Before having a child, the beach was a lazy day out of the house. Swim suit, towel, keys… byeeeee! I’d be in the sun for hours, have cereal for dinner because I was too tired to cook, and do it again the next day. It is NOT that easy anymore.
I will say, a toddler beach day is way easier than an infant beach day. Things start to look up as soon as baby starts crawling but it still requires way more prep work than I was used to before having a child.
To me, there are two classifications for going to the beach. There is a beach day, where we need the tent, we need lunch, and we need lots of water. Then, there is a beach trip, which, in my opinion, is a lot more simple but not as gratifying.
I’ll start with my bag for a trip, because beach day includes everything from a beach trip and then some!
I start off strong with tanning oil for me and sun screen for my tot. I use reef safe mineral sunscreen for her and SLATHER it on her. My husband says “poor thing, why does she do this to you?” every time he sees it. Sorry, not sorry. No sunburns here. I heard that one severe sunburn in childhood can increase your risk of skin cancer in adulthood by more than a hundred percent! I think it takes a loooot of sun to get a blistering sunburn but I don’t want to risk it for her. I am a bit of a hypocrite because I rarely wear sunscreen. I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve been sunburnt in the last 10 years, and it always turns into a tan by morning… I know, I know- there’s no excuse. Ill change my ways eventually. I’ve been looking at tallow sunscreen? Thoughts, recommendations? Not sure yet how I feel about that idea.
Of course, beach toys make the list. I keep them in my car perpetually. We’ve got a bucket, some shovels, a sifter (my favorite), and a floaty ball. Occasionally I’ll throw in my hacky sack (no, I can’t hacky sack but I love the idea, and I have a few good memories of trying really hard).
I suppose this one is controversial, but I do have a floaty for my toddler in my beach bag. I routinely put her in the water and let her struggle (safely) so she knows she cannot swim without the float or without me, so she doesn’t go in the water without asking to put it on, or pulling my hand. We did a swim class with her when she was under one, but it was more focused on learning to be comfortable in the water, rather than learning to swim. We plan to re-enroll her in swim lessons at some point. Until then, she doesn’t get in the water without a parent, with or without the float.
I don’t love lying directly on the sand so, picnic blanket to the rescue! I’ve tried a few different things: thick towel, one of those roll out mats from Walmart, sarong. I always come back to my picnic blanket. Its big, lightweight, and cute.
Water and snacks are my last addition to my beach trip bag. The rest of the list stays in my car in the bag, always. Snacks are the only prep work I have to do when it comes to a beach trip! I like to bring baby carrots, celery sticks, blueberries and apple slices. If we have mandarin oranges I’ll bring one or two of those. I try to focus on refreshing snacks because my toddler is iffy about drinking her water when we are out of the house.
Because I don’t want to carry anything that I don’t need to, towels, shoes, and clothes stay in the car. We want to be efficient! I clip my keys to the bag (yes, they get sandy. Don’t tell my husband) and off we go! Depending on time of day and where we are I may or may not leave my phone in the car.
A beach day… requires my husband. Or a friend. Or just any other adult that will help me carry 8 million things in addition to keeping a toddler safe.
Beach bag, check.
Add the tent.
Chairs? If we are feeling ambitious.
Cooler? Probably. I sometimes substitute this with a temp controlled bag, like the ones for groceries. (Because I DON’T want to drag around a cooler… am I coming off as lazy? I like to think of it as efficient.) Add snacks, and lunch, and water, and more water.
Snorkel gear, absolutely yes.
A box to keep my treasures in. Sea glass, anyone?
A float for me. And a book.
If we are really feeling it, we will bring a soccer ball or a football. This is rare.
Lucky for me, my husband is very strong, and very helpful. He usually carries 95% of the beach stuff, while I carry the toddler & maybe the food. Putting a beach wagon in my cart ASAP.
I know beach days look different with a toddler. It has taken us a while to figure out how to make them perfect (or close to it). We play marco polo. We take turns snorkeling and watching our little girl. We bury each other in sand. We take turns tanning. It can be soooooooo much fun, even if it is different from before having a baby.
