Babies on Board

[Cruisingdad]

Schooner,

You have a nice family and looks like you guys are having fun. Nice to see more of us out there!!

- CD

[searcher48]

This is my first post on this forum, Hi everyone!
Just a few words to add. We lived aboard our rival 41 anchored in tortola, british virgin islands from ´82 - 97. I had 2 children, moved them onboard from 1 month old. Born in 92 & 94

tips: We had the baby sleep with us untill about 4 months then moved him into the v berth with a fillin. We put a board of perspex across the entrance so he could see out but not fall out. Then at night or when unattended we made a barrier over the remaining space with a piece of cockpit flooring we had found. We took out alternate bars so there was a prison bars effect.this was bolted in. VERY reasuring as he could not get out. ( He was a great escape artist from any carseat etc) It made a great play area etc. I covered the cushions in plastic there.

He spent alot of his early life naked during the day in the cockpit. accidents dont matter in the tropics just pour a bucket of saltwater over child/cockpit! At night i found as he got older i was able to cut up the "unused " part of his disposable diaper and push that down the front of his clean diaper!! made them last much longer!

Never try to be quiet "so the baby can sleep" they must learn to sleep through all kinds of noise..engine, rigging, parents shouting at each other!!

I did have a folding stroller with a reclining back. I found this invaluable especially if we went out ashore in the evening he could fall asleep and i had somewhere to"put" him. I would go grocery shopping then put groceries in the stroller and baby in a sling on my chest. could carry far more that way!

One piece of brilliant advice I got from an experienced cruising mum was to start baby swimming at 2 months. do the blow in the face then underwater after counting 123. They soon learn to hold their breath. Then EVERY time you play sitting on the side of pool/dinghy/dock and falling forward into the water get them to turn round immediatly and grab the side. This can save their life. It is still a fun game. I had baby swimming with armbands and a cutdown "ski belt" from 5 mths. It kept him up that bit more than just armbands but more freedom than a lifejacket. The other advice she gave was to get mini fins...this gave him far more speed and satisfaction. He was swimming without armbands by 2.5 yrs when wearing just fins.

We sold the boat and moved ashore to the costa blanca, spain, when the kids were 2 and 5.
That was 10 years ago! The older one remembers the boat and his lifestyle and sitting out a hurricane on a friends mfv boat alongside the dock! Although they may not remember individual islands etc. he is top of his class in geography and his teacher says he has a different "world awareness" than his classmates.

Goodluck to all of you starting out!
A landlocked sailor/mum

[dinocarmine]

We were cruising in the Pacific when we got pregnant and raised our son on board while cruising throughout the Eastern Pacific until he went away to college. We were stressed about safety too, but in retrospect it was no more dangerous than a house, with traffic, swimming pools etc. The worst time was when he was big enough to climb overboard but too young to know not to. It turned out great for us.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by dinocarmine

The worst time was when he was big enough to climb overboard but too young to know not to. It turned out great for us.

You'd best elaborate.

[clausont]

Well, after reading every post in this thread, I am back to feeling that perhaps I am not too crazy. Maybe. I want more than anything to start cruising in the next couple of years ( although there is alot of work and learning to do between now and then). I am certainly ready now to leave the Information Technology job that I have now!
I have been told that I am absolutely insane to even THINK of cruising. The reason? My wife and I have 5 kids - ages 1 year to 10 years. We have homeschooled each one from the start. They each have their own chores to do. The 2 oldest ones have a 15' Chrysler Man-O-War that they sail and they love it. I started sailing when I was 8 years old myself. I have had a few smaller sailboats and one 38' ferro boat that never made it anywhere but down (that is another story )
I certainly appreciate all of the input that I have read here in this thread. It has beed exceptionally encouraging and educational. I will continue to read each post here (and re-read everything) until we actually go.
We hope to have a tri by the time we actually get close enough to go. In the meantime we will be doing some occasional coastal cruising in a too small mono.

[schoonerdog]

I think you'll love it. Literally I'm the happiest person I know, we've got a long term dream, we live an adventure, we're incredibly close. That's all we want. I would suggest getting something which would maximize accomodations for the kids, I obviously like a cat for just that reason, a bit of privacy and a bit of room to spread out (everything is relative of course).

