We Walked it with a 14 Month Old

[waveprof]

So I couldn't decide which of the "Camino with a Baby" threads this best fit, so I decided to give it its own.

My mother, wife, and I just finished walking the Frances from May 21 to June 21 with our then 14 month old son, from Iruna/Pamplona to Santiago (and then Cee to Fistera). We went to St Jean on the 17, planning to leave on the 19, but that was the time of the snowfall that closed even the low road (!) on the 18. Some people did get out on the 19th, but we decided that with a baby it was best to bus around to Iruna. We also had planned to walk from Santiago to Fistera, but when we got to SdC we decided we were ready to bus to Cee and just walk from there. It allowed us a few days to rest up along the Basque coast.

From that point (Pamplona/Iruna), we walked the entire way to Santiago, sans one day that our baby (Kepa) was sent ahead by taxi with his grandmother for 10 km and one other day that we all went ahead by 10 km. Other than that he did the whole thing in our backpacks, staying primarily at albuerge's.

Anyone interested in more details can check out our blog at http://elpequenoperegrino.blogspot.com/. The post that most specifically deals with how we did it with a baby can be found at http://elpequenoperegrino.blogspot.com/2013/07/doin-it-with-baby.html

While there was plenty of skepticism early on, we did not run against a single negative comment, and Kepa became quite, quite popular with other peregrinos. Only one albuergue said a negative thing, and that was the albuergue run by the Dutch Evangelicals near Montjardin-----and even then their concern was not having a baby on premises, but rather the fact that he was going to share a bed with my wife (we were worried he'd roll out of his own bed). Worked out just as well because it allowed us to take the (prettier and easier) route over the top of Montjardin. Other than that, most albuergues actively worked to help us. A few even had baby beds and/or high chairs. Almost all saved us a private room or else worked to place us in the most private location possible.

I wouldn't recommend doing it with "most" babies, but if your baby has the right personality and you are willing to take on the additional challenges, then it can be a great experience. It was for us. I would highly recommend NOT doing it with a pushchair or buggie however. See the blog for reasons why.

Here are two pictures from Santiago:

Thanks to all of the other peregrinos we met for making our trip so wonderful, for offering so, so much encouragement, for never being negative, for defending us to others, for making this a unanimously positive experience. Having read this forum ahead of time we anticipated a lot of resistance and negative looks and comments. We finished with nary a one. Instead, we felt a massive wave of support. Thank you.

 

[skilsaw]

Your baby is a real trooper.
My wife and I took our year old son to the Canadian Rockies. We were camping with our car, and planned on glorious mountain walks each day. Stephen did not cooperate. After the first day in the backpack, he resisted, fussed and cried everytime we put him in it. We went home early and sat in the lawn chairs while he played in the sprinkler for the rest of our holiday.

That was 28 years ago. August 25 Stephen will swim, bike, run Ironman Canada in Whistler, BC.

 

[Stellere]

Amazing! What a wonderful experience for you all to share together! Thank you for sharing the photos...your little guy is a cutie.

 

[waveprof]

Amazing! What a wonderful experience for you all to share together! Thank you for sharing the photos...your little guy is a cutie.

Thank you! Mostly he was/is happy. Which is the biggest factor on whether or not one should try this with a small child. Kepa was thoroughly happy on camino and in the pack. In fact, it was a much more difficult transition for him to leave the camino than it was to join it. He loved the repetition, structure, the meeting the same camino family every day, checking out a new albuergue every evening, and (more than anything) the walking. Other children, such as skilsaw's, would not be as happy. It doesn't make one better or worse, or more or less inclined to be active when older (see that skilsaw's son is currently being far more adventurous than I'll ever be in my life!). It is simply about baby personality. And I can't imagine doing the Camino de Santiago with a baby whose personality was shoe-horned into the life on the Camino.

So, as I say on my blog, yes you can do it with a baby, and yes it can be the best decision you ever made......but that doesn't mean that everyone should do it with a baby.

 

[NoQ]

That's such a great, positive story. It'll be amazi.g for your bairn to look back on the photos in years to come.

 

[waveprof]

That's such a great, positive story. It'll be amazi.g for your bairn to look back on the photos in years to come.

Sorry NoQ, I didn't see your response till now. Thanks. It is and will be. Our son's favorite toys remain the child's walking stick given him by a shopkeeper in O'Cebreiro and a toy lobster pot given him by a shopkeeper in Euskal Herria/Basque Country.

 

[Gailsie]

When I walked the Frances route in the fall of 2009 there was a young Israeli couple walking with a baby. I saw them for two days and then did not see them again- I think that it was out of Roncesvalles and the Zubiri. I always wondered how they made out along the way.

 

[alhartman]

Your blog is extraordinarily informative and very thoughtful.
I am in the midst of planning a 3 generation 20June-9July walk that includes my 2 year old granddaughter, daughter, and son-in-law. From my past love of both LaRioja and Galacia, I am proposing to walk only the Pomplona/Logrono and Hospital/Sarria sections, with a rest day in Santiago to capture the experience of hugging St James, the Jesse Tree, the silver casket, the singing nun, and the swing of butafumerio.
I have a drawer full of compostela that I care little for, but have framed a few of my precious Credencial--so the compostela is easy to forgo at this point. I also believe that the Camino infrastructure and experience has been hugely distorted by the 'last 100km rule'.
Maybe this is an extreme example of 'the journey is not the destination', and depends on the wishes of the intermediate generation, but working hypothesis for now--more Spanish and Camino experiences in trade for no compostela.
Thank you so much for your post-camino insights in your blog!!