New baby

[BeninReading]

Morning all,

 

My girlfriend a I live aboard and have just found out that she is pregnant. We are both delighted and now have started thinking logistics. We have six months plus to plan how things are going to work out, but I wanted to see if anyone on the forum had any experiences/advice about babies on a boat?

 

Thanks for any help,

 

Ben

[deletedaccount]

Check to see if it's twins before doing anything A friend of mine didn't realise until after they'd, er, laid a lot of groundwork.

 

Oh, and congrats!

[bristol & argo]

Morning all,

 

My girlfriend a I live aboard and have just found out that she is pregnant. We are both delighted and now have started thinking logistics. We have six months plus to plan how things are going to work out, but I wanted to see if anyone on the forum had any experiences/advice about babies on a boat?

 

Thanks for any help,

 

Ben

 

Congratulations,

Logistics for us mainly revolved around;

somewhere for pre-mum to walk to exercise so she didn't get cabin feaver (that was Marsworth/Star Tops Reservoirs for us),

decent height of towpath / bank to get on/off the boats,

decent launderette for the modern type of towelling napies (with spinner and decent dryers),

a not too muddy towpath for the mid-wife to visit each week.

a comfortable papouse so you can still lock-walk,

a push-chair with big wheels if you have to - so they don't clog with leaves and twigs in the mud.

 

We didn't have a permanent mooring and it was fine.

 

Simon.

[carlt]

They are exactly the same as babies in other environments.

 

The only thing that I did, differently, living on an old wooden boat, was to make sure my son's cot and, later on, bed floated and was ballasted to stay upright.

 

This proved to be a good move as the boat sank, when he was 3.

 

If you don't already have one, btw, I'd start looking for an an off-side mooring.

[real_vibes]

What happens with toddlers?

 

My girlfriend is adamant that she won't have a child whilst living afloat. Breaks my heart, there's nothing I would like more. Bit I can see a few arguments against it. Hot fires, drowning, space....

[carlt]

What happens with toddlers?

 

My girlfriend is adamant that she won't have a child whilst living afloat. Breaks my heart, there's nothing I would like more. Bit I can see a few arguments against it. Hot fires, drowning, space....

My toddler lived a mile from the nearest public road.

 

Now we live right next to one.

 

If my eldest had run off the boat and fallen in the water, I would have at least had a chance to dive in and rescue him.

 

If my youngest runs out of the front door, and under a car, it is pretty much out of my hands.

 

My eldest never fell down stairs, either...

[deletedaccount]

What happens with toddlers?

 

My girlfriend is adamant that she won't have a child whilst living afloat. Breaks my heart, there's nothing I would like more. Bit I can see a few arguments against it. Hot fires, drowning, space....

 

I moved onto the boat with a 3 year old. He's got his own room with a door and has never burnt himself on the stove or fallen in. He loves it!

[Dekazer]

Our friends on Tyro are doing pretty well living aboard with their new baby daughter (born in a snowstorm in December, what larks we had driving them to hospital...)

 

They have diesel powered central heating which, I gather, has been very important in regulating temperature. Baby sleeps in her bed in the bath! They do have some storage on land which seems to be helpful for various large bits of kit like pushchairs etc, but otherwise they don't seem to have had any space issues.

 

Their boat's for sale at the moment because they want to go home to NZ, but I get the impression that if they were British they'd happily stay afloat with the baby. Can pass on their details if OP either wants to buy their boat (!) or to ask any questions about pregnancy/babies afloat

[BeninReading]

Our friends on Tyro are doing pretty well living aboard with their new baby daughter (born in a snowstorm in December, what larks we had driving them to hospital...)

 

They have diesel powered central heating which, I gather, has been very important in regulating temperature. Baby sleeps in her bed in the bath! They do have some storage on land which seems to be helpful for various large bits of kit like pushchairs etc, but otherwise they don't seem to have had any space issues.

