Camino with Baby

[caminoee]

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

 

[ShoshTrvls]

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.

 

[C clearly]

@ShoshTrvls expressed exactly my thoughts and better than I would.

 

[J Willhaus]

As a hospitalera, I've hosted several moms and dads with children of varying ages. They were always fine and welcomed by others. I would be careful not to walk when it is too hot. Dorms are often sweltering in summers.

 

[nycwalking]

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.

 

[ShoshTrvls]

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

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?

 

[J Willhaus]

The parents with infants, toddlers, and children I have seen have been walking.

 

[dbier]

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.

::::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.

 

[DoughnutANZ]

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.

 

[ShoshTrvls]

The parents with infants, toddlers, and children I have seen have been walking.

Toddlers and children are different than infants .. but I was referring to @nycwalking 's description of the mother/infant pair who drove from albergue to albergue up to Sarria.

 

[J Willhaus]

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.

 

[ShoshTrvls]

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.

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.

 

[ShoshTrvls]

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.

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?

 

[Madamjoy]

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!!

 

[trecile]

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.

 

[nycwalking]

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?

This was in August-September 2001.

The bed race in years to come had yet to really get going.

There were not an abundance of private albergues on the way or a plethora of any type of refugios or lodging on CF.

And, because she was traveling with a baby she was given leeway to participate within the pilgrim community as another traveler on the path eventhough she drove from point to point.

 

[dougfitz]

I don't have a view about how I would tolerate having a noisy infant in a dormitory. What I would say, though, is that you shouldn't be deterred from walking with your child. I expect that you will want your child to be as least disruptive as possible, and will try and make sure they are. But it will still be an infant, and it would be unrealistic of others to expect it to be some idealistic paragon. I would like to think that I would cut you some slack.

I have stayed in albergues where couples have been staying with a young child in a pram. One time, I arrived when the albergue wasn't full, and rooms were being filled up from one end of the corridor. But the hospitalero opened up a dorm room at the other end of the corridor from the rest of us for this family, and in the end didn't have to put anyone else in it. I think it would be a hard-hearted hospitalero that wouldn't try and make arrangements like that where they could.

 

[Ianinam]

In not so busy times we try to give people with little children a place in an empty dormitory, in order to give them privacy and other pilgrims a good nights rest, but this is impossible in busy times. We show them our washing-sinks in the lavatory which can be used as a perfect babybath ...
I have seen really happy babies, carried by mother or father in some sort of baby carrier or just in a sling.
But I always think: is this fun for a baby, being carried around all day, every day firmly tied to mother or father? A baby should be able to move, to crawl, to practise to sit up, to roll-over, to try to walk, in short: to develop muscles, to practise balance ...
And a crawling baby on an albergue floor ... I know better and more hygienic places.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

I've come across the odd family with a baby whilst tramping in New Zealand. Whilst I wouldn't say it was common it certainly far from unknown.
A couple of times we all slept through the night; on one memorable occasion to say we all had a 'disturbed' night is an understatement of the century.

You talk about short stages which means that many of us would likely only see you for one night. I choose to sleep in Albergues therefore I allow for the fact that I could be 'disturbed' by a prolific snorer. I'd rather deal with a baby any day!

Go for it, and Buen Camino

 

[Ianinam]

I have also often seen families with young children, toddlers or somewhat older children with a stroller/pram. These children can rest whenever they want, but they can also walk short stages. And they are always very, very proud they walk, and very happy with all the attention they receive from other pilgrims. In contrary to walking with a baby, for young children this is a phantastic experience which makes them very proud of themselves.

 

[TravellingMan22]

I think it’s a tough one taking a baby into a dorm. Not something I would consider. As someone who stays in a lot of dorms, both non Camino and Camino, I find those on Camino more intolerant than those not on Camino. Understandable in my view as folks on Camino are often there as part of the experience (not of financial necessity) and may not stay in dorms on their other vacations, whereas folks in dorms not on Camino tend to be just glad to have somewhere cheap to sleep! The upside is that behaviour in Camino dorms is far better than non Camino dorms! With the caveat that the demographic is very different.

Many private hostels don’t take babies/children! I guess I am tolerant with most things, including snorers, though babies may be a challenge though I guess potentially only for one night so maybe ok on reflection.

 

[Paladina]

Are you comfortable with carrying the additional weight? How capable is your child of adapting to unfamiliar surroundings? How tolerant are fellow hikers of a disturbed night’s sleep? How receptive are you to possible objections? I suggest you try a ‘dummy run’ in your own country first to see how it goes.