Baby & the beach - what I learned works (and doesn't work!)

[wanderingfool]

Just got off the NCL Dawn New Year's sailing. We had a great time. My son is 9 months old and we just did beach excursions with him so he could swim. I thought I would share a few things that worked for us, and might work for you too! I am excluding the typical, obvious things for traveling with babies here, and just focusing on the beach.

 

1) We purchased a sun protection tent, made of fabric designed to block out 97% of UV rays. It was worth it's weight in gold! Our first port stop, Samana, had us in the sun from 10 am to 3 pm (first tender back) and while there were some shady areas, having the tent meant we didn't have to chase the shade.

 

My son is still nursing, so it provided some privacy for that, and he also was able to have a great 2 hour nap while we read and sat there with him (pulled a beach chair up to the tent. The tent isn't a PITA, honestly, and takes about 5 minutes to set up.

 

2) UV protection clothing. In addition to sunscreen I purchased two UV suits (to always have a dry one) and they worked great! We still applied sunscreen, but this ensured an extra layer of protection for the little guy.

 

3) BYO life jacket for the beach. The surf in Samana was a bit rough and very unpredictable so we suited up DS to go swimming, for some extra peace of mind. It worked great! He didn't mind too much. We also had him wear it on the tender boat. The ship's life jackets aren't meant to be taken off the ship, and are a lot bulkier than the sporty type one we had. Highly recommended if you aren't sure of the seas you'll be swimming in or for tenders. Bulky in the suitcase but they weigh nothing.

 

4) Sun hats & Baby Banz sunglasses. DS would only leave a sun hat on his head half the time but again, it's worth bringing along IMO. Ditto for the shades.

 

5) A large bottle of water to wash away the sand from the bum! Even wearing a diaper and UV suit, sand gets everywhere. Fill up a large bottle of water on the ship to rinse the sand away, or lest risk your little one getting a nasty rash. This is a must IMO, unless you know for a fact there is a fresh water shower and that your little one will be okay getting doused by it!

 

6) Snuggly or other baby carrier. We took two tours that involved open air buses - so no seat belts or car seats. A baby carrier helps keep your little one from squirming off your lap and you have a chance at holding on for dear life :p.

 

In retrospect I probably wouldn't do this again; it is all about acceptable risk but we found the drivers in Tortola to be completely crazy, regardless of vehicle type (so a car with a car seat would still scare me there)! :eek: St. John, USVI was okay driving wise.

 

7) Sunscreen and zinc ointment (for nose, ears, etc.). Hopefully an obvious one.;)

 

 

What didn't work so well...

 

Sand gets everywhere no matter how careful you are, including wipes and vaseline so only carry a travel sized packet/tube if you can. While the beaches we went to were great, if I were doing it over again, I would find a ship with a splash pool instead. Less dragging stuff around and no interruption to nap schedules.

 

In St. John, at Trunk bay, they told us we weren't allowed to snorkel alone which was a problem for DH and I. The tour guide said they would find you a partner if you were solo, but unfortunately that was all talk - I asked to be paired up after the little welcome speech that explained the rules and our guide said, "can't you find someone?", walked away and didn't help.:confused: Oh well, my husband and invited ourselves along with another group to snorkel as we took turns taking care of the baby.

 

Like I mentioned above, I would try to avoid open air buses, at least in Tortola! Car seats won't work in them unfortunately.

 

If I think of more things that helped make our beach trips easier I will add them, or if you have any questions, ask away.

[6rugrats]

I don't have any babies anymore, but those are some great suggestions! Thanks for posting them.

[IAO]

I second the recommendation for the tent. When our DD was a baby, we had a little collapsible tent that folded up into its own case. So lightweight and easy. They make family size tents as well as smaller ones (which we had) for kids up to 5 years old.

[MrsPete]

Sand gets everywhere no matter how careful you are, including wipes and vaseline so only carry a travel sized packet/tube if you can.

