we arrived), sun protection is a must.
We strapped Freya into her pushchair and off we went. Without a raincover for the pushchair this just wouldn’t have worked. We also took our UV sun protection pushchair cover which also doubles up perfectly as blackout blinds, to help with those little daytime naps. Even if the forecast indicates these won’t be necessary, take both anyway, as things can change quickly. If you want to see any headliners, the chances are you’ll be at the main stage, which is usually the most exposed.
So off we went on the dreaded mission of car to camp, trudging through the mud, which was already soft and sticky as the rain continued to pour. I say dreaded, but I’m being dramatic. Yes, it was tough going! Yes we’d arrived too late to get the best spot! Yes, we found a few new muscles we didn’t know existed and we wished we’d packed less or brought a Sherpa… But in reality, these are all the usual familiar feelings when on route to festival base camp.
This was when we first got to put the all terrain pushchair to the test. We have a sturdy three wheeler with large off road tires which I bought for a fraction of the RRP from Gumtree. I have to say, it would have been a totally different experience without this! It was an absolute game changer! I saw a few small four wheelers that were rendered practically useless with the small wheels clogging up with mud quickly and refusing to spin. We’d also brought the roomy pushchair attachment rather than using the pram or car seat attachments. The pram is great for naps but not for baby being able to see things; the car seat isn’t ideal for extended periods of time and is a little small for hot weather… but you’ll know that works best for you.
Here’s where the other game changer came in. We have a small tipi and after pop up tents, this has to be one of the quickest and easiest tents to put up. You literally just peg out the base and then put the pole up the middle! It’s a ten minute job and can be done easily by one person. But failing this, if you have a content baby, extra hands to help or you’re just very patient, you can make the tent erection business work regardless of what you’ve got.
Key things here are keeping anything that needs to stay dry well and truly under cover. The last thing you need is wet baby clothes or bedding which could well mean game over for your weekend. We brought the Moses basket for Freya to sleep in, so this was well wrapped up. Trusty old bin liners can be a festival friend for keeping things dry.
Once you’re all set up, the real fun can begin!
We headed off into the festival, not forgetting the baby ear protectors – an absolute must haveif you’re wanting to be close to loud music. I recommend trying baby with these first to help get them used to wearing them before the festival. We got ours from Kidly and they were amazing! Freya slept through a full banging Kraftwerk set and she was totally oblivious to Hot Chip’s set even though we positioned ourselves fairly centrally at the main stage. Obviously work out what feels right and safe for your baby by considering the volume and your position to the speakers, ear defender quality and most of all by reading baby’s cues as to what’s comfortable.
Blue Dot was a sensory delight and Freya absolutely loved being at her first festival. There was so much for her to see and she took pleasure from even just the simplest of things like watching the flags blowing in the wind or the light catching people’s sparkles and sequins as they walked by. Lots of people stopped to talk to her and she was very smiley at having lots of attention and social interaction, which can only be a good thing for baby’s development. Colours, lights and being held whilst I danced also seemed to be a real winner.
We were careful to give regular breaks from stimulation to ensure we weren’t overwhelming Freya as we found she tired a little more frequently than at home, possibly from all the new things to process.
Freya took to it all like a festival pro and we were even able to stick to the sleep routine we have at home without going back to the tent to put her down. This is where the pushchair and blackout cover really came into their own!
Festivalling with children isn’t ever going to be the same experience as when you had less responsibilities, could squeeze your way to the front of the stage, get totally spandangled with your friends and dance your ass off, barely stopping for sleep. But once you’ve adjusted expectations a little and made a plan, you can totally have an amazing time and share something really special with your favourite little people. We also took my partner’s two boys with us, which came with even more positives (and unique challenges) but we managed to keep everyone safe and happy and we’re already planning our next festival adventure!
You can follow Kirsty’s adventures on Instagram @heartsandbramble and read her positive birth story on the Hearts and Bramble blog.
