I survived the mud with children!

[Hotfoxy]

Well ive lived to tell the tale!

Thursday night was HELL! Anyone else think that the stewards didnt have a clue this year!!?

But the rest of the time we had a ball, the kidzfield is absolutely AMAZING..

My first Glasto bringing the kids and certainly wont be my last, so glad i made the decision to use a baby carrier all weekend rather than a pram.. it looked very hard pushing and pulling one through the mud.. hats off to anyone that did!

Wish i was back there now, truely truely magical!

How did the other mums and dads find it?

[sprouts]

Firstly, kids did not want to go home and really enjoyed the experience. They loved the kids field and cabaret areas and also watching Coldplay and a couple of other performances.

My first time in seven years and there were loads of families and a relaxed atmosphere.

Unfortunately, most of the stewards did not seem to know what was happening in terms of directions and a few other things - suppose its not their fault - and they told me this themsleves. Also, they all volunteer.

The long walk in the rain on Friday evening from the car park to the site was horrendous. Shame nothing can be done to let families park a little nearer as we don't tend to pack lightly.

[Bubblepopelectric]

Hats off to you guys. I couldn't even bring myself to take my 2, and they are 12 and 14! They would never survive

[gorbo76]

It was our first time at Glastonbury and we took our 9 month old daughter. We were a little nervous beforehand as we didn't know what to expect but it turns out that we didn't need to be as we had an amazing time. The kidz field was great, even though my daughter is very young there was still loads to do and she had a beaming smile across her face most of the time. Everyone was really friendly and we had many comments about how great it was that we had come along with a baby. We also took a back pack with us to carry her around in which was a life saver, if we'd used our buggy it would have been fairly useless and would have ended up ruined.

We camped in the MyHab area which (due to them pulling out at the last minute) was not really worth the money, mainly saved the long walk from the car. How were the family camping areas? Are they much better than the other camping areas? May just go there next time and suffer the trek!

[lilpixieuk]

We took our 2½ year old son with us (first time at Glasto for us all) and he loved every minute of it. teh Kidz Field was really good and we went in there Thurs - Sun for a couple of hours.

We camped with Tangerine Fields so didn't have to set up the tent which was handy as we had quite a bit with us anyway.

The mud was a bit of a hassle and pushing the buggy through it was a mission but we survived and couldn't have done without. Luckily the mud situation was better this morning for us to reach Gate A

[rock n roll star]

It was our third in a row with our 6 year old, He loved it (again) and can't understand why he won't be going next year.

[Festival Liam]

Does anybody else get really worried seeing people slipping and sliding through the mud with a baby strapped to their front? One faceplent could be seriously damaging :/ The backpacks are doable .. but on the front just seems to ask for trouble.

[Swinning]

Congratulations, "Big Yawn..."

[sazindie]

We took our 10 month old. Decided against bringing our 3 year old as the youngest is very portable (due to my mei-tai sling) and could be very easily carted around with us, but if we bought the eldest we would have been constantly in the kidz field, which while great, I wouldn't like to be in for the duration.

We stayed in Wicket ground family camping and it was great. Plenty of space and the toilets were cleaner. Made lots of new friends. To be fair most of my Glasto experience was during the day, as the wee man wanted to be asleep by 8pm, but my husband made the most of it and was out most nights!

In 2013, we'll probably leave the two kids with grandparents. You can certainly have a great time with kids, but naturally you have to sacrifice some of your own personal wants for the festival. Next time I'd like to enjoy it knowing I don't have to look out for the little ones (not that I don't love em of course!)

[jengeo]

been going with kids since 2004. wont be without them. Been going since 97 but circumstances now dictate that they come with us. One is 12 the other is 5. They both love it. As much as we loved the complete freedom without them, just seeing the way they are there is so enjoyable. It does change the way you experience the festival but because you are there with them as a family it makes it so much more worthwhile. There are not many of their friends that get to go somewhere so diverse as glastonbury. If you have kids take them it is so rewarding. You think that Glasto allows you to be free think what it alows the little ones to be...!!!!!!!!

[Hotfoxy]

Swinning.. you cock.

It was such a change swapping my cans of strongbow for nappies and wipes in my bag.. i used a carrier strapped to my front, only got stuck in the mud once but was quickly helped out.

Everyone was so friendly making way for us and minding out of the way.. kidzfield was fab, i really really enjoyed it!

[Swinning]

Swinning.. you cock.

It was such a change swapping my cans of strongbow for nappies and wipes in my bag.. i used a carrier strapped to my front, only got stuck in the mud once but was quickly helped out.

Everyone was so friendly making way for us and minding out of the way.. kidzfield was fab, i really really enjoyed it!

