Comments on: Baby & The Beach

By: Calee

Calee — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:31:47 +0000

We live in southern California and just got back from our annual trip to a beach resort in Mexico.
Our daughter is now 3, but each year we learn a little more about how to do a beach trip with kids.
1. Notice I said trip, not vacation. Super exhausting with the little ones. Try and take turns with your husband so you each get a little chill time.
2. Sand toys are a must.
3. Our kid (and us too) always have preferred pool to swimming in the ocean. Buy one of those swim rafts for babies and leave it in the box until you arrive.
4. Unless the beach you’re going to is really rocky, the aqua socks never really worked. Carry baby on hot dry sand. Wet sand is cool and easier for them to walk on.
5. Sunscreen is good. Hats are essential. Our daughter’s scalp got a little burned on this last trip.
6. We’re disposable diaper people most of the time but when we did baby swim lessons we were required to get a cloth swim diaper from target. Worked better than the disposables–though neither stop pee out of the water– and they’re cheap. Just get 2 or 3 plus some disposables if you find baby poops while in the water. Otherwise, use regular disposables when it looks like you’re going to be out of the water for a while (naps.)

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:15:54 +0000

Another vote for the SPF long sleeve swimsuit – we put our 9 month old in a Sunbusters (available on diapers.com and worth every penny) every day in Hawaii and no sunburn (or even tan). The suit also works like an insulating layer if the water is a little cool.
I also put sunscreen (Earth’s Best mineral based SPF 30+) on him first thing in the morning when we were getting ready for the day, then just applied a dab more to his face and hands at the beach.
We bought a tent that rolled up really small and took it with us, but never used it. I thought it would be good for naps, but our son has a very specific nap routine and it was not gonna happen on the beach.
For the pool and extremely calm, sheltered beach areas, I love our Swimways Baby Spring Float that I bought at Target for $15. He wasn’t walking at the time, so it was particularly thrilling for him to float in water just deep enough to tickle his toes on the sandy bottom. It packs up neatly in a small storage tote; it came with a canopy that has turned out to be pretty worthless.
We bought a sunhat at REI with the flap in the back and a long bill in the front – he was pretty good about keeping it on if we distracted him with food…
We used the Finis swim diaper (also on diapers.com) which ran ridiculously small and was hard to get on and off – but I recall the only Kushies available on the site at the time were pink, and that would not fly with the ILs. Sigh. We also used Huggies Little Swimmers, which worked fine.
Have a great trip!

By: Margie

Margie — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:39:38 +0000

We’ve used iPlay swim diapers with our little one and had great success, though never had to deal with a poo, so I can’t speak to that. The girl-designated prints have adorable ruffles on the back. They definitely run small, so we ordered one on the large side this year. And now that I’m typing this, I’m realizing that they’re pull-up-style, which… hmmm… but it wasn’t a problem when she was really little (around 4 months) last summer.
And on the sunscreen issue: we talked to our pediatrician because we were headed to the beach with her at four months old, and the pediatrician okayed the Badger sunscreen we had, and noted that what we really needed to be careful of was over-heating. Not sure I would have realized that on my own.

By: Deanna

Deanna — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:35:13 +0000

I used to life guard at a pool and my suggestion would be just in case your baby doesn’t like the beach and you end up spending lots of time at the pool instead bring swim diapers. They are mandatory at a lot of pools because should any poo escape (any good pool at least) will be closed for at least an hour. And the life guards have absolutely no problem closing the pool if they think there is anything on the loose. Its less work for them.

By: kakaty

kakaty — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:51:45 +0000

We’ve been taking our daughter to the beach (Hilton Head, SC) 2x a year since she was 6 months. The baby I’m prego with will also meet the beach for the first time just a few days short of 6 months. I have actaully found the beach to be the most relaxing family vacation EVER. I would ONLY go to the beach if we could. The baby years are a little more work, with sand eating and all, but I feel more relaxed after a week at the beach then a week at a cabin in the woods.
Anyway – beach shoes are a must. So are SPF tops and suits. For girls get a tankini or a 2-piece to make diaper changes easier and we always just changed into a swim diaper on the beach before getting into the water. Changed back to a regular diaper afterwords.
You can find waterproof beach blankets all over the place now and those are fantastic. We usually just rent an umbrella (less to haul) right on the beach for shade.
Our condo is right on the beach so we leave our stuff on the beach all day (no valuables) and go back and forth over the boardwalk to our condo as needed so hauling stuff is limited to once down and once back at night. We have a rule of one large tote per adult – if it doesn’t fit we don’t need it!

By: shylo

shylo — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:49:28 +0000

Another good reason to use the PUL-lined Imse Vimse rather than Bummis is that most public pools require a waterproof cover. The Bummis cover will probably hold in poop, but won’t pass the waterproof test. I know my gym’s baby swim instructors were pretty militant about this.

By: Roberta

Roberta — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:21:37 +0000

On the sunscreen issue. You CAN put sunscreen on babies younger than 6 months. Pedes prefer using sunscreen to early sun exposure/skin cancer. Ask your pede about it – ours OK’ed sunscreen at 3 mos. The California Baby and Neutrogena sunscreens both worked well for us when we took our then-4 month old to Australia to visit family – our daughter never got burned. The ozone layer is all kinds of messed up in AU, the skin cancer rate is very high, so sun exposure is a big deal. All the kids are issued big floppy sun hats with their school uniforms.

By: CS

CS — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:46:52 +0000

One complicating factor when you’re deciding about sunscreens (chemicial or physical) for kids is the nano-particle issue. The Environmental Working Group has some good info on their website (ewg.org) about sunscreen efficacy, nano-particles, and kids.
_________
Editor: thank you. I agree. It’s my go-to site for the efficacy vs. dangerous chemicals balance of a sunscreen. (we link to it through one of the articles in Amalah’s answer).

By: emily

emily — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:28:53 +0000

Della,
Exactly as you described, just rub the baby powder onto the dry sand it will come right off.

By: Kimberly C

Kimberly C — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:25:42 +0000

We live about 45 minutes from the Gulf, so we are beach people- but we also make day trips- meaning we have to pack up and go home. The awesome baby powder trick works wonderfully for having to ride after the beach. First, dry off as best you can. This is sometimes quite hard to do because you are in a humid/ sweaty climate. Apply baby powder liberally, and wipe again. All stuck on sand comes off, yay! Also, we tend to strip the kidlet naked and let her shower at the outside shower. We kinda shield her with a beach towel for some privacy, but she was two last year, we didn’t think that it was that big of a deal. And she thought it was funny.
Ask your pediatrician about the sunscreen issue. Mine told me that 6 months is better, but sunscreen was better than sunburn. She has been wearing sunscreen outside in Gulf Coast sun since she was about 4 months. Mostly because I couldn’t keep my sun worshiper MIL from taking her in it,and I pick my battles.
Swimmers ear is a good idea. For everybody- but then *I* get ear infections from water still, so I may be biased.
Check the Parent Hacks website too, they had a list of beach tips up, maybe last year? There were some pretty good ones.
PS those water shoes work GREAT at the splash pad thingie if you have one of those around. Of course I am the only mom who has her kid wear shoes on the thing but… it is rubbery and there are FEET all over it and ew! I keep seeing foot fungus in my mind’s eye.