Bring a travel-sized baby powder. Sprinkle it over sandy feet, etc. and the sand'll brush right off along with the powder. It's like magic.

[EmmaK]

Thanks for the suggestions. We leave this Sunday!

 

I second the baby powder over the feet...we did that this summer at the beach and it worked great.

[wanderingfool]

Bring a travel-sized baby powder. Sprinkle it over sandy feet, etc. and the sand'll brush right off along with the powder. It's like magic.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. We leave this Sunday!

 

I second the baby powder over the feet...we did that this summer at the beach and it worked great.

 

I'd never heard about the baby-powder trick before but it absolutely makes sense! Thank you - I will add this to my beach repertoire for certain!:cool:

[alh1722]

I am so happy to hear all these great suggestions! I am thrilled to know about the tent...where do I buy one and how can I get one ASAP? We are traveling Feb 3 on NCL Dawn. As a first time mom, second time cruiser, I'm a little nervous about everything. I am also wondering if we should charter our own plane for all the necessary stuff we are going to take:) I am an overprotective mom and will not let DD out of our sight...Did you experience anything or any certain areas that you felt might not be safe or that you felt uneasy around? By the way our DD will be 9 months when we cruise so again I cannot thank you enough for all the helpful hints!!

 

Last questions: What did you do on days you were at sea? Did you take a blow-up pool? Did you find a stroller helpful? DId you nurse in public? If so, did you get any evil eyes? How did dinners go? :D

[Crazyshopper]

Wanderingfool, which tours did you do for each of the ports? I have been debating on what to do. I have a 3 year old and a 6 month old. We are also on the Dawn for Feb. 3rd.

[wanderingfool]

Forgive me for being wordy, I can never give a brief answer! :D

 

 

UV tent: where do I buy one and how can I get one ASAP?

 

I purchased my tent off of good old eBay, after comparing the costs to some actual online retailers - same product, cheaper shipping. It only took 2 weeks for it to arrive, and I live in Northern Canada (really far North - as in polar bears and whatnot), and that included the 2 days that UPS didn't know where it was and a day at the customs broker when it came into the country.

 

The exact name of my tent is "Abogear Aerodome" (note: "dome" not "drome") Scroll to the bottom to see a promo photo of it, (since my own photos are on my other computer and I have a sleeping baby on my lap ;)), which is absolutely what it looks like in real life. It does have 3 poles, but it's quite easy to set up... 5 minutes or so for one person, including the time it takes to pull everything out of the bag.

 

You can buy other brands that "pop up", however, the dimensions were either too small (not big enough for Mama too) or too large (too long to fit in a suitcase.) The other issue I had with the pop-up tents is that if an interior pole breaks, you're SOL, whereas you could easily tape the poles for this one if they happened to snap. The Aerodome tent fits inside a normal suitcase (the size you have to check in) no problem.

 

 

Did you experience anything or any certain areas that you felt might not be safe or that you felt uneasy around?

 

I'll answer this question in conjunction with: which tours did you do for each of the ports?

Samana - Cayo Levantando beach escape. This was probably the most baby friendly option - I have read enough stories about the poverty in the area and didn't want to expose myself, or my son, to that just yet. However, the tender was a bit rough and somewhat risky from a safety viewpoint (it's a speedboat with capacity for 40 people.) Assuming it will be the same tour operator, I suggest sitting on the little bench (2 people) beside the driver. You stay dry and don't get the brunt of the bumps. One row ahead, if you sit at the outer edge, you will be drenched, so try to sit in an aisle if you can't get your coveted seat.

 

The surf there is really strange - I didn't entirely trust it. I would recommend taking your own child/baby life jacket - and actually using it - for both this tender and for swimming with the little one. I got knocked on my butt when I was only ankle deep and saw the same thing happen to other people too, by not timing my water entrance just right. I grew up near the ocean, and have done my fair share of swimming in rough surf, so if it can happen to me, it could happen to most anyone. Not to scare you! Just be extra vigilant and watch the ocean a bit before going in. The water was warm and jellyfish free though, and DS loved it!

