What do we need to pack for a couple days at the beach?

These will be more "relaxing" visits to the beach and the kiddos are pretty little, so anything we can bring with us to make it easier/more fun would be great. I seem to remember the towels blowing around a lot, sand everywhere, and lots of scorching sun last time.

What do you recommend? Is there some kind of umbrella that is handy to have on the beach or lightweight chairs or???

We know sunscreen and hats and shovels/pails - but what else? :)

Also, we're packing a picnic lunch, so any tips for that are more than welcome!

We have an old queen sized comforter that we bring. It's nice because there is room for everyone. If we are going for more than an hour or so, we sometimes bring a small tent that sets up and colapses really easily for sun shade because our kids are really small and need naps. Make sure you get waterproof sunscreen and I would most definately bring hair scarves or ties! lol! I wear one of Joy's silks when i go and totally wrap my head because I hate hair whipping into my eyes!!! Oh and SUNGLASSES!

ETA - you might want to bring a jug or two of water in case there is no outdoor shower to rinse off in. Kids tend to get grumpy riding home with sand in all their *ahem* crevices.

I agree with Jo!

We also take a large umbrella & the kids love to sit under that! Take plenty of towels, a change of clothes, snacks & a small garbage bag or box for any trash you might have.

We also keep a small first aid kit on hand. My kids like to pick up shells & sometimes they are sharp. You know a bandaid makes it all better! :)

Also if you are driving down to the beach or parking near it, make sure that you don't need a parking pass. I know here at the beaches you have to have a beahc parking permit. It's like $10 for a whole year.

Have a great time!

I've seen a few umbrellas and pup tent type structures - are there any that are better than others?

Thank you So much!!! :big hug:

If you have a Costco, the last few years they have carried a lightweight umbrella that you just dig into the sand. We've had ours for a few years and they have gotten lots of use and still working great.
Cornstarch baby powder is great for rubbing the wet sand off of skin.
We bring a cooler of refreshing cut up, ready to eat fruit and cheese cubes that can be eaten with toothpicks.
Lots of bottled water!

If there is any chance of jellyfish, bring white vinegar. In Hawaii, that or rubbing alcohol is a common item tossed into the bags of the locals. You see them rescuing visitors a lot. Just pour it over to neutralize the jellyfish sting.

Now that's one I wouldn't have thought of, for sure!

If you do get stung by a jellyfish, what is the treatment protocol?
Do you need to get medical attention after pouring the vinegar on it?
Anything I need to do for homecare if that should happen?

Jellyfish sting shouldn't need medical attention unless maybe it was a very small child, I think I would take a toddler in just to be safe, but it's probably not even necessary. You could give Benadryl if you wanted to and another way to neutralize stings is a paste of meat tenderizer and water. If you see little particals of tentacle stuck in the skin, you can rub sand briskly over the area and that should loosen and remove them. Hopefully you guys will just be in a place where there aren't many jellyfish!

when? I recall your recent thread about GA/Macon...

Unless you'll be on the gulf or in FL, the water will be too cold yet for true beaching along the east coast...

We vacation every year on Tybee, just out of Savannah. It's a lovely island/beach, but would be way too cold right now for water play.

Sunscreen, buckets, a BIG old blanket (goodwill a king sized...), water to drink, etc. Sunglasses...water shoes (the cheap ones at WM or Target) for the kiddos so they don't get burned on the sand.

Bicycle trailer with stroller handle or jogging stroller equipped with a bungee cord or two - makes it so much easier easy to transport kids, cooler and gear from car to beach. Not so easy to hold kids' hands as well as carry all the gear.

Ditty bag to hold wet bathing suits & towels

Extra dry towels to cover car seats

Dustpan sized brush to brush sand off footware before re-entering car

We have this Portable tent (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000IUXC/104-4295617-6091156?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00000IUXC.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

We haven't used it yet, but I've set it up in the house and I think it's going to be perfect. And it weighs around 1lb so it's easy to carry :)

A warm, dry hoodie or blanket left in the car will feel great wrapped around the kids on the drive back.

if you have a young babe, a solarveil sling would be great :D

Our beach house is two short blocks to the beach, so we generally pack light going down. We bring:

Towel for each person
Few bottles of water
Hats for the kids
Each child carries their own bucket/shovel


that's about it. We pack really light, but we don't camp all day on the beach- we go down generally for less than two hours- normally go down swim/wade for a while, then play in the sand for about an hour. Last summer at 3.5 & 1yo, my kids were just too young for more than 2 hrs, without a nap.

when? I recall your recent thread about GA/Macon...

