Baby on the boat

jbcs16 · Outlaw Joined: 03 Aug 2010 Posts: 100

Not sure this is the correct place to post, but this area seemed to have the most traffic. We have a baby that will be 4 months old May 6th and hope to get him out on the lake this summer. Just wondering what age some of your kids started going on the boat and the best way of boating with babies? any suggestions for infant life jackets? any other tips? we will be going out later in the evenings instead of in the heat of the day for sure. we have a ski nautique 2001 so space is somewhat limited. thanks for your input.

E.J. · Ladies Man Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 7597 City: Mogadishu

Went out at the same time 4-5 months. Usually in a car seat under the drivers seat when sleeping, but in arms when awake and wanting love. Use to heat bottles up with the shower... She loves the boat now(9)... Never too young!

eeven73 · Posted: Apr 28, 2014 6:46 am Post subject:

I've had both my daughters out before they were 1.

Unfortunatly we never found an infant lifejacket that was close to comfortable. Best we ever did was actually one of the Orange neck ring types. That way they were not sweating from the heat and insulation of the life jacket.

chavez · RIP MHL 04/25/1958 - 01/11/2006

eeven73, we have found the vests from Stohlquist were far and away the best for infants/toddlers. They way the vest is cut and the rear "flap" is attached keeps the kid from being uncomfortable.

eeven73 · Posted: Apr 28, 2014 7:14 am Post subject:

chavez,

Yeah those look an awful lot like the one we used. First times out had a wetsuit material vest, poor kid was soaked from sweat and pissed off the whole day.

pet575 · Posted: Apr 28, 2014 7:15 am Post subject:

Had our boy out at 6 months. Neoprene life vest with the head support thing. Had him under the bimini top as much as possible and in the water as much as possible. Must be willing to leave the water quickly whenever the baby has had enough. Sometimes we could get around that by taking a long ride down the lake. Instant nap time!

eeven73 · Posted: Apr 28, 2014 7:19 am Post subject:

^ oh yeah, bimini is absolute must. Even on partially cloudy days.

chavez · RIP MHL 04/25/1958 - 01/11/2006

eeven73, we have a neo vest that we attempted to use just lakeside to see if he'd go for it, and it was just a scream-fest. So we went to a few places and found the Stohlquist vests. It's not neoprene (just good old fashioned nylon) and it's got more "flex" in it than the average kids vest. It doesn't have an inordinate amount of padding under the chin, which from my experiences is the thing that pisses an infant off the most.

Anyhow, I agree on the bimini 100% as well. I'd go as far to say bimini + high spf sunblock is mandatory.

ohsix · Posted: Apr 28, 2014 10:00 am Post subject:

We took our son out on the boat when he was 4 or 5 months old. We didn't find a great life jacket, but he tolerated it okay. He mostly liked chewing/gnawing on the life jacket. Just be sure you're close to the house when your kid gets tired.