Walking with a baby or young child

[Ballari]

A question for those who have walked with a young child or baby. Or maybe you have met or know someone who did.
We are looking to have a family Camino with 3 or 4 adults and a baby. We have all walked at least 3 Caminos each, and occasionally seen someone with a baby or young child.
We'd love to hear about your experiences. Can you please share what worked and what didn't. What issues did you encounter? What season? What accommodation. What did you take? Stroller or baby carrier?
Nothing booked atm, just looking at the possibilities.
Please, we are not looking for an opinion as to whether or not we should. Just helpful information please.
Thanks in advance.

 

[HeidiL]

I had a long talk with someone who was walking with a very young child, and she said they were always booking private rooms/hotel rooms, in case the child would get loud at night.

 

[howardd5]

A question for those who have walked with a young child or baby. Or maybe you have met or know someone who did.
We are looking to have a family Camino with 3 or 4 adults and a baby. We have all walked at least 3 Caminos each, and occasionally seen someone with a baby or young child.
We'd love to hear about your experiences. Can you please share what worked and what didn't. What issues did you encounter? What season? What accommodation. What did you take? Stroller or baby carrier?
Nothing booked atm, just looking at the possibilities.
Please, we are not looking for an opinion as to whether or not we should. Just helpful information please.
Thanks in advance.

Don’t bring a child under 12

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Don’t bring a child under 12

Why on earth not? I saw children as young as 7 or 8 year's old on both the Inglés and the Primitivo last year, they were doing extremely well. Shorter stages, lighter packs and more rest break's, just like many older pilgrims sensibly make .
There's been a few comments over the years ( even a thread or two) of people walking with babies and toddlers too. A quick YouTube search show's several families with very young children on The Way. Yes you have to make provision for their needs - other than that it's very doable.

I think it's a wonderful idea.

 

[TravellingMan22]

A question for those who have walked with a young child or baby. Or maybe you have met or know someone who did.
We are looking to have a family Camino with 3 or 4 adults and a baby. We have all walked at least 3 Caminos each, and occasionally seen someone with a baby or young child.
We'd love to hear about your experiences. Can you please share what worked and what didn't. What issues did you encounter? What season? What accommodation. What did you take? Stroller or baby carrier?
Nothing booked atm, just looking at the possibilities.
Please, we are not looking for an opinion as to whether or not we should. Just helpful information please.
Thanks in advance.

No experience myself but I met a young couple with a baby on the Camino. They seemed very relaxed and I asked them ‘how it was’. Basically they just said you needed to be a lot more planned and organised, and that the ‘default position’ as a young parent is to be planned and organised anyway so it was ‘business as usual’. They focused on private rooms and maybe shorter stages than many would and tried to build more ‘certainty’ and ‘stability’ in the plan which again any parents of young children will do as ‘Par for the course’!

Plenty of pubic transport options and medical facilities should anything unexpected happen!

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

Don’t bring a child under 12

The OP asked to keep opinions to yourself.

 

[trecile]

Don’t bring a child under 12

Having had both babies and 12 year olds, I think that walking with a baby might be easier!

 

[David Tallan]

Don’t bring a child under 12

I would offer an opinion (which differs from yours) but the OP asked for experiences rather than opinions. Do you have experience with children under 12 on the Camino behind your statement that might be helpful? Or are you just throwing in the kind of opinion that OP had specifically asked people to refrain from as unhelpful?

The first Camino YouTube vlogs I watched were a young Irish couple walking with a baby. She would carry the baby and he would carry all of the baby stuff. Sometimes he would carry her stuff as well! They were both vegans, and this was quite a while ago, so that added substantial other challenges. But they made it! I'd link to the videos but last time I checked they had taken them down or made them private.

 

[CWBuff]

Opinion (admittedly not asked for) - Don't bring parents of the children

On my 2022 CF I met a young German couple with a 3-month old girl. This happened straight out of the gate i.e. Orisson. Stand together for about 4 or 5 days then got separated (actually I made a thread here on the Forum trying to warn them to take the road a day not the trail on the Roncesvalles- Zubiri leg; they actually replied). According to mother- it was tough but they were managing. They had one of those cart contraptions sort of like the ones that hook up to a bike and either the baby was in it and they carried backpacks or vice versa. They wound up being only 3 days behind me in Leon a d it is my understanding that they did make SdC.

