Babies and Boats

[sighmoon]

The netting should be fairly fine so limbs can't go through.

Make that fingers rather than limbs.

Chatting with my sister in law about working in A&E - they've had fingers lost to trampoline netting. I've not heard of it happening on a yacht, but it may be partly down to the numbers participating.

I don't understand why you need gaps in the netting to get on and off.

When we tried it, I found that the netting along the deck made it very difficult to find somewhere for your feet on the outside of the lifelines. Each boat is different, I guess.

 

[oldgit]

My grand spogs have been swimming ....more or less since birth.)
IMHO ....if the sprogs are already used to having water over their heads when they do finally go over the side (and they will)
There is no sudden panic with all the loss of control that accompanies it.A far better chance of collecting the little s*** without drama or serious consquences....apart from grandads heart failure plus some fast explanations to their grandmother...No need to mention this to mum kids.

 

[Shakemeister]

As someone who is at the real front line of A&E (not the hospital), I've never seen fingers lost on a trampoline. If you're talking about the typical kid's garden trampoline every summer I've seen kids injured from falling off the thing or because the safety netting gave way.

Netting around the guard wires is just a sensible precaution if you have toddlers.

All the amputated fingers I've seen have involved adults wearing rings climbing a fence or adult domestics where someone slams a door unaware that their significant other is in the doorway.

When I'm in work or on the boat my wedding ring comes off. One - I don't want it scratched to bits - Two - I'm rather attached to my fingers and I'd prefer it if they were attached to me.

 

[Big-Bang1]

We used to use a Grobag for sleeping in (The baby sleeping bag type , not the ones for growing tomatoes in)
A Beanbag in the cocpit is good for wedging little people in and a Bumbo for sitting in when it comes to feeding time.

We found short n sweet trips on the boat with a beach or town to wonder around in the middle of the day were the way to go.

 

[jac]

Take the hour per year of age with a pinch of salt. When very young and mainly asleep 2-3 hours whilst they are asleep is fine.
Once they get to 2-3 then a shorter passage if possible is not a bad idea. Mine are now 9 & 7 and whilst we've done 12 hours with them we started at 4:30 am so they missed the first 4 hours.

I would aim for a maximum of 6 hours generally with ours and ideally still 3-4 hours despite the age. The longer passage ( e.g. cross Channel or cross Lyme bay) restricted to once or twice a year and accompanied with bribes, books, Ipads etc.

 

[dedwards]

For babies we found that netting in the forepeak turns it into a great playcot. as for lifejacket: we opted for a baby carrier instead.. the mite is unlikely to go overboard if strapped to mum's belly.

 

[sighmoon]

Take the hour per year of age with a pinch of salt. .

+1

For the longer passages, we like to set out an hour or two before dinner (assuming the sea is flatish). Then dinner's ready, and then bed time. They take a while to go to sleep while the boat's alive, but hey, they're on holiday. Once the kids are in bed, mum and dad can still sail and have some quality time together, which is where sailing holidays trump any other type of holiday.

For the kids, waking up somewhere new in the morning is magical.

we opted for a baby carrier instead.. the mite is unlikely to go overboard if strapped to mum's belly.

We have one of those baby carriers but never use it on the boat - if the parent falls in it might be really difficult to get baby's face above water quick enough.

 

[bedouin]

Tradition tells us that Moses baskets float- but I am not sure I would want to rely on that

 

[dedwards]

We have one of those baby carriers but never use it on the boat - if the parent falls in it might be really difficult to get baby's face above water quick enough.

As with anything boaty its all about managing risk: Mum put the baby below while doing deck work so the only real opportunity for her to fall in is while getting on and off the boat. With a bit of care the chances of that are pretty remote and are probably equal to the chance of dropping the baby onto the pontoon if it was not attached to her.
Flip side is she was able to helm with baby attached so I was free to do all the deck work while underway.

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...dvice-please&p=3458908&highlight=#post3458908

 

[Way]

Promised I'd come back to upload photos.....

Awesome trip. Felt quite easy, even on our 24footer. Great experience to be repeated, a lot

 

[mjcoon]

Promised I'd come back to upload photos.....

???

 

[Way]

 

[Way]

 

[Way]

 

[Way]

 

[VicS]

Promised I'd come back to upload photos.....

I recommend that you investigate the use of Photobucket