Canoeing with a toddler?

[whitneyg]

Has anyone tried it? How did it go? Any tips or tricks to make it as safe as possible (other than the obvious PFD)? 

[Jend1002]

I have!  It was really fun too.  He was really interested in it and just took it all in - he was nearly 2 1/2 at the time.  Are you going with another adult?  My DH sat at the back of the canoe and I was in the front.  DS was in the middle and just was amazed at everything we were seeing.  Of course, we all wore PFDs.  I also brought water and snacks for him which tend to keep our DS pretty occupied.  He seems to always be eating!  We actually only paddled around for a little over an hour too - not sure how long would have been too long. 

[HidaShara]

We canoed with DD last summer (when she was ~ 2 y.o.) and I myself went on canoe trips with my parents from about age 2 onward!  Great fun! I sit in the bow and let DD sit between my legs on the floor of the canoe.  Obviously, there's a strict no-standing rule in effect.  She wears a life jacket as do I.  She's also comfortable and familiar with the water, so if we do go over for some very unlikely reason, she doesn't panic in the water. :)

I like the snacks idea - and a towel, sunscreen, hat, etc.  But I'm sure you know all this!  Short story: there's no reason at all why a toddler can't go on a canoe ride/trip!

[hakeber]

yeah, I went canoeing with DS when he was about 2 and 5 months?  He sat in the middle, life jacket and everything.  He had a little disposable waterproof camera we got for him to take pictures of what we saw, and a net to trawl in the water.  We spoke at the start that we can't stand in the boat once we are on the water and that we must try to sit still.  He listened surprisingly well.  We had snacks in the cooler and bottles of water.   We paddled out to an island, had a picnic and paddled back, probably 45 minutes each way.  He also is very comfortable near water though, so he wasn't scared.  Been swimming confidently on his own since he was 2.  This proably helped him feel safe and understand water safety.

[westcoastlady]

We went canoeing last summer with DS when he was ~18 months.  He stood up front with me.  I was a little nervous because he was (and still is) quite a mover... and he hated his PFD any other time he had it on.  But he was fine.  I had a little plastic bucket up there with him that I had filled with rocks (I had it tied to the front) and he just stood there and threw rocks in and looked around.  It was great.  I hope to do it again this summer.  We started with just a short (under an hour) trip.  I think that is just about as long as I would go before he would  need to get out and stretch his legs.