Recently I took a spontaneous trip to the beach with my toddler, solo. It usually is always the two of us but beach trips are the type of activities you want to plan. This time, I winged it. Here is everything that has helped me have a successful solo Beach trip with my two year old toddler.
1. Timing
The key to toddlers is timing, timing is everything especially if you want to have a successful day at the beach. Timing correlates with melt downs we want to prevent from happening.
- Stick to morning routine. For us this looks like: Wake up, make bed, potty, quiet activity while mama makes breakfast, eat, brush teeth, get dressed.
- Leave after breakfast- A fed baby belly is a happy baby smiling
- 5 minute warnings- Helps us prepare for the transition and provides a few minutes to get together last minute things. For us this looked like “5 more minutes playing then bye bye in car. Toddlers have big emotions and difficulty regulating especially with sudden shifts in routine, unexpected changes and an end to preferred activities.
- Don’t stay all day. Pick a time you want to go and keep it short.Truth is, a trip to the beach is better than no trip at all and reality is some toddlers cant hang. So plan for either a morning 1030-1 or afternoon 12-230
You know your toddler best, so do what you know will work for you and your child.
2.Packing
I laugh at myself all the time because I hate carrying so much stuff but at the same time I am an over packer so it’s a lose/ lose for me. For this trip I wanted to keep it simple and light. I couldn’t find my tote so I used one of those reusable shopping bags.
What I packed:
- 2 Diapers & 1 pack of Wipes
- Change of clothes (underwear, socks, shirt, shorts)
- Drying Towel
- Beach Sand Towel
- Sunscreen
- Toys
- Snacks
What I wish I packed and forgot to pack
- Sunscreen for myself
- Beach Tent-I had this in my trunk but I did not think I needed it
- Change of clothes for myself
- My Fanny pack
- Baby powder (easier to get sand off skin)
3.Snacks
Usually for a day trip I would pack a lunch cooler with lunch and snacks. Since I wanted to keep it light and was preparing for a shorter trip, I skipped the cooler. I threw all the snacks in my toddler tote. Surprisingly it all fit. I just threw some of my sons favorite snacks to go in a freezer zip lock bag:
- Insulated water bottle with water & ice
- Banana
- Berries & Cheese string (In a sandwich zip lock bag with an ice pack-perfect fit)
- Veggie straws
For my son, and honestly any toddler, is engaging in high preferred activities (water and sand)–it is very difficult to get them to pause and eat something. Toddlers go through a grazing phase around 2-3 years old so these type of snack foods work perfect for this short beach trip.
Once we got home, it was about 1:30 pm and I gave him his lunch. After he ate, he took a nap. Success!
4. Toys
Toys…Need I say more? As I mentioned before in previous posts, my toddler is in his truck/cars/transportation mobile phase. So hot wheels, construction trucks, tractors, trains and trailer trucks are his daily go to items. Having a small size zip pouch from the dollar tree helps keep all the Hot wheels he chooses in one place. This also makes it more manageable to not losing anything on the way there or during our time there.
We took:
- 5 hot wheels
- 1 medium size truck–he chose his digger–great choice for the beach!
- Sand bucket and pail
All of these items went inside his plastic caddy mini tote
A total of 2 “bags”, success!
5.Safety
- Upon arrival, I apply sunscreen before getting out of the car. Re-apply every 20-30 minutes to protect your skin and prevent sunburns
- Hydrate- Toddlers busy minds are all over the place. Truth is, if they are really enjoying what they are doing, they wont have the capacity to stop and ask for a drink
- Don’t leave your child’s side or take your eyes off your child. This might be obvious but you will be surprised by how many don’t do this with little ones. Stay next to them. It takes less than a minute for something to happen.
- Keep your phone tucked and put away. Only take it out for pictures when it’s safe to.
- Don’t leave your things. Keep your bags under towels and try to take important items with you if it is going to be out of sight
Overall What Made the Day Successful
- Keeping predictable routines – Morning routine stayed the same. When we returned home, there was a similar routine and structure.
- Leaving after breakfast and returning home before lunch (or leaving after lunch and returning before dinner)
- Packing light- made the trip easier
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