Going to the beach with a house full of little ones can easily feel less like a “vacation” and more like an extreme sport. By the time you actually get down to the beach, you are sweating and ready to take a much needed break. We recently traveled to the beach for my cousin’s wedding, and let’s just say, the beach with three girls (6 and under) requires a serious tactical game plan.
If you want to actually enjoy the ocean breeze instead of wrestling meltdowns, here are the five battle-tested hacks that saved our sanity on this trip!
👶 Hack 1: The Pre-Beach Swim Diaper Double-Up
If you have a baby or toddler who isn’t potty trained yet, you already know that swim diapers do not hold pee! If you put them in their swim diaper at the house, by the time you walk to the beach, you’ll have pee running down your side or soaking wet car seat.
- Here’s the Fix: Put their swim diaper on, and then a regular disposable diaper right over the top of it. When you get down to the sand, simply rip the regular diaper off and your little one is completely ready to hit the water. No mess, no stress!
Swim Diaper
Regular Diaper
Swim Suit
🧊 Hack 2: The Tumbler Freezey-Pop Trick
Midday at the beach gets hot. The sun is in full force, the kids are starting to get tired and hungry, and momma just wants a little more time at the beach before the lunch/nap chaos ensues.
- Here’s the Fix: Pack a handful of freezey-pops or popsicles directly inside a vacuum-insulated stainless steel tumbler (like a Stanley or a Yeti) and add some ice before you leave. They will stay perfectly frozen in your beach bag all morning, giving the kids a nice and cold, mess-free midday dessert right when they start getting cranky from the heat. And momma gets an extra 2 minutes of peace.
💧 Hack 3: The Playpen Kiddie Pool Combo
Trying to keep a crawling baby or an active 2-year-old from eating handfuls of sand or wandering into the surf can be exhausting. My youngest is almost 2 now and it’s seriously a workout to keep up with her…she is EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING!
- Here’s the Fix: Pack a portable pop-up playpen (this one is the Regalo Portable Play Pen) but place a small, inflatable baby pool or water table right inside it with some water and a few toys. It keeps children aged two and under completely contained, shaded, and happily entertained in their own mini water park while you actually get to sit in your beach chair for five minutes.
🛷 Hack 4: The Off-Season Snow Sled Sherpa
By the time you pack the towels, the snacks, the umbrellas, and the sand toys, you look like a pack mule—and dragging a traditional wheeled wagon through deep, loose sand is an absolute workout (for my husband, let’s be real).
- Here’s the Fix: Go to your garage and grab a cheap plastic winter snow sled! Load all of your heavy beach bags, coolers, and umbrellas right into the sled, and use the pull-rope to effortlessly glide it right across the top of the sand. It saves your back, saves your energy, and gets you to your beach spot in a fraction of the time.
😴 Hack 5: The Vacation Bed Bumper Trick
If your toddler transitions to a twin bed at a rental house or hotel, the fear of them rolling out onto a hard floor in the middle of the night is real. Packing bulky bed bumpers from home takes up way too much trunk space and there’s an easier and cheaper fix.
- Here’s the Fix: Hit up a local dollar store when you arrive and grab two cheap foam pool noodles. Simply slide the pool noodles directly onto the mattress underneath the fitted sheet along the edges of the bed. The sheet holds them perfectly in place, creating a safe, instant bumper barrier that keeps your little one tucked in tight all night. We have even used a rolled up towel in a pinch.
💡 What about you? What is the one beach hack you never leave home without? Let me know in the comments below!
Well…bye! May your coffee be strong and your toddlers’ tantrums be short.