Is this logistically impossible?

[oceanbaby]

My neighbor and I were talking about how to take our kids to the beach this morning. My son is almost 3, running all over, and loves to jump in the waves - I of course have to be holding his hands while he does this, sometimes pulling him up out of the water if the wave comes in too high or too fast. Her son is 2.5yo, and is the same as my son. She also has a 10mo old baby, who is crawling and not content to be in a baby bjorn or sling for more than 5 minutes at a time.

We can't figure out how we would be able to keep all 3 kids safe at the same time with only 2 of us - the baby would be crawling around on the sand and require direct supervision, two toddlers would want to jump in the waves, may need to be lifted up at any moment, and possibly run off in two different directions. And we're talking the slightly rough Pacific Ocean, not calm bathwaters of the Caribbean, so extreme caution needs to be taken when playing near the water.

Are we just being wimps? Any ideas on how to make this work?

[toepea]

Well, I took my 2 1/2 year old twins and their 5 year old brother to Canyon Beach a while back by myself. Maybe not exactly comparable but sort of?? The water kind of overwhelmed them so they were cautious. You know how the sand moves under your feet as the wave is going back out, and how you never can really guess how far up the wave is going to roll in? We found a quiet, protected area and they all waded around for quite awhile. Then we hiked up and built sandcastles and played in the sand and then back to the water and so on.

Tip: Bring lots of jugs of water and towels and clean clothes, sox, underwear etc. Then when you are all done you can just strip 'em down, rinse them off, dry 'em off and get 'em dressed.

[LoveBeads]

I guess it's just a personal thing but....I wouldn't do it. I'm not a very strong swimmer and I would not be able to handle more than just one child. But again, swimming is not my thing.

Have fun, whatever you do!

Edited to add: let me take a moment to tell you my favorite beach time tip: Take baby powder to the beach with you. When it's time to get sticky sand off of sunscreened bodies, just douse with baby powder and wipe off with a towel. It's friggin' magic! Works 10X better than water!

[EllieB]

I guess I'd take turns having the older ones play in the water. You take your ds, while your friend and her kids play in the sand, then you watch your ds and her 10 mo while she takes her ds into the water. I'm guessing you'd have to make being out of the water pretty darn appealing for the kid waiting to go in, so maybe some toys that are only for the beach or special "beach snacks" would work to distract them?

[mamaduck]

I would also try with the plan to take turns. You can sit in the sand with your toddler and her baby while she takes her toddler in the water. Then she could sit with her two kids while she takes her toddler in. And not take the baby in the water at all I guess. Or maybe just do toes in the water.

[Yooper]

nak.

life jackets.....

Yooper

[Dragonfly]

Is there a fairly high tide? Maybe you could plan to be there when the tide is out and play in the tidal pools. Maybe that's not realistic.... :LOL

[lab]

Oh! How fun!

I did this when I had a 2 year old and a 6 month old! My friend went as well - she had an 18 month old.

I held Jenny on my hip and held Jonathan's hand. We didn't go out far at all. I sat in the surf with Jen while Jonathan played.

My friend helped a lot. She sat with Jen under the umbrella or I did. But the baby enjoyed getting her feet wet so she did sit with us a little. She also napped under the umbrella. It really wasn't that bad. We rented an umbrella for $20 bucks and used a lot of sunscreen! We got there early (10 am or so) ate lunch, then left by around 1 pm. The kids all slept on the way back.

[srain]

In a similar situation with my son, he wore a life jacket and we attached a retractable dog leash to the loop on the top of it. (I understand how many folks would find that kind of offensive though!)

[lauraess]

heres a thought: Maybe just Maybe the babe will be distracted enough by the beach: gulls, wooshing waves, kids laughing, breezes, that she will allow to be in a sling or did you say she has the bjorn??? since the babe is the one who needs the most handling it would make sense to be prepared for her--- maybe borrow a sling if her mom want to try something different in a new and fun situation?----- and I've seen a few moms set up a pack n play for babe and although im not so fond of these contraptions i think this might be one place it really comes in handy. Bring plenty of digging and dumping toys.!

Hve funnnn!
Laura

[Marsupialmom]

Teenager (as young as 12) year old girl. Have her help you. Give her plenty of time to "have fun" pay her. Or you can bring two (friends). Let them watch what ever small child on the beach.

Also life jackets.

[angela&avery]

well i've lived near the beach all my life and wouldnt fret. the ocean is very kind of intimidating to many children that age and i think they are naturally cautious for the most part in the beginning, and you can use that chance to teach them about water safety.... also just keep them shallow you can hold one hand on each side of you and they can jump without having to be pulled...... (we are talking ankles... its so cold they dont usually want to go in too deep - at least here it is)

also you can spend *most* of your time building sandcastles or playing in fresh tidepools....


and, if worse comes to worse, like someone else said, take turns taking the older ones in.. but i dont think you will need to.....

[aussiemum]

I agree that kids are just naturally cautious when they actually come face to face with wild ocean. One of you could hold the baby in the water, while the other has the two older children by the hand. It won't hurt them to get dumped a few times either, but I am pretty bold when it comes to taking my two into the water together (it is a patrolled beach- if I get into trouble ie: dragged out on a rip with the kids, I could stay afloat long enough for the surf lifesavers to get there). When you say Pacific I am assuming that's the Cali coast you're talking about. I've been to beaches in Washington where I didn't actually consider getting into the water due to danger from rips, cold water, submerged logs, remote location etc. I think it also depends on how confident you are in surf. You don't want to scare them either.

[MaWhit]

Perhaps the baby would enjoy a backpack carrier more.

[oceanbaby]

Thanks for all the great ideas! I think I will suggest to her that we give it a try next time.

The surf can be rough or mild depending on the weather, and there aren't any tidepools that are available for safe exploring, so there really isn't any water area in which we wouldn't have to be as vigilant with the kids. But I think on a mild surf day, we could maybe try to pull it together. When there is a rougher surf, I often do have to pull ds up and out of the water because the wave would come up past his waist otherwise, which freaks him out.

Ds and I are going to the beach tomorrow though. Those are usually my favorite days with him, so I'm really looking forward to it!

[Mamid]

My son loves the water. A lot. Tons. Even still freezing cold March Pacific Ocean water didn't stop him from running out into the waves until the water hit his upper things when he ran back to me.

His dad during this was flipping out. I wasn't. If anything happened, even pregnant, I would have been out in the water before anything real bad could happen.

FYI: my son barely got more than 3 feet from the "high/long wave mark" during low tide.

[veganmamma]

Originally posted by srain
In a similar situation with my son, he wore a life jacket and we attached a retractable dog leash to the loop on the top of it. (I understand how many folks would find that kind of offensive though!)

I've done this with my dogs before. yes, they make doggie life vests. I always have them on a harness with a retractable lead in fact. I encourage them to swim out a bit, which I don't do to my dd, but you know, as much as kiddie leashes offend me when used improperly, this seems like a very good idea to me.