 

Their boat's for sale at the moment because they want to go home to NZ, but I get the impression that if they were British they'd happily stay afloat with the baby. Can pass on their details if OP either wants to buy their boat (!) or to ask any questions about pregnancy/babies afloat

 

Hi,

 

Yes, that would be much appreciated! Thanks for all your replies - I look forward with nervous anticipation.

 

Ben

[ymu]

No personal experience, but ...

 

A good folding push-chair! Useful for public transport too. You can get ones which treble up as car-seats and carriers which would save a heap of space.

 

Cargo nets strung up on the ceiling where head-room isn't an issue for storing toys and stuff.

[carlt]

No personal experience, but ...

 

A good folding push-chair! Useful for public transport too. You can get ones which treble up as car-seats and carriers which would save a heap of space.

 

Actually the three wheelers, with chunky pneumatic tyres (full of slime) are the best, for dodgy tow paths.

[deletedaccount]

Central heating is fine but nowhere near good enough in the dead of winter. I remember it well.

[ymu]

Actually the three wheelers, with chunky pneumatic tyres (full of slime) are the best, for dodgy tow paths.

You can get folding three-wheeler travel system ones. These, for example.

[carlt]

You can get folding three-wheeler travel system ones. These, for example.

They're prettier than the one we had.

 

The new stuff is way snazzier than what was available when my kids were babies.

 

Having kids opens up a whole new world of gadget hunting.

[arpeeuk]

Congratulations to you both.

 

My advice is this:

 

If the three of you plan to cruise then now is the time that both of you "parents to be" should start practising single handed boating.

 

Once "little one" has arrived, both having the confidence to handle the boat on your own will make moving much easier.

[mickspangle]

Our girl is about 21 months now, having spent all her life living aboard and I think what we've learnt is:

1: pushchair with pneumatic tyres is probably essential. Preferably one you can get a 13kg gas bottle in too, when baby isn't in there.

2: you will get through more water than you thought possible.

3: ditto washing. Think about where to be perenially drying things too.

4: they will want a space to crawl around in eventually. Think about where to put stairgates. Especially if they're learning to walk in winter..

5. Everything will ultimately need to move higher up onto shelves.

6. Start chucking stuff out now to make room. In hindsight I should have thrown out everything I owned and replaced it with squeaky toys and muslin squares.

7. Enjoy it. It's brilliant.

 

Things to bear in mind:

 

1: baby probably won't start crawling/ walking until 6/12 months so this gives you a bit of breathing space.

2: everyone has opinions about bringing up children. Even more so when it involves bringing them up on a boat. Fwiw I think the biggest risk is being knocked over by a bike on the towpath, mind you our bit of canal is very shallow, and our daughter goes to swimming lessons...

3: your preferred boat layout might change as you progress through Moses baskets, cots and beds. We've had our daughter in 3 different places.

4: as another poster said - your available crew reduces, rather than increases by one.

5: running out of water, gas etc is even more of a pain than before.

6: if sterilising bottles, cold water and miltons is the way to go.

7: even the soggiest of nappies will burn if the fires already going.

 

Edited for added waffle

Edited March 10, 2011 by mickspangle

[system 4-50]

... mind you our bit of canal is very shallow, and our daughter goes to swimming lessons...

...

Just in case somebody reads this who is not au fait with Weil's Diesease, can I suggest that anything that implies that getting into canal water is alright should be discouraged?

 

Complications include meningitis, extreme fatigue, hearing loss, respiratory distress, azotemia, and renal interstitial tubular necrosis, which results in renal failure and often liver failure (the severe form of this disease is known as Weil's disease, though it is sometimes named Weil Syndrome).^[13] Cardiovascular problems are also possible.

Though rare, if you do get it from the water, it is awful.

[romarni123]

I dont think they let the child swim in the canal

[mickspangle]

Absolutely not. Swimming lessons take place in a highly chlorinated swimming pool.