1. The mantra I kept repeating to myself is the beach with a baby is like life with a baby. It is different. The first day and a half, I found myself exhausted getting use to the pace of keeping Buckner happy. Gone were the days of sitting and relaxing and replaced by days full of changing activities every 1/2 hour to keep him entertained. Once we found our groove, however, I was able to really enjoy it. Just change your expectations. You don't sit at home all day anymore with a crawling baby and you won't be sitting in a lounge chair at the beach. But it is still a ton of FUN! You just have to enjoy your new type of vacation.
2. Apply sunblock before getting on the beach. Sand makes it impossible to apply sunblock. A wiggly child ready to play makes it that much harder!
3. Carry a small blow up pool to put under an umbrella that you can toss at the end of your trip. Buckner loved his little splash pool and he really loved putting sand in it....when he wasn't eating the sand.
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| Enjoying his splash pool on the beach. |
4. By the way, sand obviously won't harm your child. At least small amounts of it seem to be okay. Buckner savored a little sand over our four days and he is fine!
5. Stay in a place with a pool. Buckner loved that just as much or more than the beach.
6. Take the beach in increments. You can't stay out there all day with a baby even if you bring all the diaper changing items, toys, and snacks (do that too by the way). They will get tired or bored so you may find yourself hauling everything back to your room/condo a few times a day (great work out!).
7. Find a place with a balcony over looking the beach. I never felt like I was missing out on beach time when I was waiting for Buckner to nap in the condo because I sat on the balcony and enjoyed the beach from there. Some say their babies slept on a blanket under the umbrella. Our child was way too stimulated with what was going on to sleep on the beach!
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| Enjoying the beach while Buckner napped. |
8. Break down and let your baby crawl on the sand (if your child likes it). I finally let Buckner make a break for it and he was thrilled! He immediately made a crawling run toward the ocean! He was having a blast.
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| Loved the sand! |
9. Take lots of pictures (obvious).
10. Relish your new favorite moments. With a 9 going on 10 month old, early morning feedings are still routine for us. On the beach, however, that meant the 5:30 or 6:00 am feedings was spent on the balcony watching the sun rise and the beach come alive while my husband and I drank coffee. We would follow the feeding by an early morning walk. Our morning ritual was the best part of our vacation and I think it was Buckner's favorite time too!
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| Love this view for a 5:30am feeding! |
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| Early morning walk. |
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| Early morning walk. |
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