Boating with an infant

[NinaWeezer]

I have a Son who will be 1 in October and I would like to know what everyone does with babies who are not walking. Where do I keep him? Do I have to hold him all the time? Where do they take naps? If you can let me know what you all do I would appreciate it. We just purchased a boat today. Thanks in advance. :redface:

 

[IOSLVR]

Re: Boating with an infant

Hey Nina welcome aboard. Our youngest is 18 months old and walking, not that that helps on a boat but anyway is mostly held either in a lap or closely watched by his oldest brother. We have bolster seating so sometimes he is ok in the seat with the bolster part over his legs acting like a high chair. Naps have only been taken while being held so far (happens we fought that today), we are also new to boating as a family. Not sure if this helps; congratulations on your recent purchase!

 

[QC]

Re: Boating with an infant

We boated with all three of our boys as infants. They are often held when awake, but we used to set them down between the seats on towels for a nap. Worked great. We could take an hour cruise at mellow speeds and Mom would get a break. We also spent more time on the beach then, so they played etc.

 

[Grunt_Sculpin]

Re: Boating with an infant

We took both of our kids boating from the time they were just weeks old. We always felt that it can be much safer to take your infant in a boat than in a car. Especially when you have the traffic that we have in the Seattle area. We always put the infant life jacket on and when the car seat permitted it we would loosen all the straps and put them in the seat with the lifejacket on. We would strap them in initially and once they dosed off (which was usually within 5 minutes of the boat running) we would unbuckle the belt. As the kids got older we would usually pick a little corner of the boat where we could put out some blankets and toys, both of my kids usually fell asleep though. When the kids tried to move about too much or decided they needed to stand up we would grab on to them and shut off the engine. It took a while to teach them but they finally figured out that the boat was not going to move unless they were sitting down.

Hope that helps!

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Boating with an infant

We take a stroller that the car seat can sit in. That's where he takes naps, but only when we're at anchor. We hold him always when underway. The youngest is 10 weeks. Our oldest is 2 years so he's all over the boat.

 

[Mike722]

Re: Boating with an infant

Each parent has do what they think is best. My only thought when I see small kids in boats, is what happens in the worst case when your boat is hit by another. Will these small kids stay afloat and upright? Will the parents that are not wearing PFD's be of any help to the kids?

 

[beezee28]

Re: Boating with an infant

I took my kids when they were small boating. We put on an infant lifejacket on her before we board the boat. My Oldest would look after her sister while we launch the boat and then my wife would pick both of them and pass them to me when loading the boat at the pier. When we were underway my wife would hold the baby and my eldest (about 4 years, with lifejacket) would sit infront of me at the frnt so I can watch her. We never travel fast and took care when crossing wave from other boats. Those were some good memories and as they say times flies by so fast. Now they are all grown up and in college. Hope that helps.

 

[NinaWeezer]

Re: Boating with an infant

Thank you all for your information. I will let you all know how it goes on our fist time out.

 

[f16dcc431]

Re: Boating with an infant

hi my doughter will be a year old in nov and we take her on the boat all the time she loves it my wife useally holds her but if its nap time we lay blankets under the console and go slow and enjoy the ride she loves it happy boating