3 yr old child will be on our boat - safety ideas?

D

DLL

Member
exMember
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
RO Number
1777
Messages
429
Our 3 year old grandson will be on our boat this summer and we are thinking of ways to keep him safe. (Dog kennel and taser come to mind) :)

Seriously, in the past we made sure one adult was available to watch each small child and of course, they had PFDs that fit. Even our dog has a PFD with a water activated strobe on her PFD...same as Chris and I.

Any tricks you care to share with the group?
 
I have a four year old and she's been on the boat since birth, have another one on the way. Judging from your profile, you should have no problem.
I have a 34' bridge boat, one thing that comes to mind is docking. With just me and the wife we made a game of it; i also have two dogs, so when she became old enough to understand, we would put all three of them in the cabin and close the screen door - she was told to watch the dogs and keep them safe until mommy came back from the bow - it worked most of the time.

When she was a baby, i would strap a medium sized stroller on the bridge and she would stay in there on rides, bridge is good size and always have three sided enclosure up, mom would sit on the bench seat (forward helm) behind the stroller. We also have straped in a car seat right into a bridge seat, she used to love this because she could see everything and the seat swivels.

Down below, pack and play until about 2 years old.
After that i bought a mini kid tent from Kmart and set it up on the forward stateroom matress and would zip her in, didnt want her falling off the bed.

Obviously getting on and off are the most dangerous times.

He will probably have a blast, last year 3yo for us and it was great!
 
I've raised two children on our boat and besides the obvious stuff, ask the parents to enroll the child in a swim class between now and summer. We always kept our kids in PDF's and never let them out of our site but the abilty to swim a litle bit gave me a litle piece of mind and made them respect the water and understand thier limitations.
Jim
 
We have daughters that are 3 and 9 years old. They never take off their life jackets when on the boat. The 3 year old's life jacket has a neck support so if she did fall in the water her head should have some support to keep it above the water. Her life jacket also has a "crotch strap" that runs between her legs to keep the jacket from sliding up and over her head if she should fall in. Like Britanic said, the most diffucult part with little ones on board is docking. We ALWAYS have both of the girls go below while docking. If we just have the 3 year old with us we make a game out of it and make sure that she stays out of the way and out of danger when we are docking. We don't have a bridge boat, but I would think that if we did, while docking my wife could stay in the cockpit and make sure the 3 year old doesn't come out while she helps me dock the boat.
 
We raised our son on the boat and besides some other issues, most of what has been said above is very valid.

Our rule was, and is, all children wear a life jacket at all times. Little ones wear one with a crotch strap.

Swimming lessons are also very important, Daniel started them when he was about 18 mos old and took them for many years. He enjoyed the lessons and to this day is like a little fish in the water.

During docking, Daniel usually kept me company on the flybridge. There were few rules except that during docking everyone stays in one spot and is quiet. To this day, Dan will sometimes remind guests that they need to be quiet when Dad is docking. He also became responsible early for the engine shut down. Once my wife had a line or two on the boat, I would go down and help secure the boat. When complete, I'd call up for him to shut the engines and electronics off. This made him feel a part of the procedure and instilled responsibility. His duties now include setting all the circuit breakers in the correct positions, starting the engines, piloting while underway (with direction from a sighted guide). He sometimes gets anchor duty (with a windlass) but this still makes his mother very nervous.

Dave, the biggest danger your 3 yo faces is the current in your area. He needs to be taught to swim towards the shore if he falls in, not to try and make it back to the boat. If he is really active and/or a bit clumsy, you can also have the netting installed around your railing system to minimize slips and falls into the water.

Just remember that no matter what you do, as soon as you make the boat dummy proof, they'll invent a better dummy.
 
Make sure the PFD fits properly. No one should ever buy one a little too big for the child to "grow into"! This can be very dangerous for a child. Zip the kid into the PFD and lift by the shoulder straps to make sure it can't ride up. If it can ride up, it will pin the child's arms up over their head and they will drown.

One adult per child plus someone operating the boat is an excellent idea. All the adults need to be unwavering about the rules onboard. Most kids sleep great on a boat and an afternoon nap isn't unusual.

Enjoy your grandchild onboard this summer!
 
All good advice but I am wondering about a phenomena that occured regularly a few years ago. I happened to kids sitting in the very back of some ski boats or on the swimstip when the boat was idleing who passed out because of exhaust fumes coming up and over the transum. Anyone know anything about that.

DBH
 
Good idea to teach a child to swim for shore in a river scenario.

Dan has had a great teacher and it shows.

People suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning? Education helped a lot. Any boat sold after ... some time in 2005, is required to have a sticker on the swim platform, or in that area, explaining the dangers of hanging on to the swim platform while the engines are running.

Good ideas on watching the kids. Our youngest grandson is easy to get along with or is a living testimony to Tubal Ligation at puberty. Luckily we can pass him off to our kids when he in a "mood", but on the boat he can be a handful. Grandma and I "tag team" him when he is visiting. Hard to keep up with him. All the small children have the life jackets with the strap between their legs.

I had not thought about it, but we have always had the kids in the Salon while docking. It is so easy to lose track of them when you are concentrating on the task at hand.
 
DBH, it is illegal for anyone to be on the swim platform while a boat is idling, except for docking maneuvers. I've seen the water cops enforce this very strictly. A few years ago a 7 yr old girl passed out over by Disco Bay and fell into the water. She was then run over by a PWC and died. The culprit was carbon monoxide poisoning.

If I'm on the water and see someone idling down Piper Slu with someone on the swim platform, I will advise the skipper that it is dangerous and illegal. Maybe that will save a life......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top