Infants/Toddlers Afloat

[dasein668]

Hmmm. Somehow I get the sense that most of the people reading this board don't have kids, but I'll probe the collective for good ideas anyhow.

So this season will be my first sailing with "Baby on Board." Gavin is 8 months old right now, and will likely celebrate his first birthday afloat....

Anyone have any great insights/tips/ideas/stories/warnings regarding sailing (and cruising) with young kids?

We do have a few ideas for projects for the boat related to kid... For one, we are installing a set of cleats up in the v-berth which will allow us to drop the companionway slides into place blocking the v-berth doorway: instant playpen. We are also toying with a few ideas for converrting one of the saloon berths into a baby-safe sleeping/playing area for evenings. Not sure whether a lee cloth will fit the bill or not... seems a bit flimsy once he starts climbing on things. Plywood might work, but is unwieldy... Any ideas there?

Anything else?

[manos]

Well not much experience (...yet, I hope), but...
Elpida my daughter is now 2 and a half. Last year that she was one and a half we had net around the boat so as to prevent her for going overboard. You'll not have that problem with Gavin yet but for us was the major risk that had to be taken in acount. Regarding the playground - sleeping arrangements, we used for her the small settee of the boat (while we used the facing sette that opens to a form a double bed). This had the exact size for a folding baluster (I hope this is the right word) the kind that is used for travels and which when open it has a L shape that goes under the matress to be kept in place. This created the necessary nest for sleeping - changing - playing when inside the boat. Since we did not sailed much with Elpida on board last year, we did not have for the cockpit anything more than a plastic baby chair or her mother's arms. I have read in other places about arrangements like a baby car seat or similar but have not experience. For sure you need to make the boat single handed friendly since Gavin's mother (or you !!) are going to be needed by the baby the crucial moment (Murphy's law) that you are also needed for boat handling. Anyway until Gavin is more than one and a half year old that he 'll become more dificult to leave home and his familiar things - playground etc. take every opportunity to go sailing. Don't worry too much about Gavin. Babies in general have much more tolerances than that we think of. Unfortunately it will become harder to do so later.

[dasein668]

Been out sailing with the boy for a couple months now... This same question just came up on the Cape Dory Owners Association board and I posted some thoughts on the question. I have copied that reply here...

Post from the CD board starts here
We took our son for his first sail when he was 10 days old. It was a very light air sail in
September. He stayed in a Baby-Bjorn carrier.

This season started when he was 9 months old. He loves being on the boat. We just got
back from our first overnight this weekend which was an unqualified success.

As for life jackets, we have not yet found a jacket which is comfortable enough for long-
term wearing. All the jackets for kids that size are just so bulky that he literally can't move.
We have tried several including an all-out try-on-every-jacket-at-West-Marine-and-
Hamilton-Marine-session. We now use the jacket when riding to and from the boat either
in a launch or in the dinghy, however we have moved to a full harness and tether
arrangement when on the boat. When he is old enough to use one of the toddler auto-
inflates we will use that, however the tether rule will remain in effect.



Obviously it would be great to have him in a life-jacket, however we feel that the most
important thing is to keep him on the boat. A jacket is great, however if he goes over you
still need to get him back aboard. Having done numerous MOB drill on a charter sail boat
for our coast guard inspection I assure you that the best solution is NOT to have to do it.
Babys are small and relatively fragile. MOB recovery is never a gentle procedure, and it
would be very easy to literally lose a baby if there were any sort of chop up. They simply
can't help, and recovery of an unresponsive victim is dicey at best.

This is why, ultimately, we decided to go with the tether only when aboard. Again, it would
be ideal to have BOTH a jacket and a tether, but we feel that the tether is of primary
importance.

Another thing to consider is whether there are times when it would be best for him (or her)
to be below. Your baby's safety is first and foremost YOUR responsibility after all.
Technology like life-jackets and tethers is great, but it is only a tool.

On our trip back from our overnight this weekend we were going dead downwind in
relatively strong winds. Heather took Gavin below. I didn't want to risk an accidental gybe
in those conditions with 2 adults, a 10 month old, and a dog in the cockpit. The best
prevention against injury to your baby is common sense. Take him out of the way of
danger. And keep your eye on him at all times. I wouldn't even consider going sailing with
Gavin without Heather along. That way one of us is always available to watch him. If the
situation DEMANDS both of us, which is exceptionally rare as we both are capable of
competently single-handing the boat in most conditions?then we can always put him in
the v-berth crib (see below) where he is quite safe in anything short of a knock-down or
pitch-pole.

Other things to consider are napping arrangements. We have two options in this regard.
During the day, for naptime we use the v-berth. I added some cleats on either side of the
v-berth doorway into which we can drop the companionway swash boards. This gives him
a large playpen/sleeping crib for use when underway.



At night my wife and I sleep in the v, so we have added a basic lee-cloth arrangement to
one of the main saloon berths which works fine for the overnight.



Hope this helps.

Nathan
Dasein, Pearson Triton 668
End of CD board post

[tartan30cirrus]

Nathan,

As you know this stuff is on my mind. I like the boards for the V-berth technique. Can you describe the cleats you are using to secure boards? The lee cloth idea was one I had and I am not sure how to make it truly idiot proof. Loks like yours totally encloses the berth, no? I will have to get looking at my T30 arrangement and find a solution. What about for a seat in cockpit? I have a padeye just under the bottom of the companionaway trim that we clip into when harnesses. I had a thought to clip a car seat to this padeye for the little guy to be in while sailing safe and dry under the dodger. What do you think? This is great stuff to talk about, glad you brought it up!

Cheers,
Clint

[dasein668]

I just made some simple mahogany cleats which I screwed to the bulkhead in the vberth. I eased all the corners to make them less of a head-banger.



The lee cloth goes from one end of the berth to the other, but is not secured to the bulkheads at all so a kid could crawl out around the end. We only use that over night, and Gavin sleeps through the night. When he's awake in the morning, we're all awake...

We haven't used a car seat on the boat so I can't comment on that.

[tartan30cirrus]

Nathan,

What do you do with the little guy if it is just the two of you and you are docking or need to reef or the like?

Trying to come up with a seat place for our little guy.

Cheers,
Clint

[dasein668]

I haven't taken the boat off the mooring with just him and me yet. Last year he was too small for that to work well. We'll see about this year.

[tartan30cirrus]

Nathan...

I was thinking what you do even with you and Heather there...where would Gavin go when you need all four of you hands? Particularly in a situation where actions need to be quick.

Cheers,
Clint

[dasein668]

He would stay in the cockpit, tethered in as usual when we are underway, or if it was really bad, one of us would take the few seconds to put him below in the v-berth.

I have to admit that we haven't really had a situation where we needed 4 hands on deck. I'm pretty used to single handing the boat, so I'm usually fine dealing with things myself and we haven't really had to test that sort of fire-drill in a real life situation.

For anchoring or dropping the main etc, he just stays in the cockpit as usual, and Heather usually takes the helm and I go up and deal with whatever needs dealing with.

[tartan30cirrus]

Here is what I came up w/ for my son's cockpit seat. It turns 90 degrees depending on which way we are heeling. He likes it. The hard part was finding the "jolly jumper" I was picturing.

Cheers,Clint

[dasein668]

Here is what I came up w/ for my son's cockpit seat

Slick!

[Tim]

I wish I had one of those for myself!