240DA and a Baby

M

M&M's_Beach_House

New Member
Jun 16, 2009
87
Westfield, NJ
Boat Info
2007 240DA
Engines
5.0L BIII
Hello again everyone!

We have a few questions regarding boating and our baby. Last year my wife was pregnant and sleeping on the boat was not the most comfortable and this year is our second season with our 240DA and we will have an 8 month old at the beginning of the season who is probably crawling to a 14 month old at the end of the season who is walking.

Our boat, as most of you know, is not very large. We do not have a generator, ac/heat, or any creature comforts. We do have a fan we have going at night which tends to cool the cabin quite nice. With the baby this year, we were wondering what all of you out there did for sleeping. We are going to need to keep her safe at night while we sleep if she decides to crawl around but we weren't sure of the best options. A play and pack is an option but I'm not sure if it will fit in our boat very well. Having her sleep up top is not an option so we were just trying to find out what others have done in the past, especially with our sized boat?

Also if you can recommend the most comfortable option for an infant with the life vests? And any other questions we haven't thought of to help us make our summer fun with our new baby!

Thanks for the help, looking forward to our second season in 2010!

Michael
 
I wasn't into boating when my boys were small. I can tell you that my boys were climbing at 8 mo.s and walking well before 12.

Swimming lessons for sure in a pool now this winter would be some comfort to a worrying parent. Please be careful and I truly hope you get some very positive advise on how to keep the little one safe on your boat. ...Ron
 
tobnpr said:
Do you have an aft cabin?
If so, just block off the entrance to make it into a big crib/playpen?
Click to expand...

This is not a bad idea, we would need another fan to make it cooler down there though. How would you suggest we block it off safely? Pillows and blankets are not the best option, I wonder what I could use?
 
We had twins on our 290 since 2 months. We stashed them in the aft bunk. When they became more mobile, we blocked the opening with full duffle bags. Boat got too small, and we got a 36 DB. Now, we are having a hard time blocking the edge of the bed in the 2nd stateroom. We got a bedrail which seemed to work for a little bit, but now they can stand. We're not sure what the solution is now. Will need to be some kind of baby gate, most likely. Looking forward to the day that they can walk, and we can separate the two beds in there...
 
You get to sleep in the aft cabin, and your wife sleeps in the forward berth with the baby corraled in a pillow crib. That's what some friends of mine do. Seems to work for them. The aft cabin can get hot quick and a baby can't vocalize to you except to cry. Good luck, and good on ya'll for not letting having a baby remove you from boating!
 
islandhopper00 said:
You get to sleep in the aft cabin, and your wife sleeps in the forward berth with the baby corraled in a pillow crib. That's what some friends of mine do. Seems to work for them. The aft cabin can get hot quick and a baby can't vocalize to you except to cry. Good luck, and good on ya'll for not letting having a baby remove you from boating!
Click to expand...
That's what we did in our camper...it worked fine.
 
islandhopper00 said:
You get to sleep in the aft cabin, and your wife sleeps in the forward berth with the baby corraled in a pillow crib. That's what some friends of mine do. Seems to work for them. The aft cabin can get hot quick and a baby can't vocalize to you except to cry. Good luck, and good on ya'll for not letting having a baby remove you from boating!
Click to expand...

This is what we thought was going to happen. We're going to see if a portable crib would work but it does take up a lot of space so probably not.
 
Could you modify a baby gate to fit the opeing to the aft cabin? Or perhaps you could make a custom gate for the entrance. I'd stay away from too many pillows, you know the suffocation possibility.
 
M&M - During last summer's boating season our boys were 1 year old and 2 1/2 years old. We bought a lot of toddler life vests before we found ones that worked well. Until we found a vest that was comfortable - our 1 year old was a real handful. Success was acheived when we found one that was quite a bit softer and more giving. The vests tend to ride up under their face cheeks and the stiff vests just drove him crazy. We limited our search to those that were properly certified and had the high back panel that extended up behind their entire head and had a grab handle at the top. The back extension is wonderful protection for when they inevitably take a back tumble onto the deck and the grab handle is key to thwart sudden dashes towards the transom or over the side. Our one year old loved to sit right down on the cockpit floor propped against a couple of swim cushions while we were on plane - we think he really liked the feel of the steady engine vibration on his bottom. (Who doesn't?)
 
