Babies and Boating 101

First Born

First Born

New Member
PLATINUM Sponsor
Oct 3, 2006
3,900
Charlotte, N.C.
Boat Info
2006 185 Sport
Engines
4.3 L 190 HP
As we prepare for next year with our little girl on her way in March, I want to start preparing for making sure we can get her on the boat as quickly as possible safely. The main thing I am beginning to research is life jackets at this point (looking for the right one and what age is it effective) but if there are any other helpful hints that you guys have please suggest that as well. How old is too early, if there is such a thing :grin:

Basically I guess what I am asking is :smt100
 
Our boys were in the water very early, as soon as they could handle the temps! Babies love water, if it doesn't go in their face to much to start... my youngest boy was swimming underwater at 1 yr, the older 2 weren't that much older! Start out with motorboating, and just get them accustomed to having fun in the water during their baths and work into pools, and lakes. At that age, they make life jackets that flip the baby up so they're not facedown in the water, with the head up. They typically loop under their legs to keep them from slipping out. And some I've seen have a handle on the top, so you can grab it.
 
Wesley- both of my kids were on the boat with 48 hours of birth. My first was on an 18' Donzi with no cover..... which lead very quickly to a 340DA.

As for the lifejackets.... every kid is different. If you're anything like us, you'll end up owning at least 2 sizes of every kid lifejacket made on this planet. We tried everything and, to be honest, not much worked until my kids were about 3. Until then, we would simply change from one jacket to another throughout the day and we were able to manage.
 
Sounds like you are getting some good advice Wesley. I can't remember exactly how old our girls were, but I can't remember not having them in the boat or water with us. Also make sure Momma is happy and feels the little ones are secure. You know what they say, "If momma is unhappy, every body is unhappy"
 
I think we also have every life jacket made.
We found three life jackets per child works good
one in car
one on boat
one extra in case one gets wet
The one in the car is for the trip down the dock to the boat.

We found an extra car seat is great to have around also.

Most importantly things will go slower, get used to it.
You will also have tons of stuff to carry around.
 
We've been hauling the grandkids around since babies. Rarely are we without at least one of them. Each time a new life jacket was purchased the first thing I do is put them in the water and see how it supports/floats them. One jacket actually floated them almost as good face down as face up, not good. Once they got past the baby stage that issue went away as they got more vertical in the water.
 
Woody said:
One jacket actually floated them almost as good face down as face up, not good. Once they got past the baby stage that issue went away as they got more vertical in the water.
Click to expand...

You may want to try weighted shoes to keep them vertical and heads up. Seriously, the life jackets with the handles behind the neck are more than just a convenience. If the child floats too far away for you to reach with your arm extended from the boat, just grab the boat hook and hook her handle. On board, if he starts to waddle away from you towards trouble, he's easier to grab.

Pet life jackets with handles are useful for all the same reasons.

And slightly off topic, get plenty of baby sunscreen. Their skin is much more sun-sensitive than older children and adults.
 
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We just had a baby this past March (March 29, 2008). We boated all summer and had him in the water by late August. He would fall asleep once we got moving. It's a little tough on the wife because she is stuck holding the baby while we're underway. We eventually found that a "bouncy" seat on board works wonders. We used the Fisher-Price Jungle collection because it was small enough to store on the boat and had straps to hold him and has solid metal frame to take the abuse of getting knocked around the boat. Make sure you're prepared by having a place for nap time(for the baby). It definetly changes how we boat, it did get easier as the summer went on and he got a little more alert and we could interact with him. I can't wait to next summer with him and see(hope) he enjoys it as much as us. Let me know if you have any specific questions. Just make sure you have everything you might need because you'll proably need it at some point.
 
Quote "I've found a handy trick when I am alone with the boys is to tie a dock line to the loop on the back of their life vest. You can elect to tie a bell to the dockline as well. This way, when the dockline goes tight, or the bell starts ringing, you know you should put down the oil filter, or whatever you where working on in bilge (or bidge, bildge) and go pull the little sucker from the water." Quote

I have tied the grandkids to the boat with a rope, anchored one day in what turned out to be very strong current on the incoming tide, in fact to be honest even the adults were tied to the boat. It was really a relaxing day, kids could drift out to the end of the rope and pull themselves back to the boat.

Wesley, SPF50 Suntan lotion, babies burn easy.
We also have one of those canopy things with the frame you just pull out and put the cover on, for beach time, has a nice case to store it in, lays nicely in the floor of the boat right in front of the rear seat.
Garbage bags, there is gonna be some stinky diaper stuff to store till you get back to the dock at least.
Possibly insect repellent for baby, don't know how the biting insects are in your area.
 
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neyc said:
Most importantly things will go slower, get used to it.
You will also have tons of stuff to carry around.
Click to expand...

