Hi,

We are finally taking our trio to the beach in September. It is about a 3 hour drive. I just need some suggestions to make the visit smoother and spending time on the beach.

thanks
karen
mom to ggg trips born 4/5/07

Not sure what the specific question is but one tip is that baby powder takes sand right off your little ones' skin (and yours too). I live at the beach so I put this in to practice a lot.

Haven't done a vacation with our trio but I would assume trying to stick to your schedule would help?

If you have a DVD player in the car and their favorite snacks, that usually will get me through a car trip.

HTH

We have taken ours several times it seems to be a slow acclimating process for our girls, though Max took right to it. The girls hated the sand and the ocean at first. I recommend going to Dollar store and getting buckets and shovels as digging in the sand helped them get used to it and they had tons of fun. I'd also recommend getting a big umbrella and bringing a cooler if you are going to be actually ON the beach for very long. My brother lives at the beach so we are spoiled and can just taken them to his place when they have had enough.

Danielle

spontaneous ggb

http://lilypie.com>

We have a place at the beach that is about 3 hours away and our trips are 2 years old. This year we have gone down several times and stayed a week back in July. I mention this because staying the week really help them get the idea.

Traveling... I pack lots of snacks and lots of little toys. We try to leave just before nap time so they sleep for part of the trip and when they wake we stop to break the trip up. We have tried other schedules, but this seems to work best.

Beach... not sure where you'll be going and what it will be like, but we go to the outer banks and it is very secluded. This makes it much easier for keeping up with the kids. We also started out on the sound to get them use to the water, sand, sun, etc. before dealing with the waves. They love the sound and DH and I can manage all three by ourselves, but the beach was not the same story. They don't love it yet. DS was the only one that would play in the waves and we certainly needed help keeping everyone happy/safe. As pp stated sand/water toys are a must.

We have had absolutely no luck eating on the beach. It turns into a big mess no matter what I take. Hopefully you'll be close enough you can run back to your place for meals/snacks, etc.

I put mine in long sleeve t-shirts and swim diapers. I take lots of extra swim diapers because they asked to be changed after a while. I also take hats and sometimes they'll keep them on, sometimes not.

Mentally, try to prepare yourself that this is going to be a lot of work, not a relaxing day at the beach, and hopefully it will go better than my days and you'll be delightfully surprised. (lol)

I use PNPs for sleeping and my kids can climb out of them, so I have to stay with them until they go to sleep. This has improved greatly since our week long stay. They use to really fight it, but now they settle right down. If they have anything from home that might comfort them, take it. We carry blankets, stuffed toys, and their Playschool MP3 player. We also have a special (only at the beach, not at home), lighted thingy that shines on the ceiling that they really like and makes bedtime a little bit festive.

We have bad mosquitoes and the kids always seem to get bites on the face that swell really badly. I take Benadryl and Zyrtec now and if they get a bite on the face I go ahead and give them some with some ibuprofen. The first time it happened DD's eye swelled almost closed for a couple of days

Whatever sleeping arrangements you have for the kids, if possible, I'd try to have extra sheets handy in case you have to bring them in sandy and put them to bed. It is just nice to have options.

Good luck. Hope you have fun!


Wendy
Mom to trips born 6/29/2007 @ 35w1d
Jack 5 lb 3 oz
Estelle 5 lb 7 oz
Clara 4 lb 9 oz

I also recommend making sure they are familiar with and LIKE sand before you go or you will battle that the entire time. Also, be sure to have an umbrella for them to sit under and lots of water even for random things like cleaning the sand off their sippies, etc.

Finally, take along with you low expectations. It is a lot for toddlers to take in and they sometimes don't last very long. Just don't expect too much out of them, ya know?

Have fun!

Jessica

i would put them in uv proof long sleeves and long pants bathers. bring extra hats.
let them get used to and excited about digging NOW. if there is sand around where you are, let them get used to the sand. it is a huge adjustment! even have lunch on the sand so it won't be too much of a surprise to them if that is what you are planning.
when you are going to the beach (unless you are on the beach) be near a park and shade. the kids might like a break. and the shade is a Godsend during naptime.
enjoy your vacation and ditto what a pp said about the portable dvd player.

tess
mummy to 7yr old ds & the triumverate born 2004

We took our girls when they were 2 also so these are things that I remember that helped out alot.
1. baby powder

2. small blow up swimming pool(from the dollar store). This helped out alot when they were scared of the ocean.

3. sand toys

4. Take bottles of water to drink and to clean off things when they get coated with sand.

5. Sun hats, I made the girls wear the same color so it was easy to keep track of them.

6. Go with low expectations, that way you won't be dissapointed if things don't go as planned. Just remember they will be out of their own routine so try to stick to it as much as possible.

What beach are you going to? We are going in 2 wks to Bethany beach, DE.
Have fun and try to relax as much as you can.


Nicole
My girls are in Kindergarten!
Brynn, Taylor, & Shelby
36w, 3/22/04

Beach with 2 yr olds is not the most fun! Last year mine still went full speed in 3 different directions. We went a ton last summer, took the superyard which makes life MUCH easier. We had 2 hooked together, I would plant my chair in the middle, throw out a ton of sand toys, blankets,towels and a cooler. Yes, it was a major PITA to bring all that stuff with me but it was worth so I could relax and not chase babies all day.

BBG 6/21/06