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I had difficulty getting through the festival with just me to look after, so I applaud your monumental effort. It made me happy to see families. For those kids old enough it must be mesmerising - in a good way. Good parenting.

[Hotfoxy]

I have a 9 year old and an 11 month old..

My 9 year old had a constant smile on her face and really got into it.. and my 11 month old complete and utter sensory overload!!

[Morse Code]

I had my 5 month old, my 14 yr old and my 18 yr old!

We had a blast and were thankful for the large wheeled bike trailer which cut through the mud on all but the Saturday night. Getting back to the CV field that night was the toughest workout I've had in years!!

I was a little apprehensive about taking the baby but needn't have been. She is typically laid back but with the help of ear defenders slept when she needed to and seemed to be totally mesmerised the rest of the time!

I only had one comment from one stupid teenager about being an irresponsible parent (because of course a teenager would know!!) and literally 100's of comments from all sorts of people, either offering congratulations, support or just admiration.

I've posted elsewhere that the atmosphere was different in places this year but even so, taking our baby was a great experience. :-)

Swinning - did you have a good Glastonbury?

Edited June 28, 2011 by Morse Code

[sprouts]

Gorbo 76 - Wickets field was very quiet, safe,friendly and there was little mud.

I was challenged, in a friendly way, by camper crew when I entered alone at 1:30am.

Also, the top of the field leads onto the pilton by pass. Therefore, it was a nice and easy walk along the road to the main control centre area and then across to the pyramid area. The other side of the wickets leads to the john peel area.

The only down side for me is that I would so much prefer to be in the other family camping field near to the kids and cababret areas, but I only arrived late on thursday evening and was led to believe it is full by mid-day on Wednesday.

[lea7784]

i had a 4 year old and a 8 year old n i survivedddddddddd kids field is amaaaaaaaaazin i also had lots of wow your fantastic parents for bringing your kids remarks cracking

Edited June 28, 2011 by lea7784

[sprouts]

The festival should be for everyone: young,middle aged, old, parents with toddlers / teenagers.

That' for me is part of what makes it so good.

[redmosquito]

Our 10 month old had a blast. He discovered waving during the festival and loved waving at everyone walking past. We got lots of comments from people saying how lovely he was and how great it was that we'd taken him. Pulling the cart was tough at times. On saturday night we left the other stage at 9 and didn't get back to our camper in the east fields until 11! People were mostly really good and helpful but lots of people don't seem to look where they are going in large crowds and kept walking into the cart despite it having fairy lights all over it. Also the cv fields being filled from the back was a frustration as we so far away and although we were supposed to be in family fields we were surrounded by people with no kids. One other frustration was when we arrived on Tuesday we asked if we could go in E23 but we got told it was full and E20 was the only one with space. We walked past a few hours later and it was totally empty, why lie to us? Minor iritations aside though we all had an amazing time with the little one being a total star.

Edited June 28, 2011 by redmosquito

[mirandamayhem]

I had to find this thread to encourage me. I said next Glasto, if we get tickets, it shall be a family affair with us camping. Someone today just said "I wouldn't DREAM of taking my kids to glasto, it's so big and it's so far to walk! I'd do a smaller festival, but not glasto with kids."

Now I appreciate that if you want to let your hair down and get high on narcotics, then it's not a place to take the kids, but if you're happy to amble, surely it's a great place? Sure I love drinking too much and smoking too much, but then surely i can do that somewhere else and let the kids experience glasto? Not that it matters too much at the moment, seeing as there's nothing for 2 years.

[MissKim]

I only had one comment from one stupid teenager about being an irresponsible parent (because of course a teenager would know!!) and literally 100's of comments from all sorts of people, either offering congratulations, support or just admiration.

[rock n roll star]

I had to find this thread to encourage me. I said next Glasto, if we get tickets, it shall be a family affair with us camping. Someone today just said "I wouldn't DREAM of taking my kids to glasto, it's so big and it's so far to walk! I'd do a smaller festival, but not glasto with kids."

Now I appreciate that if you want to let your hair down and get high on narcotics, then it's not a place to take the kids, but if you're happy to amble, surely it's a great place? Sure I love drinking too much and smoking too much, but then surely i can do that somewhere else and let the kids experience glasto? Not that it matters too much at the moment, seeing as there's nothing for 2 years.

[mirandamayhem]

Ours is 6 now and has done 3 on the trot, It would break his heart if we left him at home now, Its hard enough trying to explain that he is not going for 2 years.. Anyway we do "our" festival when we go to Leeds so its the best of both worlds

Edited July 4, 2011 by mirandamayhem

[neilloggie]

Hats off to you guys. I couldn't even bring myself to take my 2, and they are 12 and 14! They would never survive

[neilloggie]

Congratulations, "Big Yawn..."