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Need advice on sailing with babies aboard

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Hi,
We will be sailing for a week this summer on a 39 foot boat with six adults and two one year old babies on the verge of walking. We would appreciate any advice on how to manage the babies and still maintain some quality of life for the adults.
All advice is welcome but especially how to enable the babies to get to sleep without risk of falling out of their sleeping area in the early evening while adults are socializing in the cockpit, how to keep babies settled while underway, and any other suggestions you might have.
We will be using life jackets, tethers, minimizing heeling and any rough conditions, holding the babies whenever we preceive risk, putting kids needs first, etc.
Thanks for any tips!
Frank
 

supersailor

Contributing Partner
For our new grandson, we have been using the lee cloth in one of the settees and a sleeping pad that consists of two foam barrels sewn to be like barrel cushions attached to each other with about 16" of cloth between them. The baby is placed on the cloth and the bolsters keep him/her from rolling out. It has worked on a 26 footer and the 34. I'm not sure where Grandma got it but it was probably from Baby's r Us or a similar place. An internet search might find it.

Six adults and two babys is quite a crowd on a 39. Have fun!
 

Pat O'Connell

Member III
Cruising With Babies

Hi Frank
Wow... What a challenge. We have one baby figured out but not two. We built a crib side that snapped into cleats on the side of the quarterberth between the galley and the storage cabinet. Then we lined the inside of the "crib" with baby style padding. When daughter was older we elevated the section next to the galley and increased the height of the crib side. Worked great I recall we had to talk her out of the boat crib when she could not really fit any more. She took up residence in the aft berth with a curtain.
Only thing I can think of for your needs would be a portacrib in the cabin??? Daughter cruised with us for 25 straight years. Great memories!
Best Regards
Pat
1981 E28+
 
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Pat O'Connell

Member III
Hi Frank
Search baby on board a boat . Couple made a slick quarterbeth side for their son and then they comment about making a double quarterberth. That is a wow. I did like our solution with the the wood side. It was neverfail sturdy. When we raised the sides for a (2) year old there was no way she could climb out. Received a lot of comments from other parents.
Best Regards
Pat
1981 E28+ Chips
 

supersailor

Contributing Partner
Hi Frank,

My Daughter uses the car's baby seat to hold the little one and to have him take naps. They place it on the cabin sole in a narrow area so the seat can't move around easily. It helps that he likes the car seat and sleeps a lot in it while they are driving.

He is my kind of a sailor. When the engine is running, he is grumpy and fretful. When the sails are drawing, he is all smiles and giggles. :egrin:
 

Vagabond39

Member III
Advice

Frank:
Ear Plugs, lots of ear plugs, and pairs of spares.
Beware of sympathetic detonation because when one gors off, they all do.
Have Fun!
Bob
 

Slick470

Member III
This article is a few years old now, but my wife wrote it for the local sailing magazine after our first summer sailing with our daughter.

http://www.spinsheet.com/sailing-with-your-infant-5-tips-for-getting-out-on-the-water/#.Vzo1uvkrLcs

Might be a few useful tips in there. Our biggest challenge was having enough hands for the baby, and enough for the boat, especially as our daughter is prone to seasickness, which made for some interesting cleaning up efforts underway.

For naps underway, we either had her sleep in the v-berth with netting to keep her in the berth, or in a pack-in-play that was tied to one of the settees.
 

Pat O'Connell

Member III
Grandgirls on Board

Great article! Grandgirls will be visiting in a few weeks. We'll see if I learned anything :<{)) .
Best Regards
Pat
1981 E28+
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Babies and children have an on-off switch: Dramamine.

My children can hardly remember their childhood, but I had a great time.
 
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