We live less than two miles from the beach now and we are all giddy about it! As a Colorado girl who grew up in the mountains, I am still completely enamored with the ocean. Don’t ever make me leave! Now that we live so close, we’ve simplified how we go to the beach. After two years of living in San Diego and beach-going often, I’ve found that packing the bags and actually getting to and from the beach can be the trickiest part. But I’ve got a few hot tips that can make your beach experience just a little bit easier/better. They might seem like the silliest things, but to us they make all the difference.
First of all, use a good beach bag and pack it right!
This tote has been the perfect beach bag. I hate it when I’m dumping pounds of sand out of my beach bag when I get home, lol. But this one is woven so the sand just falls through it!
I pack almost everything we need for the day in zip lock bags, then file each of the bags in my beach bag. One bag for all of the sunscreen, Chap Stick, and lotions. One for snacks (that don’t need to be in a cooler). We love having dried fruit and nuts, Beef Jerky, and Graham loves these Simple Truth Organic Pouches (a super easy way to get fruits + veggies at the beach for a baby!) One for extra swimmers, diapers and wipes for Graham, too. And one bag for dry clothes- undies, comfys, or PJs to throw on after.
It might seem totally ridiculous but the baggies keep the sand out of everything. There’s nothing worse than putting on sandy sunscreen. Or wiping a baby’s face or bum with sandy wipes. Or eating sandy snacks. Yes, we’re at the beach and there’s gonna be sand everywhere, but I like to protect certain things from it if I can 🙂
Everything is organized and I can just grab the Ziploc bag I need rather than rummage through my whole (or have the boys turning it upside down to find something). Little things like this can make a pleasant difference in a beach day:) I’m all about the little things…
Second – avoid sunburn! We lather up in sunscreen before we even get to the beach. I like to use a mineral based sunscreen for the boys, at least SPF 50, like this one. Cover the areas we sometimes forget – like behind the ears, along the hairline (even the scalp for fine haired babes), and along the lower back, just above and below the trunk line.
Then, re-apply the sunscreen a few hours into the day. A sunburnt kiddo or baby is the worst! And if your baby will actually keep a hat on, definitely do it! Also, cover their lips with some some SPF Chap Stick too!
Third, keep kiddos hydrated!
An obvious one, but don’t forget lots of water bottles. We pack a separate cooler for drinks and cold items, always with lots of water!
Fourth- leave clean & comfortable!
Always pack the magic powder (it’s just baby powder)! It literally cleans the wet or dry sand off of your skin simply by sprinkling it on the area and brushing it off. This saves us at the end of the day when Graham is exhausted and will mostly likely crash as soon as we get to the car. I’d rather take a few minutes to clean him up at the beach rather than waking him once we get home.
Even after a nude dunk in the ocean, there is still be some sandy parts on his body. The baby powder is the easiest way to get a sand-free bum before putting a diaper on it. I literally cover Graham in baby powder to get him all cleaned up, then put a fresh diaper on him so he can fall asleep comfortably on the way home (or as soon as we get there). It’s the best.
We’ve always been pretty particular about the kind of diapers we use for our babies. Typically, our priority has been absorbability. But we’ve recently been using Simple Truth Diapers that are part of the Simple Truth Baby line. They’re chlorine free and made with plant-based resources so they’re gentle on my baby’s skin, gentle on the environment, and they’re still totally absorbable. We’ve put them to the test! Graham is in a diaper almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When I think about that and the amount of diapers we go through, I feel so much better using a diaper that’s gentle on his skin as well as our environment.
(P.S. – You can find them at your local Kroger stores.)
With a clean, cozy diaper on we can head home from a day in the sun and he can crash. Hopefully for the night!
What are some of your beach tips or tricks that make going with kiddos easier?!! I’d love to hear!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Kroger. The opinions and text are all mine.
{My swimsuit is Kingdom & State | Top | Bottoms }
{Boys swim bottoms are Rad Revolution Kids }
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