Another couple (I also mentioned them previously in various threads and at some point another member chimed in that they walked with them) was a young US couple with a 4yo son and 6mo daughter. Met them at La Faba and they also had a cart contraption. Seemed to be doing just fine!

Throughout CF and Finisterre extension, I saw plenty of other children ranging from perhaps 7 through mid teens yo. I guess as long as everyone is responsible enough there is no issues. After all it is THEIR CAMINO!

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Incidentally, @Ballari , whilst I have personally not actually met somebody with a baby on camino I have seen people walking longer distance trails in New Zealand with babies (generally four/five day treks). The majority used the baby carriers (backpack style with a canopy /rain shelter, as I'm sure you are aware most of the major backpack companies make very good versions of these). They were generally the preferred option, however the trails in New Zealand are significantly narrower than most of the Caminos. 1 point of note is that these of course are only considered suitable for babies over six months old.
As commented by others above, and the couple of videos I have seen many on camino seem to bring a walker's version of those bike trailers, a couple a decent all terrain stroller. The buggies appear very practical because you can also carry supplies for the baby with them and it's not physically on your back. I'm assuming you have some kind of all terrain stroller at home, how does that work for you?
Do you know anybody that actually has one of the other options that you could borrow to try?

 

[Ballari]

Thank you so much everyone for your thoughtful replies. There is some good info already.

Yes, we did feel private rooms would be the most respectful option.

I would like to ask @howardd5 if you have negative experiences on the Camino with children? This info would be useful.
I do feel that 12 years is a good age to experience the Camino, and we fully intend to have future Caminos for this reason.
For this proposed Camino, the focus is our experience and growth from spending 24/7 with a new family member. We feel that it would be an experience like no other Camino.

Shorter stages and more rest time would be something we would need to factor in. Thanks for that. Maybe we would need to utilize public transport on the longer days.

Planned and organized sounds great. I guess the Camino would help instill this with a young child!

Thanks @trecile and I guess a baby would be easier to carry than a 12 year old

Thanks @David Tallan . I have seen the Irish couples vlog many years ago. That was our inspiration for considering this Camino. From memory the Dad was carrying more than 20kg.
We are hoping to gather as much useful info as possible to avoid a heavy pack!

The idea of the trolly/cart/bike trailer would be perfect! We will do some research and see what we can find. Has anyone got any info on these?

Its good to hear all the stories about other families successfully doing the Camino. I feel we can all learn from humans of all ages, and what a perfect place to learn... On the Camino!

 

[Ballari]

Incidentally, @Ballari , whilst I have personally not actually met somebody with a baby on camino I have seen people walking longer distance trails in New Zealand with babies (generally four/five day treks). The majority used the baby carriers (backpack style with a canopy /rain shelter, as I'm sure you are aware most of the major backpack companies make very good versions of these). They were generally the preferred option, however the trails in New Zealand are significantly narrower than most of the Caminos. 1 point of note is that these of course are only considered suitable for babies over six months old.
As commented by others above, and the couple of videos I have seen many on camino seem to bring a walker's version of those bike trailers, a couple a decent all terrain stroller. The buggies appear very practical because you can also carry supplies for the baby with them and it's not physically on your back. I'm assuming you have some kind of all terrain stroller at home, how does that work for you?
Do you know anybody that actually has one of the other options that you could borrow to try?

Our training has so far been with baby strapped to the chest. The current stroller isn't as 4WD as would be needed

 

[trecile]

I'm normally all for carrying your own gear, but since you will be staying in private rooms and walking with a baby I think that pack transfer would be a good option.

 

[CWBuff]

Here is a reference to the post I made that actually mentions Bryce and Deba - the US couple. That, in turn has a link to a video clip where you can see the cart they used.

Post in thread 'Tips for Tackling O Cebreiro Hill During Your Camino Walk' https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...ll-during-your-camino-walk.78139/post-1094414

 

[HeidiL]

12 seems quite arbitrary. Our son was 8 the first time, and it went very well. I know 18-year-olds who are definitely too young.