At what age is it safe to have a child on the boat?

[lf133]

My son was born in late Jan. At first the vest was a little big and he tried to eat it, we / my wife found that she was holding him most if the time. Now he is fine with it and loves the boat, no problems with the vest. He can't wait to put it on because he knows we will be out on the water. Here is a now (at about 18 months) with his friend and then (it was probably late April early May so 4 months).

[JayHoy]

My niece was 6 monthes old the first time out on my boat. She is now almost 4 and has no fear of being on the boat, climbing on what ever she can,loves the tube and hopefully will be the next female pro wakeboarder so her uncle can get a new free boat

[Baddog]

I am a new father as of 7 weeks ago. We have a beautiful baby boy and I am also the new proud owner of a used 2007 Malibu VLX. I can't wait to have him out on the water with me, but when is the right time to take a baby out on the water? Being that this is our first baby I think its going to be up to his mother, but at what age did you have your kids out on the boat?

I would at least wait unitl day 2. You're in the green zone. Go for it.

[Baddog]

They are pretty serious about a properly fitting/sized life jacket for every one, even for the infants, around here.

At least the infant jackets are not as uncomfortable as the infant 'survival suits' they have for them if you take them on a cruise. Here's a shot from our Disney cruise when the little one was 14 weeks old. Jacket was a full suit, complete with water activated light. Getting him into it was like trying to shove a wet noodle up a wildcats butt.

Apparently you haven't lived in serious snow country. Getting the munchkins in their snow suit is about the sam thing.

[Luciano Chedrese]

at one day of life. There is no problem with babies on the boat.

[Toby]

one of my ski mates has a 2 year old and a 1 year old. the observers seat is taken up by two child car seats. the two year old knows all the hand signals and usually falls asleep during the second set. the one year old is usually out after a few passes... it really tests your driving skills when you are telling a 2 year old to stop throwing a tantrum and picking up drink bottles and dummies while in the course, just to try and keep the peace. When they were really young we had a mattress under the dash with some toys hanging from up under there, similar to the raft idea. works well.

[Badger]

They can do this.

We would do this too, but would keep them in their carriable car seat. Literally a few weeks after they were born.

Got to have a NEOPRENE vest, much more comfortable. It'll suck the first few times, they won't like the jacket, but once they're tired and out, they're out. They will get used to it, and will fall asleep quickly at the feet of the driver.

Frankly, I can't think of a safer place than right at the drivers seat. That's where I wanted my baby - right where I could keep an eye on him 24/7.

This is exactly what we did with both of our kids. They are older now, but they both still know that the life jacket is always on, and there's no debate. It's not even questioned. I don't think I could live with myself if something crazy happened and I knew I intentionally didn't put a life jacket on one of the kids. I also know that the water patrol in my area would not go easy on this area either. It appears to be a point of emphasis each time we are inspected.

Now bike helmets...that's a different story, where I should be a lot tougher than I am.

[Baddog]

at one day of life. There is no problem with babies on the boat.

I have babies on my boat all the time, but some would call them my skiing buddies. Go figure.

[nbeihl]

11 days old (Born 20 May... On the boat 31 May) We only missed one weekend, and I think it was raining. Mom was a little cautious. The only place we could get her to sleep is on the boat when the boat was on plane. We would have to ski until our arms fell off and then quick turn to the next person before she noticed that we were stopped.

I did however have a buddy in CA call up and ask after his child was born when I took my daughter out. He knew it was early. He ended up taking his son out at 10 days. He likes to remind me of that frequently.

I do have to send out props to my wife for pulling me all the way up until the week the baby was born. There are not a lot of wives that would do that. That is probably why we are still happily married!!!!

[Dougger]

We took my son out when he was on day 6. He slept almost the entire time. He was born in late October and we wanted to take one last ride in the autumn colors before putting the boat away. Yes, he did wear a life jacket. With both my kids I found that they were very good in the boat if the motor was on but if you shut it off for a while they would wake up.

[Michigan boarder]

You know, our neighborhood has had summer babies on and off over the years, and the more I think about it, it has been more work to get Mom on the boat than the kid (mine included). After all that delivery stuff, she'd rather be on a pontoon than bouncing around on an ski boat. I think that's the biggest hurdle!

[Baddog]

You know, our neighborhood has had summer babies on and off over the years, and the more I think about it, it has been more work to get Mom on the boat than the kid (mine included). After all that delivery stuff, she'd rather be on a pontoon than bouncing around on an ski boat. I think that's the biggest hurdle!

So give her a pina colada, grab the kid from her and GO! She'd probably enjoy the alone time as well as the beverage.

[luvtheBU]

Words from a Mom who is super paranoid when it comes to my kids but also who would've taken them out the day after they were born iffin we'd had a boat and weather permitting and seeings how I had the first 2 babies in winter months they had a bit to grow, but little EJ would've been right out there he was born in May that is if having a boat wasn't an issue.

Ok ready....Newborns overheat really really fast, they also get really cold really fast, meaning they cannot regulate temps well, so you have to accomodate that.

Lifejackets....ummmm h*ll yeah, accidents happen, no child under the legal age should be without them, my 14 yr old would be wearing one if he didn't have the law on his side. Did someone say they sink like rocks??? I wouldn't want to find out.

Also after having giving birth I probably would've enjoyed a nice relaxing ride on the BU but probably wouldn't have participated in too many watersports, also keep in mind if she's your driver, well bud, your screwed cuz unless Grandma's coming you don't have a baby holder who she'll trust long enough to be the excellent driver she normally is. Good luck with the Grandma coming thing.

Oh yeah and CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

Edited September 23, 2009 by luvtheBU

[Baddog]

Words from a Mom who is super paranoid when it comes to my kids but also who would've taken them out the day after they were born iffin we'd had a boat and weather permitting and seeings how I had the first 2 babies in winter months they had a bit to grow, but little EJ would've been right out there he was born in May that is if having a boat wasn't an issue.

Ok ready....Newborns overheat really really fast, they also get really cold really fast, meaning they cannot regulate temps well, so you have to accomodate that.

Lifejackets....ummmm h*ll yeah, accidents happen, no child under the legal age should be without them, my 14 yr old would be wearing one if he didn't have the law on his side. Did someone say they sink like rocks??? I wouldn't want to find out.

Also after having giving birth I probably would've enjoyed a nice relaxing ride on the BU but probably wouldn't have participated in too many watersports, also keep in mind if she's your driver, well bud, your screwed cuz unless Grandma's coming you don't have a baby holder who she'll trust long enough to be the excellent driver she normally is. Good luck with the Grandma coming thing.

Oh yeah and CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

I did find out but fortunately in a pool. I never knew that I could sink that fast, but she came out smiling and laughing.

[enelson]

We had a daughter in July she was on the boat 4 days later. Would have been sooner but mom was stuck in the hospital recovering.

[Ndawg12]

Actually my boy was negative 6 days old when he was first on the boat. My wife was pretty uncomfortable towards the end so after a 3 mile walk didn't help we decided to go on a boat ride that afternoon with our cousins to speed things up, we stayed close to the ramp but it didn't happen!!

Edited September 24, 2009 by nemire12

[RedOwl]

We had a daughter in July she was on the boat 4 days later. Would have been sooner but mom was stuck in the hospital recovering.

I love your profile picture Enelson. More importantly - my wife loves it!

You've gotta love having a new driver in your boat.

Congrats!

[enelson]

Thanks RedOwl I am sure she will be driving before I know it. She gets all excited when we walk down to the boat.