 

Tortola: We did the Cane Garden Bay Beach escape. The drivers on Tortola are nuts! :eek: I would absolutely die if I tried to drive there myself. So I don't think I would recommend it based on that, although the beach/island is beautiful and the water was great. The lunch was pretty good too; they feed you as soon as you arrive and then you spend about 2.5 hours on a semi-private beach.

 

If I was doing this again, I would do a boat tour maybe to Virgin Gorda; in this situation a boat seems more baby friendly. If you do decide to live on the wild side, have a snuggly/baby bjorn/hotsling to hold your baby, so that you can use both arms to hold on. I wish I was joking! It was fun but totally scary. And of course DS just slept the entire ride (about 25 minutes each way.)

 

St. Thomas - We did the excursion to Trunk Bay, St. John. This one was great. A ferry met us right at the dock to take us to St. John. It was about 40 minutes and you could sit inside or outside which was a nice option. There was also a short open-air bus ride but the roads are better (wider) and the drivers weren't quite as lead-footed. I would again recommend a snuggly carrier just to be safe, and sit in the middle of the row with baby.

 

Anyway, the snorkeling was to die for, although they had this weird rule about not snorkeling alone so we each had to go tag along with strangers to do it. I actually don't think it is very well enforced, and probably comes down to liability, but I am one of those rule following dorks, and in all seriousness, you could easy brush into some fire coral or a sea urchin and get yourself into trouble if you were alone.

 

But anyway, the water here is also calm, predictable and so beautiful, and there are lots of shady areas too. We still set up the tent because we were there from about 10 am to 12:30 pm but you could probably avoid it for this one.

 

The sea was too rough to tender on our Great Stirrup Cay day, so I can't comment on it unfortunately.

What did you do on days you were at sea?

We rested up on sea days; on the first sea day we were catching up from 2 days of hectic travel, and the next sea day we used to recover from the 3 days in a row of excursions. :p We did a bit of sunning on the pool deck. We also went to the "under 2 zoo" - a boardroom overflowing with toddler toys. We never ran into anyone else but there are more than enough toys to go around if a few kids were there simultaneously.

Did you take a blow-up pool?

 

I brought an inflatable bathtub (Munchkin brand, ducky style) for DS to splash in but never ended up taking it on deck - he was happy to just crawl around and play with his toy trucks. It did come in handy for baths of course. I found a good soak was the only way to get sand out of his bum after the beach!

 

Did you find a stroller helpful?

 

This time we decided not to bring a stroller and used the snuggly carrier instead, which was fine for the types of excursions we did. We didn't do any shopping or wandering around town, and we had a rental car in Miami.

 

We did have a stroller in Alaska though and it was great because we did do a lot of window shopping and walking around there. I am tall and have to stoop over to use an umbrella stroller, so we had the big, all-terrain jogging stroller with us there. If I had an umbrella stroller with longer handles, I think I would have brought it along this trip, but a larger stroller would have been more hassle than helpful.

Did you nurse in public? If so, did you get any evil eyes?

 

On our first cruise with DS to Alaska, I was pretty shy and was careful where I nursed. I refuse to nurse in a bathroom, but I didn't feel good about nursing the main dining room - that could also be because we were seated in the very centre of the main dining room (RCCL), beside the Captain's table that time and people were always gawking at him and therefore also in our direction. Still no evil eyes there, phew.

 

This time I didn't feel as shy from the get go. During embarkation, I had to sit against the wall to nurse the very hungry baby while DH held our place in line during the 2 hour ordeal to get on board (another tip: show up early... 11:30 or 12 at the latest! we got there at 1:30 and it sucked!) Everyone behind us in line had to walk past me and DS while he ate and you can't help but notice someone if you are trying to avoid tripping over them!

