My Top Tips for Taking Your Baby to the Beach

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Headed to the beach or seaside this summer with your baby? In this blog post, I’m sharing my favorite beach travel tips to stay safe and have fun with your child.

How to enjoy a beach trip with your baby

The beach can be a great place to relax and enjoy some sun with your family, but what about the harsh sun and sand, naptime, and more? When we head to the beach for a long visit, we usually try to do a half-day—either a morning or evening trip so we can nap at home. (Also helps to have beach morning and pool afternoon post-naps!

Occasionally, when my girls were in the napping stage, we would bring our single BOB stroller and take a long walk for a midday nap. It’s generally not a long nap, but it gave them just enough rest time to make it through a full day at the beach.

Using a portable white noise machine, like a Shusher, is also a great way to dull out crowded beach noises in the stroller. To keep the sun out of their eyes, a shade tent over the stroller hood is 100% a necessity! 

To protect our girls from the sun on the sand, I love these pop up beach tents— they are available at a lot of retail stores, but they also have them on Amazon. If you have a flexible napper, or newborn, these tents are an easy way for them to get some rest without having to move away from your beach chair. Some of my readers recommended using a small battery-powered portable fan to keep the baby cool inside their tent. Brilliant! 

How to keep your baby hydrated at the beach

Another great tip, especially for older babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, is snacks! Snacks are an absolute lifesaver at this age. They can distract your child and keep things fun.

For the beach, I like to bring goldfish and halved grapes, but anything that won’t melt from the harsh heat is great.

Don’t forget to bring a sippy cup of your child’s favorite drink like water to keep them hydrated from the drying heat and sun. It’s also great if the sippy cup has a straw that is able to tuck away and not be exposed to sand!

Frozen yogurt tubes will stay cold and melt to the perfect smoothie texture for a cooler treat. If you want a more substantial meal, we sometimes come back to the beach house for lunch and use baby powder to help remove the sand from our baby’s skin. 

How to keep your child safe from the water and the sun

If your toddler isn’t ready for the big waves, bringing a small toddler pool to place in front of your beach tent is a genius idea to keep them safe from large crashing waves. I also find that this makes it easier to keep a watchful eye on them in the water without having to move too far away from your relaxing beach spot!! (That’s really why I love it!)

To protect your child from the sun, SPF sunscreen is necessary! There are so many formulations out there, but I find it really easy to apply sunscreen using a foundation brush and a beauty sponge. This makes it so much easier to blend, especially on their face. My favorite sunscreen brand is Bare Republic—you can find it on Amazon!! I use this for our whole family! 

Speaking of SPF protection, there are some amazing rash guard swimsuits for all ages to protect their skin from the harsh sun. I love that they shield vulnerable skin areas like their back and arms from sunburns. These Rufflebums are so precious and have great prints for for boys too! 🙌🏼

How to travel with your infant

While beach vacations are SO fun, changing your baby’s sleep routine can come with bedtime frustrations. Check out these posts on traveling well with your family for a good night’s rest even on vacation.

• Travel Checklist for Your Child
• How to Handle Sleep on Vacation 
• How to Stay at a Hotel with Your Kids

Did you find this post helpful? I hope you can enjoy a beach trip this year with your family!

Sweet dreams. See you next time.

Becca Campbell
Your Pediatric Sleep Consultant

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