If you are heading to the beach or lake this summer and looking for great products for the sand and summer sun with babies, toddlers or young kids – check out my list below for all the best and most perfect beach tips, products and hacks! Beach essentials below! Summer time here you come!
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Sand-proof Beach Blanket Towels
Sand has no place in my car and in my home once I leave the beach! I kind towels and blankets that are easy to wipe, wash and shake off. Basically, I like to make my life easier and if you do too – go a for a blanket that doesn’t give you a heachache collection sand when it gets wet.
Tesalate Sandless Blanket/Towel – Though Amazon tons of different styles, brands and sizes of different price points.
Quick Drying Beach Towels
Having beach towels that get sopping wet, heavy and sandy are really not beach friendly. Make sure you choose your towels well when investing in beach-going gear. The best beach towels are once that dry quickly and don’t collect a lot of sand in cotton stitching. Try going with microfibers or other lightweight materials. Striped quick Drying beach towel or other awesome patterns here.
A Good, no Great, Wagon
Having a great beach wagon goes a long way. Hauling kids and piles of STUFF across sand and parking lots is not easy. If you are a regular lake or beach goer, invest in a wagon that can last you summer and summers to come! Although your beach wagon doesn’t have to be uber expensive, it does have to be GOOD for the beach. Meaning, it really is all about the tires. Veer is probably the best on the market right now. Another great wagon option for the beach is the Hauk. Whatever you pick, just make it has big, great, wheels for the sand!
Protect with Good Sunscreen for Kids
Sunscreen is a MUST. Whether you go organic sunscreen for your babies (like organic sunscreen by sunbum and babyganics) or want something you can quickly smear on faces (I like to use sunscreen sticks) – just don’t forget it at all. Spray on sunscreen is also great for kids in a hurry!
Pro tip for the faces: You can also be super clever and use make-up sponges to apply regular sunscreen location to a kid’s face without making a huge mess and easier application. Also more fun for kids! But, truth be told, not very environmentally friendly. For more sun safety tips, visit my post here!
UV shirts and Hats
You can limit the use of sunscreen by skipping some reapplication duty by using protective sun clothing for children. 110% my favorite UV protection swim shirts are from Primary. (I also really love RuffleButts!!!)
You can find lots of options for the whole family on Amazon at different price points and styles. Coolibar makes GREAT beach days for kids! I also suggest Primary because I really love dressing my kids in BRIGHT clothing in busy places like the beach so I can spot them well!
A Great Pop-up Beach Tent
Pop-up beach tents like this are perfect for a longer day at the beach. They are good for baby naps, a little rest from the sun’s rays, and even if that toddler needs to sneak in a private potty session. Small pop-up beach tent also do the trick if just the tiny ones need the protection!
Being honest here, I only recommend beach tents and not umbrellas here because I personally hate umbrellas! Although I LOVE them for protection me as adult from the sun while I sit in my chair (so rarely!), I don’t find stick them into the sand deep enough to be easy, and have been at the beach way more time than I can count when a huge, dangerous, umbrella comes flying down the beach ready to take out a kid’s eye (or whole face rather!). I get umbrellas, but I’d honestly rather never see them at the beach on a windy day. (But I always recommend a beach chair with an attached canopy!).
Pro Tip: This cool tent can also double as a pool for your littlest ones!
Best Beach Baby Holding Devices
If you have both tiny little ones and some bigger kids, it might be hard to manage the whole crew. Having somewhere safe and comfortable to place your littlest one(s) is helpful during busy beach days!
Beach Chairs
I love chairs that have canopies and can protect me from the sun! But there are so many options for beach chairs – ones the double as backpacks, coolers, or lounge way down for some snoozing. Beach with a canopy or Tons of other options for beach chairs.
Somewhere to Put Your Drink
Sand cupholders, kind of amazing.
A Great Beach Cooler
The best coolers are the Yeti coolers. They are now even making a yeti cooler bag. But Yeti comes with a bigger price tag. There are tons of other options for lightweight cooler bags and cooler tanks for your beach outings. Beach lunch boxes can be small too!
Lots and lots of Water
I prefer bringing reusable water bottle with a protected straw for myself and my kids. There is no need to bring one time wasteful plastic bottles to the beach that get hot and gross. Water bottles like this offer more protection from the sand and the heat! Throw in tons of ice cubes before you leave home and it’s perfect!
Toys
Invest in some great beach toys, sharpie your last name on the bottom, and use mesh bags to keep them organized!
Potty on the GO!
A potty seat is super unnecessary for some many families – and the absolutely complete opposite for the other portion! If you have more than one child or are potty training – going to the beach and using the public restrooms can be really hard or even impossible. How am I supposed to drag all three of my kids to the public restrooms up the beach, through the pavilion, before my potty training toddler has huge, brown, gross, accident? In the world of COVID-19, I’d especially like to avoid public bathrooms at all costs, especially with young kids who touch freakin’ everything!!
The BABYBJÖRN Smart Potty is reasonable small and cheap and easy to bring to the beach. These disposable bags fit inside most portable pottys. Don’t forget wipes!!! Use your pop-up tent for some bathroom privacy! (Or keep it in your trunk and all head to your car for a quick potty session).
Folding potty seat are also an option if you absolutely need to use a public toilet.
Pro Tips
- Powder will help get off the sand before you get in the car!
- Wet Bags are the perfect invention for moms on the beach!
- Squeeze bottles are great for filling up with ocean water and using to wash off sand before lunch. I also suggest just a bucket of water but my kids tend to them just dump it out or fill it up with sand instead of washing their hands.
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