 

As I was sitting there, people were checking us out. I hate to put this spin on it, but I noticed that the non-North Americans (Europeans, South Americans, Asians) typically would smile at me and/or not pay much attention to what I was "doing" whereas many (not all) of the Americans/Canadians (everyone had a passport in hand for the most part which is how I know) would gawk at us like it was the strangest thing they'd ever seen! :rolleyes: No "mean" looks, but very perplexed looks - either because I was nursing or because I was nursing in such a public venue but baby wasn't covered head to toe with a blanket.

 

This time I also nursed my son wherever I was, and didn't scurry away to a quiet corner or the cabin - he ate at the buffet, specialty restaurants, pool deck, etc.... again, I am not one of the "cover up with a towel" kind of ladies because a) DS hates being covered and would pull it off/not eat/get really mad and b) you can't see much to begin with.

 

I didn't get any rude stares or comments from staff or passengers regardless of where I was, so that was good. However, I did get compliments out of the blue about on our very tall, healthy, sturdy boy and many remarks that I must "make good milk" :D

How did dinners go?

 

Dinners went very well. It is nice to be at the age where a high chair is useful! We didn't request anything special for DS to eat; we would feed him beforehand and then give him teething biscuits or toys to occupy himself with so that we could eat. This is where freestyle came in handy - no time crunch to hope that DS wouldn't be sleeping or starving when mealtime came along. We ate a few times at the free dining rooms, a few specialty restaurants and the buffet.

 

The buffet and room service worked well for some table foods, like dry toast, fruit, yogurt, and plain steamed veggies. We also brought our own teething biscuits and a bit of baby food to be safe, although between ship food and mama's milk, we didn't use it.

Hope that helps! Enjoy your cruise!

[alh1722]

Wanderingfool- Thanks so much!! You have eased my mind beyond belief:) I was also looking on ebay for a sun tent as well:) So glad you suggested that...sounds like fun too!! Our DD is a nursed baby and I am not your sit-in-the-tiny-bathroom-stall-so-that-she-can-eat type of mama! Doesn't sound like you are either. I usually make my own babyfood but was planning on buying some for the trip. We are planning on eating early and will make sure to excuse ourselves if DD is not happy:) Although we are not planning on any excursions I am glad to know where to sit on the tenders!! We are lugging our Peg lightweight stroller, the Kelty baby carrier, the Babybjorn, sippy cups, the list goes on and on... did I mention diapers???

 

I just want to thank you for taking the time to help us out!! Our planning will be a lot smoother now! :D

 

Oh, I have one last question... Did you find that your DS needed long pajamas at night or onesies?

 

Thanks for the great advice:D

alh1722

[wanderingfool]

Wanderingfool- Thanks so much!! You have eased my mind beyond belief:) I was also looking on ebay for a sun tent as well:) So glad you suggested that...sounds like fun too!! Our DD is a nursed baby and I am not your sit-in-the-tiny-bathroom-stall-so-that-she-can-eat type of mama! Doesn't sound like you are either. I usually make my own babyfood but was planning on buying some for the trip. We are planning on eating early and will make sure to excuse ourselves if DD is not happy:) Although we are not planning on any excursions I am glad to know where to sit on the tenders!! We are lugging our Peg lightweight stroller, the Kelty baby carrier, the Babybjorn, sippy cups, the list goes on and on... did I mention diapers???

 

I just want to thank you for taking the time to help us out!! Our planning will be a lot smoother now! :D

 

Oh, I have one last question... Did you find that your DS needed long pajamas at night or onesies?

Thanks for the great advice:D

alh1722

 

Glad to help. As for night time, we found onesies to be okay at night. Even with the a/c on max we found the cabin temp to be perfect for sleeping. We had long PJs with us just in case but never pulled them out. Mind you we do co-sleep, so if he ever gets chilly he just cozies up closer to one of us. That being said, he kept at arms length away every night - stealing half of the bed as usual, so I'm quite sure he was was never cold. ;)

 

However, I did find that he got a bit chilly in the main dining room of all places, it was freezing in there! Might want to bring along a sweater for meal times just in case.