Jimmy Buffett refers to this as BSE.... Baby Support Equipment. You will need a larger car, boat, and, in Jimmy's case, airplane to hold all of it.
 
Congratulations!

We had our boy out several times this summer, starting at 11 days old. Since yours will arrive in March you'll have a bit of time before the hot weather returns. Generally you want to keep an infant out of excessive heat for the first couple of months, as they can't completely regulate their own temperature effectively.

It helps to have an umbrella handy to block the sun. One that has a clamp of some kind helps even more. But when you're anchored and the boat swings about it's a challenge keeping the sun off. Just be sure to secure it so it doesn't blow over and jab the baby, they can't duck out of the way yet.

Mustang's smallest size lifejacket didn't fit until our boy was about 12 pounds. I know of no others any smaller. I can't recall which, but some states vary on when a PFD is required (above, below deck, ages, etc). Since you're in an open boat this may be an issue.

Nor do sunglasses fit until they're usually about 6 months. We propped up a pair on him. He fussed a bit until I raised/lowered them twice. He caught on to the idea after that. Glasses, fuss, sun, squint, glasses.. hmmm... smile! But it's impossible to keep 'em in place on an infant. Your best bet is a floppy hat with a neck strap.

There's a type of kid sunscreen comes in a spray can, works great for applying with one hand. You really do not want to let them get too much sun. At least one study linked getting a bad sunburn as a child to skin cancer later. I'm sure plenty of folks can argue one way or the other (let's not). Even without that risk I can't imagine putting up with the howling cry of an infant with a sunburn. The child's going to get some sun, just try to avoid letting it be too much while they're too young to handle it.

When you have enough storage on the boat it's nice to have extras of ALL the baby stuff to keep on the boat. You really don't want to have to keep lugging everything to the boat and back all the time. Another diaper bag, an extra Boppy pillow (which is great for propping them up too), a changing mat, spare clothes, wipes, etc. It's also handy to get one of the changing pads with storage pouches and leave it in the car. That way you've got some spares for when you, inevitably, run out.

For your boat I'd recommend having a diaper bag with lots of storage but that closes up completely so nothing falls out/overboard.

Figure out where it'll sleep too. The car carrier might work but we found it better to use a small bassinet (one that was part of a pack-and-play setup). Not quite practical in your size boat though.

For going ashore I've found it's been better to either carry the infant carrier or put him in a sling. A stroller bouncing across dock boards wakes him up too much (you VALUE when an infant sleeps).

You may get less use out of the boat next season. The production of taking the baby out is an event in itself. Adding boating to it doesn't make it any simpler. But you'll get used to it eventually.
 
BTW Wesley, until they're about 5, engine(s) on=sleeping kid. Remember that as it will come in handy to regain your sanity and as an excuse to use the boat.
 
Wesley,
Our daughter was born on April 21st of this year and we were boating with her by July (just did not have the time before then). She did great! It was a bit tough to find the right life jacket, but we ended up with a nice neoprene one from the local sporting goods store. My advise is try a few on her and see which works best. The one we ended up with looks a lot like a normal vest with a zipper and straps on the front, and has the flap on the back to keep their head a float.

Another advantage is the natural rocking action of a boat tends to put them right to sleep. She has taken some of her longest naps aboard the boat.

-Ryan
 
Like others, our kids were out within the first month, and they both live for weekends on the boat at 4 and 7... All of this is good advice, and I would add a spray bottle with cool water to mist them when it gets warm...
 
Is it just me or has anyone noticed how when you have kids, the first one is always "well taken care of" and you read and buy all kinds of things and give advice on proper care, etc. etc. and then by the time you get to the forth kid, you just take them to the beach, throw them in the dirt, and let them eat sand???

For example, here's a picture of our four boys that hangs in our house:

DSC_0429.jpg


You will note that the top child, with his happy expression, appears to have a much different personality than the youngest bottom child who was kept in a cardboard box and drug around on a dog leash....
 
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Gary,there is an easy solution we are stopping at one.

Thanks to for the great advice; keep it coming...:thumbsup:
 
Four Suns said:
Is it just me or has anyone noticed how when you have kids, the first one is always "well taken care of" and you read and buy all kinds of things and give advice on proper care, etc. etc. and then by the time you get to the forth kid, you just take them to the beach, throw them in the dirt, and let them eat sand???

For example, here's a picture of our four boys that hangs in our house:

DSC_0429.jpg


You will note that the top child, with his happy expression, appears to have a much different personality than the youngest bottom child who was kept in a cardboard box and drug around on a dog leash....
Click to expand...

Gary Looks like he has your tounge?

Wes,
It really is hard to kill a kid. They're more resiliant than you think, but I completely understand where you're at right now.

We've taken our kids out early and often too.
searaybaby-1.jpg


Keep that PFD on all the time and they'll think it's second nature.
twinsatLakeStevens-1.jpg

P7040017.jpg
 
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