We had the same problems with our little one..
A pack and play fits PERFECTLY SNUG in front of the galley in the 280.... can't say in the 240. Try and see the trick is to take it down there collapsed and start putting it up in the cabin...look around for a slightly smaller one since they come in different sizes... also..

http://www.toysrus.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=gate&origkw=GATE&f=Taxonomy/TRUS/2255957&sr=1



I considered this for either across the cabin door or the aft/midberth opening. It's is adjustable across the width and is held in place by unscrewing two "feet" that put lateral pressure in the four corners. I never tried it on the boat but they are great in the house and I'm sure would be great across the cabin door- just watch any steps you may have.
 
We had our twins aboard our old 230OV when they were 6 weeks old. They slept with us. My older kids slept on the sleeper seats. Yes it was extremely cozy, but we loved getting out on the water. My advice is get them the lifevest and get it on them early. Never let them take it off unless sleeping at night and they're get used to it like it's part of their body. We did that just as I was raised and we never heard a peep out of the kids complaining they didn't want to wear it. It was just simply the way it was and now that they're 7 the way it is.
 
tobnpr said:
Do you have an aft cabin?
If so, just block off the entrance to make it into a big crib/playpen?
Click to expand...


Thats a very good idea :thumbsup:
 
My kids, now age 9 & 9 (twins) and 6 have been on boats since birth. I had a 290 DA when the twins were born. It had just enough room for the pack in play in the cockpit with the rear seating gone which was a good place for them when moving or at anchor. Sleeping was basically a nightmare. When the 6 year old was born I already had my current boat which made things a lot easier. The pack and play fit in the galley for nightime. My recomendations are to shop carefully for life jackets to get ones that are comfortable and safe. Lil Mustang's were popular with our kids. I also had one of those small inflatable pools that I used to set up in the cockpit and fill with some fresh water or even sea water so they could play. The infants are manageable, the todlers are very difficult but once they get to about 3 or 4 the fun really starts. You need a very understanding wife.
 
M&M's_Beach_House said:
This is not a bad idea, we would need another fan to make it cooler down there though. How would you suggest we block it off safely? Pillows and blankets are not the best option, I wonder what I could use?
Click to expand...


First overnight on our 390 our youngest son (would've been around nine at the time) got the upper berth in the guest stateroom while big bro took the bottom one (of course).

In the middle of the night my wife and I heard a loud "thud" which jarred us awake; heard nothing further and we just fell back to sleep. In the morning I openend the door to their stateroom and found the nine year old in a pile on the floor, still sleeping... never woke up, depsite the five-foot fall to the floor (Oh, to be a kid again...).

Point of the story is that I added a "lee cloth" to his berth after that. They're more commonly used on blowbotes to keep sailors in their berths when the boat's heeled over. Basically it's just a piece of canvas, held in place with snaps and is easily removeable. I don't know if or how easily one could be adapted to your use, but it's worth a look. I got mine at Defender.
 
M&M,

At the time owning 240DA our daughter was 8yrs when our son was born. He was boating with us starting from 3 months old. We’ve had portable rocking crib, which fitted fine on the port L-shape seat and in the v-berth. We also used the top part of the stroller bassinet (similar to this one http://www.babydealz.com/insocastbach1.html?zmam=7345736&zmas=1&zmac=4&zmap=ISCC06%20AR7), which fitted fine in the same locations, obviously we would secure it. During the day I han line going from port to starboard side attached to the top of bimini holding the carseat by the handle (like a swing) where our son was rocking to sleep.

As for sleeping arrangement, we had our little guy slipping all the way in down deep in the v-berth. This worked fine only b/c we slept with heads to the port side and our feet to the starboard side. This is why we had room for our little guy to sleep with us. When he grew up a bit we stopped using the crib and he just slept in the same spot next to admiral. On occasions I would sleep with our daughter in the aft cabin. The biggest part of providing comfort for overnight sleeping was having cruisair carry-on with air deflector, which requires 120AC power. This A/C unit saved number of weekends, so I would strongly recommend it, if you don’t have it.

It'll be fun and very different season.

Good luck,
Alex.
 
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