Babies on Boats

[seedlings]

This year we have a 6 month old boy (in addition to the 14 and 12 yr old). The short story is that the wife doesn't want him on the boat. So, he doesn't boat yet.

For those of you who have taken or who do take a baby on the boat, are there any additional precautions you take? I would like to involve him before he can swim - when he's 4 or 5 years old...

Thanks,
CHAD

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Babies on Boats

We took ours out on the boat once they were big enough to hold their heads up - but only for short/calm trips. You have to be pretty carefull not to cook small kids. As for the swimming - 4 or 5? Kids learn to swim easily when they are 2 - earlier the better as far as lessons are concerned.

 

[blifsey]

Re: Babies on Boats

Never took baby on boat but just thinking on it had following thought. Get one of the special infant PFDs, of course. I don't think you would want to strap carrier seat to boat and then baby into carrier...hold baby or hold carrier. Make sure to use very potent sun screen and keep baby in shade under bimini. When ours were babies we didn't have boat but I kind of recall some medicine or immunization that made them extra sensitive to sun when we took trip to beach. Maybe ask pediatrician about that.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Babies on Boats

Never took baby on boat but just thinking on it had following thought. Get one of the special infant PFDs, of course. I don't think you would want to strap carrier seat to boat and then baby into carrier...hold baby or hold carrier. Make sure to use very potent sun screen and keep baby in shade under bimini. When ours were babies we didn't have boat but I kind of recall some medicine or immunization that made them extra sensitive to sun when we took trip to beach. Maybe ask pediatrician about that.

Kids don't fit in carseats when wearing a baby PFD and you would never want a kids strapped into a carseat on a boat even if they did fit with a jacket on. (regardless of if you were holding the carseat) Not enough flotation in the jacket to keep kids and carseat above the water in the event of an accident.

 

[MAXXIE]

Re: Babies on Boats

I started taking my 2 year old daughter(now 3), last year. I have a small bowrider & boat on a small lake, the wife tends to the little one while on the boat while I drive. We only cruze along the shore line at almost "no wake" speed just to get her used to being on the boat. It's a start I guess, the wife won't let me go to the middle of the lake with her on the boat, yet. Maybe this summer we'll get a little faster. I would only suggest that you have someone- wife,grandma, grandpa- be incharge of the child 100% of the time on the boat... No matter what! &, kind of go's without saying, a really good PFD fit to the child. They have some really cool ones for the littleone's now- sponge Bob, Dora, sharkfin back one's (Overton's Catalog). So you can get them interested in keeping it on all the time. With caution you'll be just fine.

BTW: I clicked on this thread thinking it was "Babe's on Boats", guess I'll have to read it more closely next time. That wouldn't be a bad thread either

 

[seedlings]

Re: Babies on Boats

BTW: I clicked on this thread thinking it was "Babe's on Boats", guess I'll have to read it more closely next time. That wouldn't be a bad thread either

Whoa dang... sorry 'bout that!

Old Jeep, we have a pool and the boy's already been 'swimming' and will grow up around the water. Probably will be a fish by the age of 2. My wife can swim fine (300 yards out to sand bars in the gulf), but thinks she's not a good swimmer and has a fear of large bodies of water. Perhaps I should ask the question, "do you have any suggestions to keep the wife comfortable with bringing the boy on board before he can tread water"?

Great thoughts, thanks!
CHAD

 

[blifsey]

Re: Babies on Boats

Perhaps I should ask the question, "do you have any suggestions to keep the wife comfortable with bringing the boy on board before he can tread water"?

For some reason, response in my head was to sing out "Tequila!!!"

 

[dsiekman]

Re: Babies on Boats

Our "nephew", actually good friend's son, was on our boat at about 6 weeks. Infant pfd in a laundry basket full of towels for padding. He seemed to like the sound of the 7.4 and promptly fell asleep. Actually, that was his second trip. We tried to help "speed things along" when his mother was at 9 months. Nothing like a ride over chop to shake things loose!

 

[Susquehanna Squid]

Re: Babies on Boats

They are never too young. Just make sure that you are always prepared! My kids are 2.5 and 1.5 years old and they both love it when Daddy gets the boat. Now, if I can just meet this Daddy fella.......

 

[rallyart]

Re: Babies on Boats

My three kids were all on the water long before they could walk. There are some lifejackets that are a sling design which work well for an infant. The biggest risks are overheating and sunburn. They all loved being in the boat and when tiny they basically slept the entire time the engine was running. I think they are much more comfortable now with the water because they grew up with the boat and water as part of their lives.
How do you make your wife comfortable? Listen when she's concerned.
How do you make your wife comfortable with the child on the water? Start by getting them in a pool or lakeshore with comfortable life jackets on. That way you test what works and everyone feels more normal. Then go swimming off the boat, near shore, to make sure everyone is comfortable again. (rinse the jackets well after a pool use as the chlorine is tough on them)
The treading water argument really only applies if you are in the water without a PFD on. Every small child on my boat always has a PFD on, in the boat and on the dock. If your boy gets comfortable with the jacket in the water your wife will see that.
Good luck, it's fun having small kids on the boat. It is one of the main reasons my wife and I bought a boat.

