I've had so much trouble from other children... parents see me with mine and assume I'm going to look after theirs as well.. and it isn't just the younger ones either! I've been to a festival where the woman next to me left her 14yr old son at 8.00am breakfast, saying she'd be back in an hour and she turned drunk at 7.30pm, nearly 12 hours later, bitching because he'd eaten all the cereal and so she wasn't going to take him out for dinner. He'd spent all day wandering around asking people if they'd seen her, she'd been in the pub knowing full well he wouldn't be allowed in.

I would never leave my child with someone whom I don't trust or like.... and she is fairly picky too, although she will wander off with anyone sometimes! I agree that younger children are distracting at festivals where they wander about, but surely if they are not in any danger, or endangering others, isn't that preferable to them being strapped into a chair screaming they want to get out, or they and their paying parents not being there at all? If she picks on someone and attaches herself to them, we will always ask the person, and if they don't mind, then that's fine. If they do, we move on and tell her the person doesn't want her to play.

The biggest problem is other parents. If you dare to tell a child off, you are immediately stomped on as being a child molester and potential murderer..... The amount of times I've heard a parent bitching about a child being naughty, not noticing that their own offspring is doing the same if not worse! If I see a child of any parentage or description doing something wrong or dangerous, I will tell it off, and I have never shouted at anyone for doing the same to my daughter....unless they are being unfair; she will often listen to others more readily than me! Having a stewards badge and a Hi-Vis jacket helps.... sometimes I feel like taking mine along even when I'm not officially stewarding.....

There are people who will always want a child free festival. There will always be people who want a family festival. No-one will ever win, and everyone will end up paying.

And in the UK, it is illegal to leave a child under the age of 11 unattended at any time.

LTS