Infants on board!?

[AKJOB]

My wife and I are expecting our first (a girl) in May. We live in SE, and spend a lot of time on the boat and out camping, and we'd like to bring her on a family trip when the weather is nice.

I'm planning on buying a separate car seat to keep her in when she's sleeping that we can keep in the cabin. The boat is 19' with a small cabin, so she will be out of the weather and warm. I'm hoping to get some suggestions on other things I need to consider (is there such a thing as an infant life jacket?), or anything that's worked well for other parents who like to take their little ones camping and fishing.

Any thoughts/suggestions appreciated, thanks~

[Alaska Gray]

My wife and I are expecting our first (a girl) in May. We live in SE, and spend a lot of time on the boat and out camping, and we'd like to bring her on a family trip when the weather is nice.

I'm planning on buying a separate car seat to keep her in when she's sleeping that we can keep in the cabin. The boat is 19' with a small cabin, so she will be out of the weather and warm. I'm hoping to get some suggestions on other things I need to consider (is there such a thing as an infant life jacket?), or anything that's worked well for other parents who like to take their little ones camping and fishing.

Any thoughts/suggestions appreciated, thanks~

there is an infant life Jacket. Here in Anchorage there is a place that gives them free. Check around where you live.

[alaskariverguy]

Our daughter is two now and we have taken her out on our raft and the ocean boat. She always wears a life jacket, we have several of them now. We got some of them as gifts but I am pretty sure sportsmans carries some. I tried to convince the wife to put her in the car seat the first summer she was born and take out but we waited until she was 1 year old. She usually falls asleep, especially in the ocean boat. Of course we have not gone out for the normal full day trip with her, just the cruise around the bay for a couple of hours and then come home. Now that we have two little ones it might get a little more challenging, but hopefully we will still get out on the water.


Steve

[spoiled one]

I had both my kids out as infants. They never new anything otherwise. I used the heck out of one of those portable high chairs. I would strap it to one of the captain chairs and it worked great. Your little critter won't be ready for that yet, but next season for sure. We also used the baby bjorn a lot. It did not last long. My daughter was 30 pounds on her first birthday. Just a heads up: Keep the little ones away from the prawn bait! (pellet kind) Yuck!

[RSKY BIZ]

Infant PFD's...

AKJOB-

Yes, there are infant PFD's...

INFANT PFD LINK

Congrats on the upcoming family expansion package!

Safe Boating-
Doc

[futurerancher]

One word of worning with those infant life vest is that they operate much different when there is a huge saggy water filled diaper. The first vest we bought for our little guy would turn him face down everytime if he had a regular diaper on. He did better with the "lil swimmers" diapers but still not to our satisfaction. Anyways, take her to a pool or bathtub if you have to and make sure they vest naturally wants to rotate her body face up regardless of what she is wearing.

[akjeff]

http://www.immersionsuitsforchildren.com/

Infant immersion suit.

[RSKY BIZ]

Water Babies!

Imersion suits for 'guppies' - hmm, new to me... thanks akjeff!

In regard to the previous link I provided - be sure to SCROLL DOWN to the text and lower images for 0-30 lbs kiddos.

Also note:

"The Coast Guard recommends waiting until your baby is about 15 lbs before taking them on a boat, canoe, or any other watersport activity. Infants, by law, must have a properly fitted infant life jacket. Swim diapers or any other floatation devices are not compliant with the law and not safe for infants.

The Coast Guard recommends NOT strapping babies into a car seat in your boat or using any other non Coast Guard approved device. This makes sense because if the boat capsizes, you want everybody, including your infant, floating safely in the water with a life vest."

Furthermore - you DEFINITELY want a USCGA Type II vest for your infant - which is one that will right them in the water if they were unconscious, as in not able to fend for themselves.

Also - and especially with youngsters, keep in mind how quickly hypothermia can occur if windy or especially if wet. AND, their heads are proportionally larger and they can lose heat rapidly through exposure.

Kids are not simply small adults in this regard. Not trying to scare you, or blow this out of the water - just stating some facts that might not be intuitively obvious.

I was once given the hairy eyeball by onlookers for assisting a friend 'water-train' their infant / young children. Standing in a public hotel pool - I threw the 6 month old in the air and allowed her to go under water and float to the top. To me it is most important that those who are going to be 'around water' feel comfortable and not panic in an adverse situation.

(To date - all those kids absolutely love the water and can and have fended for themselves in ocean experiences, in spite of not having formal 'swimming' lessons.)

Happy Parenting!
Doc

[Myers]

How about a leash or teather? My buddy use to leash the kids to a tree on the bank attached to his life jacket when family bank fishing, the kids could rome the place to their hearts content. He also had a float tube for the kids teathered to his own when lake float tube fishing. It was like having a live bouy following him around, pretty fun for all!

[Cruiser]

there is an infant life Jacket. Here in Anchorage there is a place that gives them free. Check around where you live.

Gary,
What is this place and where is it in anchorage?
Thanks