Unless you'll be on the gulf or in FL, the water will be too cold yet for true beaching along the east coast...

Not until May :)

I'm just a planner.
We're hitting the gulf side on the way down, and Cocoa Beach mid-trip (around the 16th of May). It *should* be okay by then. Last trip to Fl, we went in the ocean even though it was DECEMBER! LOL (gulf side). It was chilly, but the kids couldn't resist jumping over waves - they'd run back and play in the sand for a while, then jump over a few more tiny, tiny waves. LoL

tandemmama -
That's the one I was looking at yesterday. Was it fairly easy to set up? Does it take up much car space? (We'll have all of our stuff in the car for two weeks on the way down, so it needs to be fairly compact) :)

Is there enough space for a 1 year old to sit and play for a bit or do you think they'd try to get out and be confined too much?


Also - I've heard that a very small inflatable pool is great to take to the beach? Anyone have experience with this? Any reason why this would be a good idea, in particular? We'll have a three year old and one year old - so maybe just to keep them contained?

Is there any reason salt water play is not a good idea? (I mean, if the baby got it in her eyes, would she be screaming?)

Salt water in the eyes doesn't exactly feel good but a swipe with the towel and they run back down to the water.

We live on the gulf coast so my girls have all been in the ocean from an early age and we haven't had trouble with the salt water.

Salt water feels better than fresh water. I would be more worried about sand in the eyes, but at a beach, that is a given! If they get sand in the eyes, splash water in their eyes, and let them cry the rest out. It's nature's way of getting it out!

Murali

We have a fantastic cart called a Wonder Wheeler; we actually have the deluxe version. It carries everything we need to the beach; it pushes like a stroller on the sidewalk and when you get to the sand you pull it behind you on 2 big wheels. We put the cooler on the bottom, load up the mesh compartment, and then hang our chairs off the front. I can't tell you how much we love this thing!

http://www.onestepahead.com/jump.jsp?lGen=detail&itemID=1365&itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=1365&change=117&cm_ven=Inktomi&cm_cat=Health&cm_pla=Hygiene&cm_ite=null

My guys don't really bother with sitting on a blanket or towel yet, so we just take chairs for the adults. I have one of the umbrellas from Costco. I also have a beach cabana that I use if the sun is intense or we're out during peak hours. This is the cabana we have:

http://www.onestepahead.com/product/61179/1213/117.html

It folds down small and has straps to carry like a backpack if you don't have a cart.

We pack a cooler with fruit, sandwiches, and water. We also pack kites, sand toys, sunscreen, ear plugs (DS#1 has tubes), towels, etc.

Have fun!

Kimberly

Thanks for all the help!
I bought the cabana today for our trip. It looked like it set up the easiest of all available. Do you think it's pretty easy to setup?

be sure to take whatever you use for 'baby powder' . For us, it is a giant bottle of Big B discount babypowder I bought about 10 years ago ... you have to check on the whole talc thing and decide what you want to use ..

any way ... you put it on yours and kids hands before eating, dries up all the moisture, so all the sand comes off and doesn't get into their 'sand'wich - pun intended,and put it on your feet before you get in your car and you don't track bunches of sand in ...also feels good drying up/loosening any stray seaweed after you get out of your bathing suit and generally refreshing all the 'cracks' and 'crevices.' :-0

I also carry an extra towel I can sacrifice to the bathroom stall floor, so I have something clean and dry to step on when changing, then roll up the swimsuit in it and toss all in a bag, it is one I don't mind sanitizing later (hot water,maybe a little bleach, whatever you use.)

sorry this is late ... maybe it will come in handy for someone going out this weekend!

just dropping by to look up some waterproofing info..

I think I owe some pms to some, sorry, it has been nuts here since may

we have this and it's great! we can all fit in it to get out of the sun. in the picture they have it facing the sun, but it's better away from to make shade. it's great at keeping sand from blowing into bags and stuff. we usually lay all our towels out and then pop the shelta open around them since there is no floor to it.

Shelta Australia (http://www.shelta.com.au/shadeCatalog/beach/beachShelta.html)

we have something similar to this -- Target : Portable 8' Beach Shelter (http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-3/qid=1186513366/ref=sr_1_3/601-4779384-6710511?ie=UTF8&asin=B0001X2A1S) except the sides are open. Target sold it abt 2 yrs ago and it was a summer clearance item. The stores had something similar again this yr, but i think they have already clearanced.
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51N35HAJXEL._SS260_.jpg

wow, this is an old thread to bump