 

[emoney]

Re: Babies on Boats

As a matter of fact, the baby makes for a good reason to upgrade boats or better yet, add another one! When we moved into two kids, I used the birth as a reason to trade up to a cuddy cabin. Only thinking of the little ones, of course, and a place to keep them out of the sun. We always kept the kids in a PFD up until they were probably 9 or 10 and when they were babies, momma held them (while they were in the infant pfd) and the carrier was there for when we stopped. And yeah, I agree about the swimming lessons; the earlier the better. More than likely, though, you've got to find a way to calm momma's fears so she doesn't pass them on to baby.

 

[3gsdad]

Re: Babies on Boats

All my kids names start with a G hince the username. The smallest G is 6 month old boy the others are 3 and 6. They all love the boat. We have him in an infant PFD, and hold him pretty much the whole time. We only go out for 2 or 3 hours. He mostly sleeps the whole time. I don't know if it is the sound of the motor or the movement of the boat but he will fall asleep in like 5 min. We also keep him under the bimini top out of the sun. We also take a sippy cup full of ice water for him.

 

[seedlings]

Re: Babies on Boats

How do you make your wife comfortable? Listen when she's concerned.

This is the money quote. Thank you for saying it out loud for consideration!

CHAD

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: Babies on Boats

I have had a few babies on board, one was 34 yrs old and his wife was 32. Waaaaaaahhhhhhhh The waves are to big ! your going too fast! Your going too slow ! Its Too hot! Its too cold!!! Where is a flush toilet ?!. Too many bugs! That last wave spilled my 1/2 gallon rum and coke all over your carpet! How do I remove my fishhook from your upholstery ? I forgot my wallet, my suntan lotion, and my towels.... Blah blah blah...................:facepalm:

 

[JoLin]

Re: Babies on Boats

You have to be pretty carefull not to cook small kids.

Actually, they can be quite tasty if prepared properly.

(that was a really bad thing to say, wasn't it)

 

[security6]

Re: Babies on Boats

Had my 2 month old out on the boat on memorial day and she loved it, slept pretty much the whole time. Like others have said, keep the baby in the shade. In our boat, that means under the bimini at all times and usually in the carrier under the bimini. We've had friends bring their babies along with them (last year we had a 1 month old with us). We don't worry about their neck strength anymore than we usually do when they are being held or driving in the car (the roads around here aren't exactly smooth). If it's warm, you do need to keep them hydrated.

I also have a boy that is 2 and 1/2, and he went with us all last summer (so he was 1 and 1/2). I made sure he always had the infant PFD on, even though he hated it. He loves to sit in the bow and feel the wind in his hair. I took him out on tube with me as well (both this year and last year), although we kept the speeds pretty slow.

As for getting mom comfortable, think of the frog in boiling water. If you want to boil a frog, don't just throw him in the boiling water. Instead, put him in cold water and slowly heat it up. Same idea with the wife. Start with the baby going out on small bodies of water, for short periods and slow speeds only. With time, your wife will get more comfortable with having the baby out during "normal" boating.

 

[AZSenza]

Re: Babies on Boats

The 3 chldren we've had since we started boating have gone on the boat non stop since conception. As soon as they could fit in an infant vest (the kind that covers them almost completely they were back on the boat. They have all LOVED it. They have grown up as mariners (one is now 11 one 7 and the baby is 14 mos) and love the water. The 11 and 7 yearolds look forward to every outing. We park in the back to let the baby out and play in the sand with his buckets and shovels and the other children join him (we have 8 total). Everyone watches out for the baby and no doubt hes in great hands. The 7 yearold has been going on the tube from about 2, started out just setting him and older siblings on it and idled, now he's in with the rest wanting dad to rip it up! The baby crawls around the deck and takes naps while we ride around. Just be careful and make sure everyone knows protect the younger ones. We're all great swimmers, heck once when the 7 yearold got tossed off the tube, dad had the rescue cushion and was in the water so fast it made heads spin and the others were standing by! He tells me, "Dad, what are you doing out here, I'm fine". Just be safe and use your head. babies are WONDERFUL people and deserve time with the family too. As far as the sun goes, none of our kids have been burned, Everyone gets sunscreen before vests go on and more all day. The bimini is almost always up and I have it rigged to provide lots of shade. Even the baby has and wears a hat!

 

[grnatl]

Re: Babies on Boats

We had our youngest child on our boat when she was just a couple of months old. About 10 years ago we bought something called a Baby Buoy. It's a Coast Gaurd PFD for infants. It looks sort of like a car seat but it has a heavy weight at the bottom that will upright the seat if it goes overboard. We actually tested it (without our daughter in it and it works great. We threw it in face down and it seemed like it turned over almost as fast as it hit the water. Check it and try one with your wife maybe at a swimming pool so she can see how well they work. Maybe that'll help. As the other posters have said, the babies usually sleep most of the time anyway and for sure, keep them in shade and don't tie down the baby bouy so it can float in event of an accident.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Babies on Boats

shade shade shade shade and shade.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Babies on Boats

There was only one time the whole family didn't go boating. That was when my wife was in the 9th month. So I took my Dad out instead for a couple of months. Once the baby was 2 months old, he came along too. My convertible top is always up. Sunblock and shade. And of course, the proper PFD. (and a diaper bag...LOL)

Boating is a family sport. If the kids aren't involved early on its a shame. Small babies are perfect in a boat. The rocking makes them easier to deal with than at home.

Splain it all to the wife and don't take excuses. Learning to swim at 4 or 5 is way too late. The YMCA can help in that regard. When my boys were 5 they swam better than I do!