Any pro advice for babies at the beach?

vamomtobe

Welcoming all tips for bringing an infant to the beach!  We have a pop-up tent-thing that I'm hoping I can lay her down in on a blanket or towel for naps.  Any advice?  We leave on Saturday, I can't wait!!

MoRay05

Lurking from N15. 

We we went to the beach about a month ago with LO. I bought a baby pool with a canopy from target for ten bucks. It looks like a duck. We would bring it down to the beach and put a couple of buckets full of water and a few toys. LO loved it! Make sure you bring swim diapers, regular diapers, wipes and powder to the beach. Once LO was done playing in the pool I would change him into a dry diaper and shirt. Make sure you have hat and rashguard shirt. I bought sunglasses but he wouldn't wear them. If you haven't already test out your sunscreen in a small spot to make sure your LO doesn't get a rash. Bring snacks and lots of water. My LO kept trying to eat the sand. Oh and you can put baby powder on sandy skin then wipe it right off! It's amazing! 

midge519

Another thing, bring bottles of water. They are best in the event you get sand in the eyes or anything like that. Oh and remember swim diapers do not hold pee only poo. So if you get her ready in advance and she pees she will get whomever is holding her wet lok

jasmineluke

 I am not a pro. However, we took little one to the beach a few weeks ago and brought a pop up tent as well. We have a nine-month-old that only wants to sleep in her crib for naps and nowhere else, including the car seat and stroller. She had a blast.   We would do diaper changes inside the tent where it was clean and we lay down a blanket and some towels inside the tent. When it came time for a nap, we fed her and put her down in the tent making sure there was cross ventilation for air flow.  It was tough because she would not nap at first, but eventually she fell asleep and only napped for 25 minutes.   We were prepared to not spend the entire day there  but whatever time she was there - she had a great time. When we took her home we just put her to bed early.  We packed plenty of sunblock extra clothes , and diapers. 

trishee13

@jasmineluke did you use one of those half moon type pop up tents? and just lay her down in that? Our LO pretty much only naps in her crib too so I've been nervous to try to bring her haha but we have one of those. I know she's just going to crawl out of it though?

jasmineluke

It's one of those pop up tents that zip up in the front. So we lay her down in it after diaper change and feeding and zipper it up. We make sure the adequate air ventilation for her (usually two holes on each side of it). We lay a large towel/blanket in there and she will roll around and play for maybe 20-30 mins and falls asleep. Her naps are very short, granted she's a creature of habit and likes her crib only. We prepare for that tho. After she wakes up we play for a little while and usually cut it short and head home for an early bedtime so accommodate. It's definitely not easy and much shorter time spent at the beach but for the time she is there she loves it. 
So tough and sometimes I dread it but when we get there she loves it lol

vamomtobe

Thank you @MoRay05, @midge519, and @jasmineluke!  We had a great week at the beach, thanks for your advice!  LO had great naps in the tent (after switching out the swim diapers for regular diapers!) and it was much easier than anticipated.  Wish we could have stayed another week.