Pittsburgh Nesties
psychgalbride
member
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Toddler Beach Advice
Seriously, what was I thinking? Beach vacation with a 1.5 year old with just me and my husband may be my biggest fail yet. I've been combing through all the advice you have given in the past. bring an inflatable pool (thanks Emmy!).
Here are my questions: do I need one of those sun shelters/ baby beach tents? We bought a beach umbrella from Costco and plan to stay out of the sun during peak times. I cannot find a life jacket small enough for Madeline at 18 lbs. Is this even necessary? She is a runner.
Any other tips?
Has anyone seen those beach mats? I waited too long and can't find them anywhere.
Re: Toddler Beach Advice
We've taken DD since she was 8 months old to the beach. You will be fine. Just go and enjoy the time the 3 of you!!!
I think you might be fine with umbrella. One of those cabana things are great but to be honest we brought with us every year and never even opened.
I always packed way more than we needed, but what are you going to do?
I don't think you need a life jacket. (just my thoughts) Until last year.... DD fought to wear one anyway. what about those suits that have them built in?
I always liked those swim shirts that had long sleeves..... sure baby bathing suits are cute, but with those you had less surface area to worry about burning. We just take a big blanket for the beach.
First year we took a pack & play for her to sleep and years after we rented a crib. best thing we ever did. Do you have a beach cart? we always rented one of those too.
Again just relax and enjoy the time away.
It will be fine - don't stress or over-think too much! And don't overwhelm yourself with too much "stuff" either. It's the beach - you're supposed to relax!
We do use a beach tent - both boys were around 6 months old for their first beach trip, and it was helpful for nap time and privacy for bf'ing and diaper changing. I also like as much protection from the sun as possible. However, it is definitely not necessary, for us it's just a personal preference.
We've never used life jackets. This year we bought the boys puddle jumpers for swimming at their g-parents pool, and we'll be taking them to the beach this year only because the place we're staying in has a pool. Although, Garrett is still a little too young to figure out how to hold himself upright in it, so for him we'll be bringing one of those floaty seat things you can sit in. But again, this is just for swimming in the pool.
We don't use a mat - just beach towels. We also have a larger blanket that when you fold, you can zip it closed (from BB&B I think).
We do use one of those carts with wheels to hold all of our beach stuff - that has been a huge help now that we have 2 kids. DH bought it at Costco.
We have a net bag to hold beach toys, so they can dry easily and the bag doesn't retain too much sand.
I'm trying to think of what else...lots of sunscreen, baby powder...
Some of the girls mentioned getting the KidCo Peapod and I'm really impressed with it. It's the perfect size for Logan and it fits into the suitcase perfectly. If you're not flying, the size of the tent might not be a big deal but if you are I'd look into it.
No advice, but I'm stalking this post since we are going to be heading to the beach with C for the first time as well.
I found the beach mats at TJ Maxx at the Waterfront (12.00 clearance). I also found the Coleman Instant RoadTrip Beach Shade there for 39.99 http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Instant-RoadTrip-Beach-Shade/dp/B004E4CU9M there is one left in case anyone else is looking for one. It was recommended by another friend of mine so I figured for the price I'd grab it. I'd pay that much for a baby size one at BRU.
Beach cart- I looked at the ones on Amazon- most had crappy reviews. I assume you can just rent them somewhere right on the beach?
Thanks ladies. I'm overthinking and overpacking as usual.
I looked on Amazon to see if I could find ours, and saw that most of the carts got at least 4 stars - I would just make sure if you get one that it has wide wheels so that it is easy to pull on the sand. The one we got was from Costco (Tommy Bahama, maybe?) and we love it with no complaints so far....we just got it after having Garrett, and I really can't imagine not having one now with 2 kids! They might rent them at the beach, although the only rentals I really remember seeing were chairs and umbrellas.
Our tent looks similar to yours, and we really like it.
Good luck!
Thanks Meghan- I just ordered the Rio one from Amazon. I figure these are all investments we will use year after year. One of the reviews was from Rehoboth and they didn't mention cart rentals so I figured I better just buy one.