sailing with a baby

[lgaggie96]

I was curious at what age some of you first took your children out sailing?? We recently had a baby (9weeks old) and haven't been able to go out sailing in a while. We are really ready to get back out there and go sailing, but are afraid it may be awhile.

[T37Chef]

A lot has been discussed here related to the topic, a search may turn up some useful information. With some considerations, like the boat, its definitely doable. Both our children were sailing young, the oldest was about 4 months old the first time out, and the other about 2 months old the first time out, probably would have taken them earlier but the boat was in winter storage

[puddinlegs]

Day 8 for us.

[tommays]

It depends a lot on the boat and conditions

In my case my wife has allways had a bit of water fear which made it all the harder and when my son was young he did not do well in the cabin with the sea sick deal

[Faster]

Our son was 18 days old, it was in June... He was determined to "beat" us and he had his daughter out at 1 week old - in a race - in December

Starting them as young as possible is the way to go - Sailing and everything about it is "normal" for them, and it's much easier than trying to introduce a 5 or 6 year old to all of that. The most difficult stage is the early toddler stage when they start to want to wander around and may not have the patience to sit for any length of time.

A secure area (berth with leecloths, and some books and non electronic toys) will help to keep them safe while the two of you tend to sailing. We were fortunate that our son generally had a long nap when things got to be more of a handful weather wise...

[cormeum]

Varies, but almost all of them went out in the car seat so I'd guess a couple of months old.

[g0twind]

I was only a few months old when my parents brought me onto my grandma's 29' Ericson. I even have a picture of me on it during a race!

I agree with starting out young. It might even help them get the sailing bug, like I did!

[killarney_sailor]

Our two were about 4 months old when we would go for long summer cruises. We made a crib area in a quarter berth area that was right beside the engine. If they were fussy and would not settle down for an afternoon nap, having the engine on for five minutes would do the trick every time. Seemed amazing at the time, but the vibration seemed to do the trick even though it was not particularly quiet.

My wife won a ladies' race on our Nonsuch 30 with only one non-sailing female for crew. She had to nurse our son (~ 5 months) during the starting sequence to get him settled (no engine!) - joys of a Nonsuch. One of the other boats joked that they wanted to protest since there was a 'man' onboard.

[Sabreman]

Our daughter was 3 months old on her first ride. Similar to killarney, we set her up un the V berth lining the sides with pillows so she wouldn't get hurt when the boat heeled. As soon as we were underway, out she went. Sixteen years later, she still falls asleep when the motor goes on.

We strapped her car seat into the cockpit and fed her on calm evenings while motoring to whatever cove was nearby. We would plug the cockpit drains and fill the cockpit with about 8" of water on days where we motored for long periods. She could play for hours in the sloshing water. Good memories.

[zedboy]

Originally Posted by Sabreman

We would plug the cockpit drains and fill the cockpit with about 8" of water on days where we motored for long periods. She could play for hours in the sloshing water.

Now that's a brilliant idea!