We sailed with my daughter from the time she was 3 months old. The
infant lifejackets are bulky, and the infant didn't think much of them,
but you have to endure it. We had a hard dinghy and little reserve
buoyancy in the event of mishap.

The boat I had then was a wooden Alberg that had the icebox as part of a
quarter berth. No cushion came with the boat, and I never had one made,
but for the first summer, it made a great place for a large plastic
storage container, with sides about 1 foot high or so, that served as
her bed.

The second summer, I had to rig netting to isolate one of the settee
berths, as this particular boat had storage, a head and hanging lockers
instead of a V berth.

The second summer, when she was 15-17 months old, was a little more
exciting, as she could and would reach out and touch/fiddle with things.
The natural location for her car seat, at the head of the cockpit, by
the companion way was also the location of the key and starter button
for the engine. We had to remember to keep the seat away from the key,
when the engine was needed, and eventually took the float off it to make
it less attractive.

In the cockpit she wore a Lirakis child size harness that would shrink
enough to fit her at 12 mos, and which she wore until she was about 7-8
(I forget now)

One thing I did was take with us, on the spur of the moment one day, was
her swing, a red plastic bucket with a strap. I hung it toward the end
of the boom, where she could see everything going on in the cockpit, and
she could reach the main sheet and reorient herself to look at other
boats coming into the cove where we were anchored. She had a grand time,
and drew a lot of attention. The boom was sheeted tightly so that she
was always over the cockpit.

We bought plastic holders for the little juice boxes that you will
become very familiar with, this cuts down on the amount that is spilled
by little hands squeezing the box too hard.

Initially, buy extra pacifiers, and a stuffed toy or two to keep on
board. Getting underway from the house is going to be much more
complicated. I remember a whole weekend made extraordinarily difficult
because we could not locate, in a store near the boat, an exact
duplicate of the currently favorite pacifier/binkie.

When she was old enough to understand, the rule was she could not come
out of the cabin without either the harness or the lifejacket on. She
could not leave the cockpit, period, without the lifejacket on.

When she started to be ambulatory, I started leaving the bottom
washboard in the companionway, so she could not wake up quietly and
sneak out into the cockpit with out us hearing her. My companionway was
straight up and down, so every board has to go all the way to the top to
come out, those that taper, meaning you only need to lift the washboard
a couple of inches, should probably have a barrel bolt on the outside,
bottom, so little arms cant reach it.

Always have plenty of fluids, finger food and paper towels.

Have fun.

Jonathan


Joe Wood wrote:
We are expecting a blessed event in late February. I'm looking for
information on people's experiences in day sailing, weekend cruising,
and longer cruising with infants and very small children.

Considerations, Gear, Sources, etc.

Joe Wood
jlwood3 at erols dot com