For most of us, we're coming up to our last few weeks of the summer and last chances to visit the beach with the family and kids. If you have a newborn or a baby under six months in the family, you may quickly dismiss the idea of taking them to the beach. These young ones are not supposed to wear sunblock and the sun can be very dangerous to them, but does that mean the beach is out?
On our recent trip to Atlantic Beach, North Carolina we picked up a Kids Sun Dome from Kel Gar. There are several of these baby domes on the market, but this one seemed to fit our needs. It was relatively inexpensive and came in a small flat plastic package - easy to fit in the car. The dome's material acts just like sunblock and is rated at 50+ UPF.
At the beach, the best thing about this dome is it's ease of setup. Unzip the plastic case pull it out, and watch it unfold into its dome shape all on its own. This is a huge plus when you walk on to the beach and want to have Baby laying down quickly. The dome then has a front face that completely unzips making it easy to lie Baby down without waking her up.
We found the dome perfect on calm days with little wind and when it wasn't too hot. Our baby was generally comfortable and happy to sleep in the dome. The dome's bottom does not have a cushion, so you might provide Baby a little more comfort by laying down a blanket or towel before putting her inside.
On windy days, working with the dome was a challenge. It's just not structurally sound to stand up to even modest winds. First, you'll have to find something to weigh it down. Even after that, even modest winds will collapse the walls of the dome inward. You can try to rotate the tent to minimize this effect, but stronger gusts of wind can still push the tent walls all the way down. We ruled the dome ineffective and possibly dangerous on these windy days.
Another issue is heat. While the dome does protect Baby from the sun's rays, the heat can make a beach experience highly unpleasant for Baby. The dome will provide some comfort, but when it's hot, our baby just wasn't happy at the beach.
One final issue with the dome is putting it away. They do there very best to illustrate the process of folding it back into shape and sliding into its case, but we never figured it out.
So yes, you can take Baby to the beach... But you'll have to watch the weather and avoid very windy or very hot days.
On our recent trip to Atlantic Beach, North Carolina we picked up a Kids Sun Dome from Kel Gar. There are several of these baby domes on the market, but this one seemed to fit our needs. It was relatively inexpensive and came in a small flat plastic package - easy to fit in the car. The dome's material acts just like sunblock and is rated at 50+ UPF.
At the beach, the best thing about this dome is it's ease of setup. Unzip the plastic case pull it out, and watch it unfold into its dome shape all on its own. This is a huge plus when you walk on to the beach and want to have Baby laying down quickly. The dome then has a front face that completely unzips making it easy to lie Baby down without waking her up.
We found the dome perfect on calm days with little wind and when it wasn't too hot. Our baby was generally comfortable and happy to sleep in the dome. The dome's bottom does not have a cushion, so you might provide Baby a little more comfort by laying down a blanket or towel before putting her inside.
On windy days, working with the dome was a challenge. It's just not structurally sound to stand up to even modest winds. First, you'll have to find something to weigh it down. Even after that, even modest winds will collapse the walls of the dome inward. You can try to rotate the tent to minimize this effect, but stronger gusts of wind can still push the tent walls all the way down. We ruled the dome ineffective and possibly dangerous on these windy days.
Another issue is heat. While the dome does protect Baby from the sun's rays, the heat can make a beach experience highly unpleasant for Baby. The dome will provide some comfort, but when it's hot, our baby just wasn't happy at the beach.
One final issue with the dome is putting it away. They do there very best to illustrate the process of folding it back into shape and sliding into its case, but we never figured it out.
So yes, you can take Baby to the beach... But you'll have to watch the weather and avoid very windy or very hot days.
