Boating with a baby

[jeremy0011]

I have a two month old baby girl Layla. The weather is warming up and we are beginning to think about boating season. Looking for general tips on boating with an infant as well as life jackets and creative ways to keep her out of the sun. Thanks in advance!

 

[waterboy]

We boated with our girls from Day 1. Our old boat, we were able to push the pumpkin seat under the dash and they would sleep all day from the movement of the boat. They are 22. 20 and 15 now and love the water as a result. Don;t let it stop you.

Lifejackets don't fit kids up until they are maybe 2 years old since they don;t have a neck. Sounds funny but I'm not kidding. Nothing fits so we never worried about it until they started walking and got mobile. Keep them in the shade and full of sunscreen.

Have fun. They will be lifelong boaters as a result!!!

 

[Trevor Shipman]

Shade shade and more shade. You can see in this pic we were able to put up a big umbrella using the table stand. Our 6 month did great under it.

 

[RightStuff]

For that first year, I'm not going to lie, you aren't going to get the same quality boating time in with a new baby. But you can make it work...

Keep your trips short to start without any schedule (like meeting friends or taking friends with). It might also help to bring a close family member with to help on those first couple time (Grandparents, etc.), but that depends on the family members too.

Get a life jacket on her now and as frequently as possible so she gets use to it before going on the boat. They aren't going to like it to start, like @waterboy said none of them fit and are comfortable at that age. Getting the jacket on in my experience tends to be the biggest issue, just starts the whole trip on a bad note for them if they aren't use to it.

Outside of that line up lots of babysitters, make boating a 'date night' until you can get her into boating. It'll happen, just ease her into it.

 

[sysinu]

Don't plan a trip longer than 3-4 hours. As others mentioned, shade is your friend. Bring a thermos full of ice chips for the baby to chew/suck on. Sunscreen++. Get one of those little hand fans that mist cold water as well for when you're not underway.

Other than that, everything else you normally would use to appease the child (toys, etc). The kid is going to hate the life jacket, but you have to use it.

 

[Bruce]

We have used this life jacket with 6 month olds https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UNRCSA/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[MattFX4]

Man...you guys must have awesome wives. My wife says a boat is a waste until our baby is older. He is 18 months old right now. I think he would love it by the time summer comes around. She thinks next summer will be the right time. We have a golf cart that we cruise around the neighborhood on and he loves it. The first words out of his mouth when he wakes in the morning is "golf cart, golf cart". I want him to say "boat, boat!"

 

[JDSCHMOO]

All great tips.

My little guy did not like cruising speeds at all, until we closed the windshield and helm door. Blocking the wind went from him screaming and huddling behind mommy, to now we can't keep him off the passenger seat.

That began when he was a little older than 1, but would have been great to know when he was younger as well.

 

[MattFX4]

Shade shade and more shade. You can see in this pic we were able to put up a big umbrella using the table stand. Our 6 month did great under it.

awesome umbrella stand idea. The swim platform of these boats can not be beat.

 

[jeremy0011]

Thanks for all the advice. We camp at the lake every other weekend and will always be close to the camper and air conditioning when needed. I have been thinking about adding a bow cover like the one pictured below. Anyone know where I can have something like this made in the Raleigh area?

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Thanks for all the advice. We camp at the lake every other weekend and will always be close to the camper and air conditioning when needed. I have been thinking about adding a bow cover like the one pictured below. Anyone know where I can have something like this made in the Raleigh area?

Find yourself a marine canvas shop to add a zipper to the existing Bimini and make the new part of the cover. Easy peasy.

 

[Freezer41]

the last 5 or so times I've gone out, my wife didn't want to go because of the baby. It sucks to have to hold a baby the whole time and the baby would get fussy in choppy water. Now that she is a year old, we will try again, hopefully with other adults on board to help out.

 

[Ajax]

Fitted sheet idea if going to beaches

 

[waterboy]

@jeremy0011 I am in the Holly Springs area. Hello neighbor!!!

Look up http://www.autointeriorsandtops.com/ They are downtown Raleigh. They do awesome work and probably could do a custom job of what you wanted. I used them for a minor repair on my boat seats, They come highly recommended for upholstery work.

 

[cozilla]

Took our baby girl out all last summer. She wore a hat and stayed under the bimini most of the time except for when she was in the water with me but she loved it. She is 17 months now and we went on the boat last night for a cruise and she was so still and loved it. We have her in one of those puddle jumper life jackets this year and she didn't mind it at all kept it on the whole way home on the golf cart. We are looking forward to this boating season. I am not going to lie my wife usually does most of the work as far as the baby is concerned when we are on the boat so she gets a gold medal for that but we boat with other with kids too so that helps.

Edit: we also hung a swing from the bimini that she would nap in and eat in.

 

[Edward]

Boating with an infant and young kids now means the extra set of hands/eyes your wife provided during any and all boating tasks will now be per-occupied with child related tasks. You'll need to think about taking upon all associated tasks....launching/loading/docking/etc....

Our first year of child in the boat was my first year of figuring out how to do everything myself as I couldn't always rely upon my wife to help....sometimes there was a screaming baby that she had to tend to, other times it was "baby brain" momma not entirely focused.

Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen & shade, shade, shade. The first time you burn your baby's skin from the boating outing may be the last time you ever take her out young like that as the momma will not forget and not want to risk it in the future. Trust me, you want SFP 2000 and lots of shade.

Think about your drive home. There may be times where your little baby may get motion sickness and projectiles in the car could happen. All I can say is be prepared for that. Also, know your doses for childrens ibuprofen ( or tylenol...can't remember) and have that in the car if your trip home takes time. It's possible at times they could get a headache or just not feel well from the experience and that will help ease them. I can't remember if that early of an age can take it or not, but if they can it's a good thing to have on hand.

You can never have enough plastic bags, diapers, wipes and extra clothes for you little one on the boat.

Avoid the really HOT days or if you venture out on those days make it early and don't stay out long. Stay in tune with how that baby is feeling and watch out for heat exhaustion. If your wife is breast feeding, the baby may kick up the feeding during the heat and that's good as you don't want them to get dehydrated.

It will take a couple of trips to really get comfortable with the logistics and your little one will throw some curveballs in there from time to time. We've had quite a few trips where 10 to 15 minutes after launch the baby just got too fussy and nothing was working to settle them and had to call it a day....don't let those days frustrate you it's all part of the process.

The more your out there the easier it gets. The more your out there, the more they end up LOVING IT.

Enjoy it for what it is, even if it's a quick 15 minute trip on the water. Remember, your baby feeds off of your emotions.

And as always, be safe.

 

[bumpy]

Our grand kids hated the life jackets (we bought 5 different styles!) but put up with them until the short rides to anchor places or home were done. Once on anchor, we used towel clips http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Round-Bimini-Top-Biminiclip-6-pack&i=75813 to attach shade to the bimini, and they had (have) a ball! Short rides seem to be key. Good luck!