I’ve got one on my registry already! I will try them out and then if I like them I’ll buy another.
Officially 3rd tri next week 
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Does anybody have a recommendation for a toddler inflatable travel bed? Bonus if I can stick the Slumberpod over it.
Let’s talk beach safety? How much freedom do (did) you give your two year old at the ocean and what safety gear do you make them wear?
We’ve gone on few day trips this summer and enforced a very strict rule of holding hands with an adult when playing in the water. I have high anxiety around water so I don’t know if this is too strict?
We’re planning a week long beach trip soon and I’m wondering if I should get her a life jacket to wear for water play to let her have a little more freedom (actively with her in the water but letting her do her own thing vs holding hands). Is that too much? Do I need to relax?
@Bracken_Joy I know you’ve done some beach trips each summer?
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I dont know what the beach you’re going to is like, is it friendly for small children? How much time are you planning on being actually at the beach on holiday? I think having a lifejacket on hand might give you more confidence and if you make sure she has time with it off as well to get used to her body and the water, that is important for her to learn too. But we have lots of bays and areas friendly to little kids here where i wouldnt bother if its a 2:1 adult:kid ratio, but might if it was a rougher beach, absolutely any planned boat trips or less adult:kid ratio.
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It’s easy for us because Latte doesn’t like going past her ankles lol. We always just stay arms reach and know how to assess a gentle beach. 
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Life jackets at the beach were less common, I think, when my girls were little (and we were in Miami, so at the beach a lot.) They didn’t seem interested in going in very far so an adult just stayed with them at all times. It was harder with two!
The little boy has always been fearless of the water and just runs into it. At two he wore a life vest all the time and also has taken swimming lessons since he was 6 months old.
Last summer, when he was 5, he stopped wearing a life vest except on a boat, but he actually swims pretty well at this point.
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We tended to go to beaches that were calmer, one adult in arms reach at all times and that adult is the water watcher. Switch out adults periodically so the other gets a break from focusing. We always had two adults to one kid, though.
Kiddo has never been scared of the water, very much the opposite actually, so we tended to avoid life jackets and floats because then he’d get a feel for the real force of the waves pushing him over and there wasn’t even a subconscious “eh he’s fine, he’s got the life jacket” to excuse taking my eyes off him for even a second. But also if a wave pushed him over we didn’t console him with “it’s okay”, we would say in a down to earth kind of tone “yeah the water can do that, that’s why you have to be careful even if you’re having fun”.
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Depending on the beach / depth /wave action.
My children regularly wore Lifejackets at the beach while they were small until they were probably 8 or so. Last year we were on Lake Ontario with big rolling waves and the ten year old was jacketed the whole time.
I make sure they have decent lifejackets so that they are comfortable, they have also spent a lot of time canoeing and at sailing school, so lifejackets there have always been mandatory and the kids have never fussed about them at the beach as a result.
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1:1 ratio, arms reach distance. The rules are for adults. We are on the way hone (5h into a 2.5h drive). Most of the time he did sand, adults only got up when he was 2ft from water or getting too far in another direction.
The child knows his rules are no going in the water without a grown up, don’t go too far and don’t do that to your brother
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My kid (similar age as yours I think) doesn’t like waves yet, so we’re comfortable having him play at the edge of very calm 4” deep water with an adult watching since he wasn’t going to run in. My friend’s kiddo B at 2.5 loves a vest at the pool so she can paddle around within arm’s reach of a parent. Another friend’s kiddo C is 1.75 and has will JUMP right in so they tend to have 2:1 adult:kid ratios. Either now or later, toddler going to run away from hand-holding so I think having a vest/floaty handy will be nice to bring on the trip so you’re not scrambling for one if needed. I just bought one for future pool and canoeing plans!
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Look at that little sleepy bub!!!
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Thanks all! Lots to think about 
My kid is generally fearless and very recently has started sprinting away with great joy and defiance when I ask her to stay close or come back (so far im safe environments only thankfully).
We’ll be on an open shoreline although I don’t know the specific surf conditions for that day but tides coming in and out for sure.
Six adults and three kids, mine will be the only truly mobile one. Thankfully spouse is on the same page with regards to one parent actively watching our child at all times on the beach and we both trust each other not to be distracted if it’s our turn.
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I have one older chiller one who is allowed to walk all around on her own (with eyes on her). She doesn’t go far, or really go into the water except to rinse sand off her hands. Then I have one 16 month wild child. We spend the whole time running after her. The beach is not a relaxing day. We still take them because it is fun, but we have to switch kids often because fatigue sets in quick running after her. I wouldn’t really trust anyone else to watch her because she’s faster than she looks.
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This is a big reason why Latte has only been watched, awake, twice, both times by my former pro soccer player brother and his former college soccer player wife lol. She GOES. I don’t feel like I can trust any of the grandparents to take her anywhere. It’s definitely exhausting. I’ve often wondered how other families do it, but yeah I guess “their child doesn’t sprint toward danger” is the answer there 
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My mom is really good with little kids but she underestimates her. Yesterday she had her on her hip in the kitchen and I was running around moving hot things out of reach because yes, she will lean when you don’t expect that and pull boiling water onto both of you.
Even DH sometimes thinks he can turn around or glance at his phone for just a second. No dude. We have one totally safe room in the house where you can leave her alone. Otherwise, eyes on.
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Insanity. I can leave my kid alone in the entire main portion of the house for minutes at a time since 12 months and the worst she’s done is empty a container of wipes (oh, and poop in the floor, but that was a diapers fail more than anything else).
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It’s so wild when compared with the first kid too. With Pebbles I was working in an unfinished basement (think concrete floor, open furnace and piping), and I brought an outdoor rug and some toys down there next to me and told her to stay on the rug. And she did. All day.
Kid #2 wouldn’t stay on that rug for 15 seconds. 
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I once got Latte a cute little woven rug to be her work area, a la Montessori. She enjoys rolling it up and then using it to stand on, or balance beam on 
not quite my intention
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The little boy came home from camp with a friend’s card. It’s like a little business card with her name and contact info and says “Let’s Make A Play date!”
Are business cards for 6yos really a thing?
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I’ve definitely considered this and I think it’s an adorable idea. It’s definitely the easiest way to try to get in touch with the kids classmates parents, but also so much easier than trying to play “hand phones over to swap numbers” while you’re running around on a playground with someone you met.
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