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The 12 BEST Baby Beach Tents for 2024

This article about Finding the Best Beach Tent for Baby was written by baby travel expert Celine Brewer and may contain affiliate links.

One of the first baby beach items I bought was a large beach umbrella. I didn’t end up using it very much because we found it cumbersome to set up and carry with us. One of these best baby beach tents would have been such a better option, especially since they provide better coverage and a sand free floor! As a mom, I know how important it is to keep our baby’s skin protected and that’s why I highly recommend a baby beach tent.

Visiting the beach with a baby is an ideal family activity, because there’s one thing for sure – babies love the beach! But that sun can be harsh and those harmful rays can be dangerous on baby’s sensitive skin. The American Academy of Dermatology and the Skin Cancer Foundation both recommend that babies are kept in the shade, where sun protective clothing that covers their entire body and wear a wide-brimmed sun hat.

My Top Picks for the Best Baby Tents for the Beach

I know you don’t always have time to read, so here are my top picks for the best beach tents for babies:

Best Overall Beach Tent for Babies:

Gorich Beach Tent With enough room for everyone in the family, large windows for ventilation and plenty of room for baby to crawl around, this is the perfect beach tent for babies.

Best Lightweight Beach Tent for Babies:

Babymoov Beach Tent for Toddlers and Babies – At less than 2 lbs, this lightweight beach tent for babies is easy to pack for a beach vacation.

Best for Beach Play Tent for Babies:

Monobeach Baby Pop Up Portable Shade – This baby sunshade is the perfect place for your baby to play on the beach. You can fill the mini pool with water and watch your baby as she splashes away, meanwhile not worrying about the harsh rays from the sun.

Baby at beach in sun hat

Best Baby Beach Tents

If there’s one thing I’ve learned when taking a baby to the beach, it’s that having your own shade and a full coverage swimsuit will make your life so much easier! They are definitely must-have baby beach essentials!

Keeping your baby’s skin healthy will make for a much more enjoyable family trip to the beach. While it might seem extreme to pack a baby tent for the beach, you’ll be glad you have the easy UV protection (UPF 50+) when you spend hours on the beach. This is especially true for young babies who are too young for sunscreen (always talk to your pediatrician about sunscreen on babies).

10 Things to Look for in a Baby Beach Tent

When looking for the best baby beach tent, here are the top 10 things you need to consider:

1. UV Protection

With the sun’s harmful rays, it’s important educate yourself on how to keep your baby safe from the sun, and then be sure to provide some sun protection for your baby’s skin.

Whether you are planning an all-inclusive vacation with a baby or a week at the lake, a beach tent is an invaluable baby and toddler beach essential to protect your baby from the sun’s harmful rays. The baby or toddler beach tent you purchase should have UV protection of at least UPF 50+ to keep your baby’s skin safe. Effective sun protection is one of the most important features of a baby beach tent.

What is UPF? According to SkinCancer.org, “UPF measures the amount of UV radiation that can penetrate fabric and reach your skin. UPF measures both UVB and UVA rays, while SPF measures only UVB.”

The California Beach Co Pop N’ Go is one of the best baby beach tents

2. Stakes

It can get windy on the beach. If you use your beach shade for baby primarily near the ocean, you’ll want to make sure it comes with fillable sand bags and stakes. If your baby beach tent doesn’t have stakes then it should have some sand pockets to help keep it down on a windy day.

beach with all baby beach essentials

3. Ventilation

While providing sun protection is very important, you also want your baby to be comfortable and not overheat while on the beach. Many of the baby beach tent options have 360 degree ventilation or at a minimum a back window you can open to let the air flow and circulate. A portable fan will help keep your baby cool too.

4. Compact for Travel

If you plan to fly with your toddler beach tent, you’ll want it to fit in a suitcase. If your family primarily drives to the beach, then size is less of a factor for your beach tent.

5. Ease of Set-up

There are so many pop-up tents for the beach that make setting up a shade tent for babies a breeze! The frustration comes when it’s time for folding the baby beach tent. Many of them use a twist & fold method to get them back in a circular form to fit in the carrying bag. It’s best to watch a video and practice folding your baby tent at home before your trip to the beach with a baby.

best baby beach tents for your family

Check out all these baby beach hacks and don’t miss my favorite baby-friendly all-inclusive resorts.

6. Price

The price of tents for babies at the beach is always a factor and how much you spend will depend on how much use you plan to get out of it. Consider how often you’ll use your baby beach tent, or buy one that isn’t just for the beach.

7. Size

Do you need a baby sun tent for multiple children or just your baby. Will you want enough room for 2 adults in the beach tent as well? Thinking about this will help you decide what size tent will work best for your family.

You will find UPF 50+ sun protection on most of the best baby beach tents

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8. Multi-Purpose

Beach tents for babies don’t have to be just for the beach. You can get even more use out of it by using your baby beach tent as a place for your baby to play while in the yard or camping with a baby. Travel tents like the KidCo PeaPod and Joovy Gloo can be used as both beach shade for baby and later as a toddler travel bed.

9. Full Sun Coverage

Too much sun exposure is harmful to your baby’s sensitive skin. The best beach tents for your baby will provide full coverage to provide the best sun protection for your baby’s sensitive skin.

10. Age of your Baby

The age of your baby will also be a big factor. An infant beach tent can be small enough to give your baby a place to sleep with proper UPF 50+ UV protection from the sun. For older babies and toddlers, you’ll want a larger space where your toddler can sit and play.

best baby beach tents offer sun protection of UPF 50+

Don’t Forget These Baby Beach Accessories

Now that you’ve found the best baby beach tent for your family, here are a few other items to add to your baby packing list for the beach:

Beach vacation with baby

See my top 5 picks in my Baby Beach Tents Story!

Other Baby Beach Essentials

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The Best Baby Beach Tents

This post was written & edited by:

info@babycantravel.com | Website | + posts

Celine Brewer is the owner of Baby Can Travel. Not only does she have years of experience traveling with babies & toddlers, but she's helped millions of new parents travel with their babies and toddlers for over a decade. In addition to writing on her baby travel blog, she has shared her expertise on traveling with a baby or toddler by contributing to articles about traveling with a baby with the Washington Post, USA Today, the Lonely Planet magazine and Pregnancy & Newborn magazine.

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.

Read more about Celine Brewer.