Tips for Going to the Beach with Baby

Just because you had a baby doesn’t mean your beach days are over! In this post we’re outlining all of our parenting hacks when it comes to taking your baby to the beach!

Yes, mama, YOU can still enjoy some fun in the sun.

No, you likely won’t be laying on a beach chair soaking up the sun anymore, but instead you’ll experience the beach through your child’s eye - a new sunny world of wonder…and a giant sandbox! What could be better?

Traveling to the Beach with Your Baby

First things first…what to pack…

We recommend putting individual outfits together first…then rolling them up and securing them with a rubber band or in a ziplock bag. Don’t forget a diaper with each outfit if it's needed.

Packing this way ensures you don’t overpack, or pack disproportionately to what you actually need. Trust me, I’ve packed about 20 shirts and 2 pairs of shorts one time too many, and this strategy helps with that issue! You won’t ever have too much of one thing and not enough of another.

Also, put all the bathing suits in a ziplock bag together so you can find them easily when you need them. If you’re anything like us, you can’t wait to get out the sun and sand and don’t want to waste any precious time digging through suitcases to find everyone’s swimsuits.

Once your bags are packed, you’ll want to make sure your vehicle is fully stocked for the trip. If it’s a longer drive, we also recommend getting an Ipad holder for screen time in the car. Your kids are about to have plenty of outside time over the course of your beach day or trip, so a little extra screen time in the car won’t hurt.

You can always read more about traveling with babies and young children here - 8 Tips for Traveling with Babies.

At Your Beach Hotel or Beach House with Your Baby

We also want to make sure the first thing you do when you arrive at your destination, if you’re staying for more than a day, is to set up your child’s sleep space! The last thing you want is a fussy and overtired baby who’s ready for sleep after a day at the beach just waiting for their play yard to be set up.

You can bring a SlumberPod for darkness and privacy, or, set your little one up in a bathroom or closet. Don’t forget your sound machine! Read more about Maintaining Your Child’s Sleep Habits in Unfamiliar Environments.

If you end up putting your baby in a master closet, you might need an extension cord. Often, there is not an outlet in the closet for a fan or your sound machine, so an extension cord is necessary, especially if you want your baby to sleep well while on your trip.

Finally, throughout your stay, make sure you put all dirty clothing in a laundry bag at the end of each day. This will help you easily find those clean, rolled-up sets of clothing without sifting through dirty laundry, and it’ll all be in one place ready to dump into the wash machine when you get to it. Plus it keeps the sand out of your suitcases.

Babies at the Beach

If your baby is small - like, can sit, but is not yet able to walk around and play in the shallow water - bring a small inflatable pool! Pack a hand pump and you’re good to go. You can set up an umbrella, put some water in the pool, and they’ll stay nice and cool - and have tons of fun splashing around and keeping themselves entertained!

Make sure you have sunscreen in your beach bag too. We love the Tubby Todd sunscreen, and we keep it in a Ziploc bag so it doesn’t get all full of sand.

We also LOVE full body sunsuits from Swimzip - they cover from shoulders to ankles so you only need to apply sunscreen to faces and necks. This makes things just a bit easier when you have more than one kid to worry about.

I’ve also discovered these goggles that are 100 times more comfortable for kids than the elastic ones. No hair pulling here!

Go make some memories and enjoy your trip. If sleep gets off track while you’re away, jump right back into your regularly scheduled routines and expectations when you get back home. The sooner you go back to normal, the sooner sleep will return to normal.

Do you have a beach bestie with a baby?? Send her this blog post!