Best of everything

Originally Posted by clausont

Well, after reading every post in this thread, I am back to feeling that perhaps I am not too crazy. Maybe. I want more than anything to start cruising in the next couple of years ( although there is alot of work and learning to do between now and then). I am certainly ready now to leave the Information Technology job that I have now!
I have been told that I am absolutely insane to even THINK of cruising. The reason? My wife and I have 5 kids - ages 1 year to 10 years. We have homeschooled each one from the start. They each have their own chores to do. The 2 oldest ones have a 15' Chrysler Man-O-War that they sail and they love it. I started sailing when I was 8 years old myself. I have had a few smaller sailboats and one 38' ferro boat that never made it anywhere but down (that is another story )
I certainly appreciate all of the input that I have read here in this thread. It has beed exceptionally encouraging and educational. I will continue to read each post here (and re-read everything) until we actually go.
We hope to have a tri by the time we actually get close enough to go. In the meantime we will be doing some occasional coastal cruising in a too small mono.

[dinocarmine]

During our cruising years when our son was living with us (1975-1993) we found that the cruising families tended to buddy boat so that the kids had someone to play with etc. The kids form a widespread community and soon know about all the other cruising kids in the region. Families we know vary from only children to as many as four boys. I am sure five kids would work as long as the boat had enough bunks. Some of the best times we had were when we had the whole pack of kids aboard for a birthday party at a deserted beach, snorkeling, wind surfing etc. As far as we are concerned, having a family is a reason TO go cruising, not a reason NOT to go cruising. Dino

[GordMay]

dinocarmine:
So your earlier comment that "it turned out great for you [sic]" DIDN't refer to the kids ability to climb, combined with their ignorance of the reasons not to.
I was worried for a while; but you've calmed my fears.

[clausont]

Schoonerdog - We hope to do so getting a cat or a tri that is big enough to give a little room for all but not too big for 2 to handle.
Dinocarmine - I agree 100% that having 5 kids is a reason to go cruising and not a reason to stay home. We are looking forward to it and hope soon to be on the water more often until we can actually start cruising.

[schoonerdog]

If you get a cat more than 40 ft, you can easily find one with four cabins, that way everyone gets their own room and you still have space for clothes, school supplies, kitchen goods, etc. There are many older Privileges which are affordable, strong and absolutely huge in terms of accomodations.

Have fun with the hunting!

[schoonerdog]

One last tip from a Dad and live-aboard family whose been on a boat now for over a decade, it really, really helps to have a boat that's big enough to have an extra room that serves as a workshop, garage. With our boat with 1 or two kids, we can have everyone with their own potential room and we use our fourth room strictly as a workshop and storage. With 5 kids I would personally choose a Privilege 45, it has rooms for all of the family (4 large cabins and one smaller pilot birth in the very forward port hull), plus it has a large 6th cabin for a workshop, storage, in their central nacelle area. We personally use our extra room for cleaning supplies, medical kits, pantry, spare parts for engine, electric, dingy, plumbing, and bulk storage for large things we go through quickly like toilet paper and paper towels. No other boat has that sort of storage.

Cat's depreciate, so picking one thats older, but maintained as new can really be quite a price savings. The privilege also has a great reputation as one of the strongest and most capable blue water boats.

YachtWorld.com Boats and Yachts for Sale=

[GordMay]

I too, like the Privilege line. Here's some P45 layouts:

[schoonerdog]

the link I sent had a layout like the upper left image, with an additional small pilot birth up in the forward port area making, in essense, a 6 cabin cruiser. I think you could call something this big a small passenger liner.

[clausont]

Schoonerdog and GordoMay Thanks for the info on these. They are about the size that we would love to have in the end, but in the near term they will be out of our price range. We will probably endup with an older Cross, Horstman or Searunner type. Hopefully we will find something in our price range that is suitable for some coastal cruising until we can move up.
Any thoughts on these older tri's for coastal cruising?

[the5]

Howdy There,

My wife and I found this book to be helpful.

Babies Aboard (Paperback)
by Lyndsay Green (Author)
Amazon.com: Babies Aboard: Books: Lyndsay Green


Our first is due in March, and we are planning to sell the house and head for the Caribbean and further in November. All the recommendations in this thread are really helpful. The only problem we really have is how to tell the in-laws and still have them speaking to us afterwards. Really, this is a big problem.


best,
Jason