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Camino with Baby

C

caminoee

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Time of past OR future Camino
Future
Hi all,

I am thinking about taking my baby (she will be about 4-5 months) on the camino this spring.

I have walked quite a few caminos and I think the Frances or Portuguese would be a good choice since they have good infrastructure and allow for short distances. Is there anyone who has experience with a baby on the camino?

She is a very relaxed baby and so far has slept through every night. What would you guys think about having to share a room with us in an albergue?

Opinions are appreciated!

Best
Kathrin
 
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I'm assuming this is your first child.

If my calculations are correct, you are the mother of a newborn. The first few months are no indication of what your baby will be like at 4 or 5 months. Right now, you can put that kid in a carrier and go about your life with minimal disruption. At least I could and did - everything from vaccuuming to 5 star restaurants. Your newborn is really just a sponge at this moment, discovering toes and fingers, not yet the world around it.

In a few months, you will have a completely different child. One that reaches and grabs and is trying to crawl (away -- always away), that now recognizes what makes her hungry or angry or wet or uncomfortable and knows how to let you know that. One that has ever changing needs, ever changing biological clocks, and so, so much more.

At 5 months -- Day hikes -- great. A hotel room for a couple of nights -- great. A camino and albergues -- so "not great." Trust me.*

*Me being a single mother by choice who started traveling with their child when that child was 3 months old and thereafter traveled with said child to over 60 countries, including "hard" travel to places like India, Bhutan, Laos, Egypt, Tanzania, etc., by the time that child was legally an adult.
 
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On my first camino a young woman brought her baby daughter about six months old more or less on CF.

The young mom drove them from albergue to albergue until last 100kms then walked remainder into Santiago.

Everyone loved baby Sana.

The only problem was every single time the baby cried, made baby noises, coo-coo sounds, et cetera at night most of us sleeping close to baby Sana awakened just long enough to ensure baby was okay, making for a fitful nights sleep.

After awhile baby and mommy usually had a bunk bed island within the dormitory. Sometimes all beds immediately next to theirs were empty. Thus allowing all to get unbroken rest.

Otherwise, baby peregrina and older peregrinos were fine.

Buen camino.
 
nycwalking said:
The young mom drove them from albergue to albergue until last 100kms then walked remainder into Santiago.
Click to expand...
I thought albergues generally provide beds to those who are walking (or bike riding) ... or at least making an effort to do so ... not those who are merely driving for an hour or so each day. But I guess maybe that's only municipals and you all were staying in private ones?
 
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::::chuckle:::: I'm betting you all thanked all above that Sana wasn't teething. I've seen (and heard) both colic (~ 2 months) and teething play merry hob with a baby's temperament.
 
Our first born baby up until 12 months old was an extraordinary baby and never cried, slept through the night and we took him everywhere with us. Initially we met some resistance from people but he always won them around. Now, our second and third babies were completely different and we rarely travelled with them because it was so difficult.

So, horses for courses. Your baby may well be fine but you are sure to meet lots of opposition as you may already have noted.
 
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Yes, we had an infant one summer and a Camino family formed around this mother and child. The other pilgrims were very concerned that the baby be accepted or the entire Camino family planned to move on.
 

When you say you "took him everywhere," was that on a Camino? Walking for 4 or 5 hours a day, day after day, without a hotel room to go back to for a few hours? Sleeping in a dorm room (that you can't get into until 2 p.m. and must leave by 8 a.m.) with 20 other people? I think a multi-day thru-walk is very different than hitting up Madrid for a week and being somewhat assured that your relaxed kid isn't going to start screaming bloody murder just as you enter the Prado.

Knowing your child is key. But I suggest that it is pretty near impossible to know at one month what the temperment of an infant will be when they are 4 or 5 months old. In my mind, that time period is probably the hugest leap of all in terms of development -- one day they are these little lumps that seem to do little more than eat, burp, sleep and pee (usually in that order) and then 4 months later they are moving and laughing and exploring and are ... well ... real people. So, yes, a baby "may be fine" on the Camino, but also "may not be fine" on the Camino and I don't think one can tell that just because a newborn sleeps through the night.
 
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J Willhaus said:
Yes, we had an infant one summer and a Camino family formed around this mother and child. The other pilgrims were very concerned that the baby be accepted or the entire Camino family planned to move on.
Click to expand...
I think we are talking about different things here.

I'm not questioning that you had an infant in an albergue and that the infant and mother were supported by others. Indeed, I can't imagine anyone not gravitating toward an infant on the Camino or elsewhere. But my question was whether, forgetting about the age of anyone involved, albergues usually accept people who are simply driving from one albergue to another, without walking any part of it, as @nycwalking described the mother and infant were doing?
 
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Listen to your heart, stay in the moment and have a plan B. Go... Enjoy.... and remember, Plan B in your backpack in case you run into issues. Baby might not like all the fuss/noise of the alburgues, or you & baby might want a quiet space for a night. In met a couple in 2017 with two children, one carried in a backpack and the other maybe 3 years. Some nights they camped & some nights they stayed in an albergue... got two beds, one adult one child in each bed. I say do it!!
 
It's so true that you can't judge a baby's future temperament by how they are as a newborn.

Only one of my three kids was sleeping through the night as a newborn, but it didn't last. I found that as my babies were going through developmental milestones - rolling over, sitting up, standing with support, etc. that they waked more often in the night.

I'm not saying that it's impossible to do the Camino with a baby, but there's a lot to consider. I think that your best option is to stay in private rooms if you do this. You will need a safe place for the baby while you shower, use the toilet, etc. You probably will meet people along the way who are only too happy to help you out, but it's not something that you can plan on - unless you go with another adult.
 
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