Swimming with a 4 month old?

[emschwar]

We're taking a trip to Gulf Shores this summer when Noah will be about 4 months old. We're planning to avoid a lot of the sun and heat by staying inside during the day, but I'd love to take him in the pool at night or in the evenings (there's an outside pool and an indoor one). Does anyone know of any good baby floats for babies this young? All the ones I've seen are for 6 mos+. Are we better off just holding on to him in the pool? Thanks for the help!

[parkersmama]

We love Gulf Shores! We went there last summer when Amy Grace was 2 1/2 months old and it was a great trip. We went to the beach but used a tent to keep the sun off her. Also, you *can* use sunscreen...the recommendations on that have been changed.

As for floats, I've never seen one that would work for a baby who can't sit up. I think you have two options: hold him in the pool or get a sling that can be used in the water (solarveil or mesh) and hold him in the sling. Either one of these will work nicely. We just held Amy Grace and she was happy. HTH!

[emschwar]

Wow! So, you can use sunscreen? When did that change? I thought you weren't supposed to use it until 6 months. Any specific brands that are ok? (I'll bring it up with the ped too and see what he says.)

We are planning on getting one of those spf tents for on the beach. I'm actually not worried horribly about the sun. I think I can keep it off of him well enough. I'm more worried about the heat. Gulf Shores in August is going to be rather toasty! We'll probably spend most of our days inside and venture to the pool and beach in the evenings or early in the morning when it's not so hot.

[Melanie]

We were told no sunscreen before 6 months. I'm not sure why unless it's the chemicals. Perhaps you might look for a 'natural' brand. I don't know if I would go in a public pool that young just because of the chemicals. If it was a backyard pool that might be different.

[Lucia]

We started swimming with our son, Noah when he was about four months old. We also went on a trip to the beach and actually took him in both the ocean and the pool. We never used a float, just held him and he loved it! Soon after that trip we moved to a tropical island in Japan and we have regularly taken him swimming. He's never had an ear infection or gotten sunburned. We are always careful to take him out during less sunny times, keep him covered with hats and t-shirts, and keep our time out pretty limited. We also purchased a sun suit (long sleeve with UV protection) that we are planning on using now that he is able to fit into it. We started using sunscreen when he was about five months old. California Baby makes a nice sunscreen with natural ingredients (you can usually find it in health food stores, on-line, and in some baby stores). Have a great time in Gulf Shores! It is a beautiful area and sure to be a fun family vacation.

Lucia
mom to Noah 2/2003

[parkersmama]

I specifically asked our pediatrician about it and he said the policy had been changed. Since then I've read about it in several parenting magazines. I just use any sunscreen listed for babies: Coppertone Water Babies, Banana Boat for babies, etc. I think you need to be very careful about using "natural" sunscreens. It is the chemicals in the sunscreen that protects you from the sun's harmful rays! I'm not convinced that there are any natural products that can do an effective job at this. The good thing about the "baby" sunscreens is that they don't burn their eyes. I still use them even for my 6 & 3 year olds. We had an incident last summer where I put "kids" sunscreen on them to run in the sprinkler and they went insane about 5 minutes later when the sunscreen began to run into their eyes and burn! It was horrible! So, back to the baby stuff for us. It works great...no sunburns here!

Yes, the August heat will be *very* hot and *moist*. :P I think you've got it right...going out in the early morning and late afternoon/evening will be best. We try to avoid the high sun time of day as well.