Going To A Festival With The Little Ones

With festival season approaching, you’ll want to prepare yourself accordingly. It can be one of the best experiences for both you and your little ones. Not only does it open up their eyes and ears to new sights and sounds, but it can allow them to experience new things, have fun in a different environment and grow during critical stages of their development cycle. Grab them some festival essential neon necklaces for glow parties. However, you also want to ensure they are safe throughout. Here are some of the top tips to keep your children safe when you take them to a festival.

1. Protecting Their Ears

While listening to loud music can certainly make things more fun for adults, the same cannot be said for children. Even as adults, you are risking your hearing when listening to extremely loud music. However, children’s ears are even more sensitive to loud sounds. Regardless of the festival you go to, it’s going to be loud. There will be places you can go to get away from the music and loud noises, but you still want to be able to protect their ears throughout. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to do this. One of the best ways is to buy high-quality ear defenders for your toddler or baby. This could be a good way to ensure they can get adequate protection for their ears to keep them at risk for permanent damage. However, there are certain things you need to consider when buying one of these as they come in different form factors.

– In-Ear Protectors (Earplugs)

These are some of the protectors you can get for your child. However, they are generally going to be more difficult to get your children to wear them. They are directly inserted into the ear canal. Because of this, they are generally cheaper and more affordable. Likewise, they are much smaller than the alternatives. They can come in reusable and disposable varieties. They are generally shaped like your ear canal for proper fitment. The biggest problem with them is their fit and their comfort level. As mentioned, they have to go directly into your ear canal. Because of this, a lot of children will find them uncomfortable. Thus, it can be difficult to get them to wear them consistently throughout the long duration of a festival. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to see if your child is wearing them because they are so small and discrete. This can also make them much easier to lose and misplace during a hectic festival.

– Earmuffs (Over-The-Ears)

Another option would be earmuffs. These are placed directly over the ears. They are much easier to use because they go over the head. They are typically made out of an elastic headband connected to padded cups for noise isolation. You can find them available in various sizes including those that fit adults and children alike. Because they are so bulky, they can be a pain to carry around. However, it also makes them obvious to know if your children are wearing them and it can keep you from losing them too. 

2. Choose The Right Festival

Another thing you need to do is take time to consider the festival you are taking your child to. You want to choose the right one. You need to conduct your research on the different options available. That way, you can find the right festival that will provide a good experience for your children. There are a lot of options available. You can find some that will be more stressful than others. To make it easier to choose, there are certain criteria you want to look for when selecting one. Here are some criteria to look at:

– Night or Day?

This is one of the things you need to consider. The majority of folk music festivals occur during the daytime. Whereas, the majority of electronic music festivals will happen at night. For family festivals, it’s likely a better option to go for a daytime festival. After all, you will all be able to have fun together as children tend to go to sleep earlier than the rest.

– How Large Is It? 

You also want to look at how large the festival is. How many people are expected to attend? A smaller festival will be much more attractive to a family. Not only will they be easier to navigate with a large group and with children, but they will be safer too. It can be very difficult to keep track of your kids when you are at a large festival that’s packed full of people.

– Any Camping Options?

You want to look at and consider whether or not it offers camping options. Check to see whether or not there are locations to set up camp for your family. You don’t want to camp next to a group of wild teenagers. This is only asking for a bad time. Instead, you want to find a camp spot next to other families. 

– Do They Have Adequate Facilities?

Before your arrival, you’ll want to figure out if either the showers or toilets are working. No one wants to go to a festival that doesn’t have working facilities. If the festival lacks working facilities, you could be in for a very bad time with younger children.

– Do They Have Food?

You’re going to want to ensure that you check the food situation beforehand. If your children are very picky with what they eat, you want to ensure they have the food they will eat at the place. Do they allow you to bring food in? If not, figure out what food options they’ll have available. This can give you a good idea of whether or not you should eat beforehand and how much money to bring for buying food at the festival.