Lofty88

She was definitely at a convenient age... stays where you put her etc! I would hate to jinx it, but she's been a pretty good sleeper throughout... fingers crossed it stays that way!

As promised, here’s a little writeup of our week long trip on a Narrowboat with a 6 week old baby! There were 4 of us (My wife and I, my sister and her husband) and when we booked the trip we were unaware there would be a fifth guest! Trip was booked through Aqua Narrowboats on the Aqua Vida- would highly recommend them for anyone who is looking- great boats, nice location and brilliant staff. We collected the boat from Barton Turns Marina and, as advised by the friendly folk on here and the chap at the marina, took a right and headed SW awards Fradley Junction. Now for some baby stuff- our primary concern was sleeping arrangements. Justin from Aqua was very helpful and took the liberty of measuring the spaces next to & between beds so we could work out what she could sleep in- she’s a little small to be on her own in the Saloon. 58cm between the smaller double bed and the bulkhead was the magic number, and after a lot of digging found an ideal bed at Smyths Toys which worked a treat- easy to fold up and could disappear during the day. Beyond that, we bought her bouncing chair along with us too. It was a bit of faff moving bits around between day and night- our bed became the cot storage location during the day… but it was honestly fine. One of the saloon benches became a changing station as needed, but again, no real hassle. Baby is breasted, so we didn’t need to faff around with any bottles, sanitising etc- but I imagine that could be a bit tedious with the limited space. At that point she wasn’t bothered about dummies either, so we had no need for any sterilisation, but a lunchbox and Milton tabs would have sufficed if needed. First night we made it to Fradley junction end enjoyed a nice dinner in the Swan pub. We bought a very compact pram with us (Joolz AER+) which is fine from newborn onwards and folds up into a very small package- that lived in one of the cupboards near the back door of the boat. It was ideal for the short journeys to pubs etc and gave her somewhere to sleep while we ate. We also had a Tuya baby carrier with us which was very useful. Day 2, we stopped at the big Tesco in Rugely to stock up, then continued on to Great Haywood and had another nice dinner in the Clifford Arms. We also rescued an uninhabited boat that was blocking the canal… that was a bit of excitement for us! (The mooring rope had totally disintegrated, so I was pleased to see my knot still holding tight when we passed it again a couple of days later!). Day 3 bought us to Stone. We moored right outside of the big M&S (Near the winding hole) and marked our ‘turnaround’ point. For the life of me I cannot remember the name of it, but we found the most amazing Italian restaurant. Probably some of the best Italian food I’ve eaten in the UK, would HIGHLY recommend. Day 4 turned us around and we got back to Great Haywood, then continued along the Staffs & Worcester mooring opposite Stafford Boat Club. Lovely quiet place… can’t remember where we ate! On Day 5 we span around and headed back towards Great Haywood to go back onto the Trent & Mersey canal where we stopped just outside of Rugely for the night. There was an epic rainstorm just as we were getting towards the junction itself- and for anyone that’s been there you’ll know it’s very narrow and stopping isn’t an option… so that was fun! Day 6 took us on a leisurely trip to Alrewas where we stopped early in the day and visited a nice coffee shop, then had some food from the local takeaway fish & chip shop- would recommend! They had a great variety of food. That left us the short journey back towards the marina to reluctantly return the boat. We had a lovely, relaxing trip and in the same circumstances, I would absolutely do it again. In reality, I think we were at the perfect age window for the baby- even now she’s far too interested in things to want to laze around on a boat for days..! It does still remain the only time she’s slept all the way through the night though… I believe that was the case on 3 of our 7 nights, so that was a treat for us. The other couple on the boat were incredibly excited for the bonding time with baby and were well aware that there would be sleepless nights etc… in reality I think we have lucked out as she’s still not a particularly fussy baby. Mum had a wonderful week and was able to get some well deserved rest between feeds which I know she appreciated- there were plenty of naps happening throughout the week (For all 5 of us!). Not having to work meant I got to spend a lot of valuable time with her… plenty of photos of her in her carrier being worn by Captain Dad! We ate in pubs virtually every lunch & dinnertime, so that was pretty easy. Someone had mentioned breastfeeding in a pub may be an issue… if any other pubgoers had approached that subject I’d have (not very politely) told them where to shove it As expected though, it was a complete non-issue. All in all, a 10/10 week for us and we were able to create some lovely memories and take some great photos that she can look at when she’s older. Thanks all for the advice- it was all very welcome and extremely helpful!

Sorry yes, I'll do a bit of a write up! In short though, we had a fab week away- I'm glad we were well prepared!

Thanks all for the advice! We had an absolutely fantastic week away and the advice was much appreciated! Edit- I should add, would there be any benefit to a bit of a report? Could be handy for anyone else going with a newborn!

We are collecting a hire boat on Saturday from Barton Turns Marina and planning to head south from there- is this likely to affect us?

Baby's auntie (who has had kids of her own) is extremely excited about a week away with the new baby, so fortunately I don't think they will mind the noise...! (Lets see if they still agree afterwards!) We are already beyond getting any cash back, so we will be going Baby's auntie is extremely excited about a week away, I don't think she would forgive us if we didn't go, haha. We are all excited for it!

Thanks a lot for this- that's very helpful!

Ah sorry, should have clarified! 2 couples It certainly is Aqua Narrowboats! Very excited

Hi all. 4 of us (2 couples) have booked a canal holiday in July of this year (Not our first one!). Since booking last year, a new baby is on the way and will be around 6 weeks old when we go... exciting stuff! That being said, it probably means we won't be doing very long days of cruising. We pick up & return the boat to Barton Turns marina on the Trent & Mersey- does anyone have any recommendations of picturesque routes in the area? Originally we were going to do the black country ring, but now we won't be doing that, we could head in any direction!