Nobody prepares you for the reality of having a young baby on a sailboat. Every baby is very different, reaching milestones at different times and developing their very own personalities. I am no expert and I am still learning everyday. However, these are a few things which I realised while sailing with our little girl around the United Stated and the Bahamas. With a second baby about to join us back on the water it made me reflect and rethink about what we learned along the way.

#1 Babies get seasick

I knew this was a potential but didn’t really think much about it. To be honest I half thought that because I was pregnant with her while sailing and that bringing her on board at the young age of 4 months she wouldn’t get so seasick. Unfortunately I was very mistaken and dealing with a little one who throws up on most passages was challenging. She was too young to understand that she needed to look at the horizon. Plus she didn’t eat that much when young and still being breastfeed. So the ginger cookies or candies weren’t much of a solution. I also tried little bracelets that are meant to work with pressure points without any success. The best solution was to keep breastfeeding her to keep her fluid intake up and ideally have her napping. Definitely keeping her above deck as much as possible for better motion. 

#2 All Babies reach milestones at different ages 

When we first set sail I just assumed that we would have a lot of time before we would have to constantly be watching Coral or bring the baby proofing to the next level. Our little girl started precariously standing up only a week after she first crawled at 6 months. This pushed us to quickly pad everything and keep a close eye on her. Trying to cook while the boat is rocking in a rolly anchorage and making sure she wasn’t falling all over the place is nearly impossible. Either one of you is on baby watch or you put cushions and yoga mats everywhere.

#3 Diapers, Diapers and more diapers

 Disposable diapers were not an option while sailing around the Bahamas for over 5 months. Garbage disposal is non-existent in some islands or sometimes far in between and they get stinky much faster in warm environments. Thus I started using washable diapers. It works great but make sure you have plenty of them. I carried 12 inserts and 6 covers as well as another 6 flat sheets. The inserts dried really well during the sunny and dry months but later in May and June I started using more flats because they were thinner and easier to dry. A trick to wash them easily is just throw them into a mesh bag behind the boat while at anchor. Also rinse the poopy ones right away otherwise they stain easier. For night time I would use the disposable ones to avoid little messes. At times when renting a car for the full day and being more away from the sailboat I also brought some disposable ones.

#4 Frozen food

 I wanted Coral to eat healthy once she started enjoying foods other than breast milk. However, I didn’t want to be cooking small quantities of pureed food every meal we would make. Instead I boiled a bunch of sweet potatoes, mashed them and froze them in ice cube trays. It was just so much easier to then thaw up a small cube for her needs. It also takes less space than bringing tons of little baby food jars.

#5 You don’t need that much clothes

 In the islands Coral was in her diaper or naked most of the time. I thought I needed tons of little pyjamas for her because everyone tells you they soil multiple outfits per day. But that’s on land. On a sailboat she wasn’t wearing much clothing. I washed her diapers more than anything else.

#6 Rashes

 It gets very humid in the South so I made extra sure that our little girl had plenty of naked bum time to air out. Trying our best to timing air out time after she pooped to avoid the messy cleanup. I had a very bad rash after a day of playing in the sand without any clothes. I learnt my lesson and made sure she was wearing something from then on. Vitamin E helped the rash go away.

#7 Save your arms

Babies get heavy if you constantly carry them in your arms. Also sometimes you just really need two hands to hold on in order not to fall overboard. I absolutely loved having a baby carrier. It was light and she loved it and even fell asleep in it multiple times. 

#8 Shade is so important

 We did way more beach time than we’ve ever done before. She would have all the space she wanted to crawl around and she could hang out while one of us would go snorkelling. However in order to do so we needed shade from the hot sun. I had a 3-season tent on board but it also reduced air flow so I had to angle it properly. Some shade is better than no shade and I even used my umbrella. A place to seek shelter and protect her baby skin as well as let her nap in it without getting all sandy. We just got a little beach sun tent which I’m looking forward to trying. When adventuring by dinghy we used the paddles and a tarp or sarong wrapped around to provide her with some shade if we were taking turns snorkelling around.

Having a young baby on a sailboat is a beautiful thing even though it can be extremely challenging at times. Our little girl forced us to plan things carefully but also to let go and go with the flow. Adapt and grow with her. Hopefully a few of these tips will help you. I might have to change and modify my findings with our little boy coming up. Every child is so unique.

Anne Alexandra Fortin

Cory and Alex share their adventure with weekly videos on their YouTube channel “Wildly Intrepid Sailing” and share stories on their website www.wildlyintrepid.com . Their dream is to travel the world and to live without any regrets.