So if you are a regular reader of our blog, you will know that last weekend we went to Camp Bestival. It was our first time experiencing a family festival and I did have doubts, right up until the first night! We stuck it out, got over our bumps and lived to tell the tale. What’s more we all LOVED it and would do it again in a heartbeat, so that says it all, doesn’t it?! Now this being our first time, we don’t profess to be experts, but we survived and thought we would share our tips on how you can survive Camp Bestival with a toddler too!
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Pack light but pack well
Now we all know kids need a lot of stuff, but we took too much. There is a long hilly walk from the car park to the camping and this was HARD work lugging a trolley and pram up the huge hill. Poor Mr Hubby nearly had a coronary! We took food, a stove, kettle and didn’t even turn it on. All the extra stuff was piled in the tent making it really difficult to find anything and even move! We only sat in our camping chairs once!
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Prepare for any weather
It is not news to anyone that the British weather is unpredictable. I packed Baby a selection of clothes, ranging from shorts, t shirts and sandals to jeans and wellies, just in case. I also took about twice the number of outfits she needed and we used them all.
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Take lots of pictures
Although taking pictures can be just another thing to do when you already have your hands full. It will be worth it, so sling your camera round your neck so it is there to capture the memories. You won’t regret it.
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Get involved & make a plan
There is so much to do that it could be quite easy to be completely overwhelmed and end up not doing anything, apart from wandering around. There was lots that we didn’t do, but we made a little list of the really important things for us to see and made sure we made time for them. Next year we would like to make a longer list and Baby will be even more able to join in with things by then.
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Pack familiar food
To be honest Baby didn’t really want to eat at all while we were there. She is not a brilliant eater at the best of times, but she lived on crisps, fruit wriggles and the odd bit of pasta that we could tempt her with. Taking her regular crisps and snacks meant we could be sure she was at least eating something. All Baby wanted to do was to drink, which brings me onto my next point….
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Extra nappies
I think we probably went to through three times the number of nappies that we normally would in a day, which meant we had to ask a blogging friend who was staying off site to bring some in for us. They do sell them in the Festival shop, but they didn’t have Baby’s size.
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Tag team parenting if necessary
There will be times when one of you needs a break or your child needs to go to bed. So work together and tag team. Mr Hubby took Baby to the tent to sleep, while I watch the Kaiser Chiefs and I did the same so he could watch the closing fireworks.
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Toilet preparation
The toilets weren’t bad compared to other festivals and most of the time they had toilet roll in them. The ones at the top of the hill (next to The Wall of Death) where MUCH cleaner than the toilets near the camping or stages. To be on the safe side pop a loo roll, some wet wipes and antibac spray in your bag.
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Take bubbles/extra solution and glo sticks
Even though there is masses to do, there will be times when your kids get a bit tired and whiny. We found that Bubbles and Glo Sticks bought us some time and also helped up prevent tantrums on occasions. Take your own bubble stuff, we spent £14 on a wand and some solution from the on site Bubble Shop.
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Decorate your trolley or pram
If you have an independent toddler, getting them to use their pram or get in the trolley might be a challenge. We took our old Quinny 3 wheeler, instead of a trolley, but we really missed a trick. If we could go again we would decorate it with solar lights and pretty things to make it much more desirable for her to get into.
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Magazine with stickers
On site the Guardian were selling Newspapers and a child’s magazine in a lovely bag, for under three pounds. It was a must buy for us on Saturday and Sunday and kept Baby interested for ages. Especially playing with the stickers!
So there are our tips on making festival going with toddler that little bit smoother. Have you ever taken toddlers to a festival? If you haven’t, would you?