[Crazyshopper]

Wanderingfool,

 

Thanks for your detailed information. It is very useful.

 

I did not even think about life jackets. I have purchased a couple of life jackets for my two kids. I will definately use them for tendering and for the beaches. For UV swimsuits - which brand did you purchase?

 

For the excursions, we will most likely book a private tour to Playa Rincon in Dominican. I hope this will go well and that the water will not be too rocky.

 

For Tortola - we were originally thinking of the Baths, but now I am changing my mind. I am thinking of a going to Cane Beach or Smugglers Cove instead. I think the Baths would be too much for my 3 year old and it would be difficult to hold my 6 month old as well.

 

And for St. Thomas - we will likely go to Coral World. I would love to see St. John again. Maybe in the future when my kids are older.

[wanderingfool]

Wanderingfool,

 

Thanks for your detailed information. It is very useful.

 

I did not even think about life jackets. I have purchased a couple of life jackets for my two kids. I will definately use them for tendering and for the beaches. For UV swimsuits - which brand did you purchase?

 

For the excursions, we will most likely book a private tour to Playa Rincon in Dominican. I hope this will go well and that the water will not be too rocky.

 

For Tortola - we were originally thinking of the Baths, but now I am changing my mind. I am thinking of a going to Cane Beach or Smugglers Cove instead. I think the Baths would be too much for my 3 year old and it would be difficult to hold my 6 month old as well.

 

And for St. Thomas - we will likely go to Coral World. I would love to see St. John again. Maybe in the future when my kids are older.

The UV swimsuits I purchased are by a company called NoZone, which is a Canadian company - there are lots of US companies offering them for sale though and they all seem to be pretty much the same in terms of style and fabric used. The NoZone suits are very well made so I do recommend them. I ordered slightly large to get a little extra use from them (this coming summer.)

 

The life jackets are one of those silly things that most people don't think about but I know I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if DS got whisked away by a rogue wave or if our tender had tipped over. I'm not a wimp, but I figure they invented these things for good reason, and accidents always happen when we least expect them. I was really glad that I had brought one along for DS, even though it was a bulky PITA at times! :D

 

Sounds like you have some fun excursions planned! We had contemplated Coral World but we'll wait for a future trip when DS will get more from it. We really liked what we saw in St. John/St. Thomas and might even do a land based vacation there instead of another cruise. Heck, everywhere we went was beautiful and sunny and a huge contrast from the minus 30 (yes 30) temperatures we have here this morning! :p

[GaTechCruiser]

Thanks for the tips. I am traveling with my DD for her first cruise in April. She will be 13 months old then.

We have taken her to the beach before, but was able to use a Bumbo seat. Now she can sit on her own and I am sure will be really moible in 3 more months. I found the tents to be really hot, we were lucky enough to be able to use a big pop up canopy at the beach, but will not have that luxury this trip.

I am going to take a blow up bathtub or pool with me. My in-laws have a owner's suite with a balcony larger than our cabin, so I think it will be perfect. They also have a bathtub in their cabin that I will be able to use for her.

The baby powder sounds like a great idea, I will take that too.

Thanks again!!

[sunrise&set]

We'll be on the NCL Dawn in March with our 13 month old DS. We have a pool so he's been in the water a lot. Would the beaches you went to be ok to use a pool type of float like in the picture below? You mentioned rough surf in Samana so I'm just wondering. It folds up nice and flat in it's own carrying case. Thanks, and I'm sure I'll have more questions!

 

[wanderingfool]

We'll be on the NCL Dawn in March with our 13 month old DS. We have a pool so he's been in the water a lot. Would the beaches you went to be ok to use a pool type of float like in the picture below? You mentioned rough surf in Samana so I'm just wondering. It folds up nice and flat in it's own carrying case. Thanks, and I'm sure I'll have more questions!

 

 

That looks neat! :) In Samana, if it was the same conditions as when I was there, then I would say definitely not; Cane Beach would be okay as would Trunk Bay... both were lovely and calm once you walked out past your knees.