Sailing....With Babies?

[Roris]

Hi, we are thinking about maybe doing a several year sailing trip, but are most concerned about the babies, one is now 16 months old and another one is on the way. Does anyone have experience with this? There is a lot to consider.

[JanetGroene]

My friends with a motorsailer did fine with twin babies and said diapers wash out white and clean when towed behind the boat. All they needed was a fresh water rinse. Their longest passage took them from Florida to Bermuda.

[skipmac]

Lived on board with my daughter when she was 12-18 months old. I loved it and she seemed to enjoy it as well except for not finding a lot of kids her age to play with down island.

My only complaints, baby-proofing a boat was a bit more work than doing a house. Plus at least one parent was always on full time baby watch. Unless she was in bed asleep someone was always right there with her.

One story that my wife finds amusing now but was annoying at the time. We were very careful (but not to the level of instilling fear and paranoia) to make sure our daughter was aware of not falling in the water. After one header off the dock at the marina she got the message, perhaps too well. We were at sea on a very hot day without a breath of wind so thought it would be a great idea to go for a swim to cool off. I volunteered for first baby watch but when my wife headed for the stern and started to climb down the ladder our daughter freaked. Daughter was very certain that we were not supposed to go into the water off the boat. Wife came back to try to calm the daughter and convince her it was OK but nothing doing. Daughter got a death grip on my wife and said adamantly "mommy no get in water" and that was that.

[rebel heart]

We've had our daughter onboard since she was a week old, our second daughter is six weeks old and was born in Mexico. So that's two little kids with two parents on a 36' boat. It's a blast, very few problems. 95% of the problems are problems that are related to being a parent, not being a parent on a boat.

It helps a lot if you've lived on a boat before, I think. If you go to the link in my blog you can see my wife's entries which has a lot about having kids onboard. You can also email her and ask her any questions.

There are a lot of boats around here with kids onboard.

[Roris]

Thank you guys for those replies, that is very a encouraging start. We probably have about a year before we would leave, as we'd wait until after the next one is born.
Babyproofing the boat is a good one, we had some concerns about limiting how much the family, the grandparents, uncles, aunts and nephews would see of the kids growing up. Did anyone see this as a problem?
It is good to get to know some people with babies on boats and hear their stories.

+

we haven't bought the boat yet! I'd love to hear everyone's suggestions.

[Khagan1227]

You may wish to check out Bumfuzzle.com as well. Youngish couple's cruising blog with two little ones.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Roris.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Roris

we had some concerns about limiting how much the family, the grandparents, uncles, aunts and nephews would see of the kids growing up. Did anyone see this as a problem?

My mom (our daughters' grandmother) sort of ribs me about that from time to time but it's our family, we have the boat and the ability to do it, so screw it. Not to lecture or start telling you how you should parent by any means, but for us it was important that our children saw us doing what we wanted to do with our lives.

They're little mirrors so if they see us not taking big risks and doing big things, they won't do them either. Maybe you'll be sailing forever, but probably not, and even if you're doing it forever you can always fly home a bit. I think there's a lot of value in being the people in the family who do **** instead of being the ones who talk about why you can't. My $0.02.

[BlueSun]

Hi Roris, welcome and congratulations!
We are also adding some new crew in about 6 months from now! I think it will be a wonderful experience for all of us. As Rebel Heart said, I think it helps to have lived on board for a while already, but hey - you'll adjust! Just about everyone we've met says how fantastic boat kids are, and what a great life it will be for them. Im convinced!

One of my big concerns was family members' response to us raising kids aboard, but then the other day my Mum completely bowled me over when she emailed me and said "I know that you will continue your travels and I admire you for it. I will come and see you in far flung places." So family will come to terms with it.

Another vote here for the bumfuzzle blog too!

What part of the world are you in Roris?

Good luck with your adventures!

Caitlin

[BlueSun]

One thing I wonder about is where bub (particularly a newborn) can safely sleep while underway. Can they stay in a bunk - is that safe? Or do they need to be strapped in to their car seat? And is that OK on passages of more than a day?

[Roris]

Originally Posted by BlueSun

One thing I wonder about is where bub (particularly a newborn) can safely sleep while underway. Can they stay in a bunk - is that safe? Or do they need to be strapped in to their car seat? And is that OK on passages of more than a day?

Hi, thank you very much for your reply, we'd been thinking about that as well. What I was suggested was to in the first months after birth definitely keep him (or her :-) in the car seat, that is safest and therefore the right thing to do; but you'd want to limit the amount of time they spend in there each time of course.

At first we will probably make our way down the Carribean via Cape Verde (we're in the UK now), and stay there for some time.

Thanks for the comments on parents. Nice comment on showing your children that you are doing what you want to do with your lives.

[MarkJ]

Oops, I thought you said "Babes"


This ain't my sorta thread....

[cwyckham]

Also have a look at windtraveler's blog. They have a baby aboard in the Caribbean