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28 Baby Beach Essentials for a Perfect Day at the Beach

Taking a baby to the beach is the perfect way to spend a warm summer day with your family. There are few things cuter than watching your baby play in the sand and water. We love spending time on the beach with our little ones, and we’ve learned that being prepared is key to a great family outing at the beach. To help your family have the best day possible at the beach, we’ve put together a comprehensive list of baby beach essentials. So pack up your baby beach gear and get ready to hit the beach!

Baby’s First Beach Trip

If this is your first time taking a baby to the beach, be prepared to haul a whole lot of baby beach necessities with you. Babies skin is so sensitive that you’ll want to take extra precautions in the sun.

a baby sitting in the protective shade of a baby beach tent, one of our most important infant beach essentials.
When evaluating your baby beach essentials, make sure you have something to provide ample shade from the hot sun.

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If you read our post on sun safety for babies, you’ll know that your beach essentials for baby must include a way to provide shade for your little one. We also recommend trying to cover as much of your baby’s skin as covered as possible when in the sun. Not only will this offer better sun protection for your baby, it’s much easier than trying to cover a wriggly baby in sunscreen.

Thinking about a family beach vacation? Don’t miss our Guide to Visiting an All-Inclusive with a Baby and the 10 Best Baby-Friendly All-Inclusive Resorts.

Can You Take a Newborn to the Beach?

Yes, you can take newborn to the beach! If you are spending a while at the beach with your newborn, make sure you have a shady spot to put your baby down to sleep on the beach. We also recommend consulting your doctor about using sunscreen on newborns. Typically the recommendation is to wait until an infant is 6 months old for sunscreen.

We consider a portable baby beach tent or a larger baby beach shelter to be newborn beach essentials. Having this important baby beach gear allows you to safely take your newborn to the beach and still protect them from the powerful sun and wind.

We haven’t forgotten about the toddlers! You can find all the best toddler beach essentials here.

baby on beach playing with baby beach toys

Beach Essentials for Baby

Based on our experiences taking our little ones to the beach, here are your baby beach must haves by category. In some instances we’ve included a few options, as we know every family is different. To make it easy for you, we’ve created a convenient Baby Beach Essentials shopping list on Amazon.

Whether you are going on a beach vacation with a baby or visiting your local beach, here is our complete list of baby beach must haves:

Baby Beach Clothes

One of the most important baby beach necessities is their beachwear. Keeping your baby's skin protected from the sun is much easier with protective beach clothes rather than trying to make sure you cover every spot with sunscreen. You'll still want to be diligent with covering other areas with sunscreen and reapply as needed.

*Please consult your doctor about using sunscreen on babies less than 6 months old.

Baby Swimming Essentials

Help your baby keep cool in the pool or in the calm ocean water with these baby swimming essentials.

Baby Beach Toys

When you talk about baby beach must haves, you have to include baby beach toys! Bring along some baby beach toys to keep your baby occupied and hopefully to distract your baby from eating all the sand!

Baby Beach Tent

As mentioned above, if you are planning a full day in the sun, a baby sun tent is high on our list of must haves for a baby beach vacation. There are few options to consider when looking for the best baby beach tent, but you'll be very glad you had one.

Other Beach Must Haves for Baby

While that probably already seems like enough stuff to pack for the beach, we have a few more beach essentials for baby to add to your beach packing list. Sunscreen is a must have beach item, but we also like the fans for keeping baby from getting overheated at the beach. A cooler is also necessary to keep any food or milk from spoiling.

Beach Vacations with a Baby

Now that you have all your beach essentials for your baby, where will you go? Here’s a list baby friendly holidays that should give you some inspiration for your next beach vacation with a baby:

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Baby Beach Essentials

This post was written & edited by:

Celine is the owner of Baby Can Travel. Not only does she have years of experience traveling with babies & toddlers, but she's been helping new parents travel with their babies and toddlers for over a decade.

Celine also writes about family travel on the site FamilyCanTravel.com, which she co-owns with her husband. Being from the Canadian Rockies, she shares her passion about her home and travel to Banff National Park and area on their site TravelBanffCanada.com.