#AD | A day on the beach with Waterwipes #WaterwipesFamily

Post written in paid partnership with Waterwipes

Living in Brighton, I’m sure you all imagine that I spend all of our time on the beach – after all, we are lucky enough to have the beach right on our doorstep.  However, the reality is that a day out on the beach with a baby and a toddler isn’t easy – there is just SO much to consider so we don’t go as often as I’d like. A day at the beach requires military-style organisation and packing, to remember to pack blankets, umbrellas, suncreams, snacks, nappies, wipes – don’t forget the picnic! The list is endless and I hope that as the girls get older, it’ll get easier as I just love the beach and I’m sure they will too!

That being said, last week was such gorgeous weather we just couldn’t resist so we headed down to a quiet spot on Brighton beach for a family day on the beach, in a beautiful spot the tourists always miss, where the locals can relax. The sea was such a stunning shade of turquoise blue and was warm enough to swim – I couldn’t wait to go in!

There is so much to think about when it comes to protecting little ones skin on the beach so we are always so cautious. In the hot weather, a baby’s soft, delicate skin can often become more sensitive and require more attention than usual and on the beach, it’s not just the sun we need to worry about but irritations from the sand, sea and the sticky fingers from those picnic snacks.

Our first challenge on the beach was applying suncream to an excitable toddler who just wants to throw herself in the sea and a baby who is determined to eat all the pebbles. Violet is obsessed with rubbing creams on herself, and immediately grabbed the tube squirting SO much out onto my hands and slapping it onto her face – she was having a great time slathering it everywhere – at least she’ll be well protected from the sun!

Violet then decided she wanted to apply cream to ‘baby’ (her name for Pearl!) so of course that went EVERYWHERE and she was covered too. Thank goodness we packed a supply of Waterwipes with Soapberry, which are not just for nappy changes but help clean up all sorts of sticky situations, like this very mucky suncream explosion.

WaterWipes are the perfect way to clean little ones delicate skin on the beach without worrying about adding further irritants to their skin, plus they are super cooling and refreshing way on a hot day too! I’ve used Waterwipes original wipes since both girls were born, in fact I packed them into our hospital bags for both girls – but now Pearl is a little older, we have started to use the Waterwipes with Soapberry.

They are ideal for Violet and Pearl as they are designed for growing babies to tackle bigger messes like our suncream explosion and cleaning up after our picnic….. as well as nappy changes too! They are made with 99.9% water, plus a drop of fruit and Soapberry extract, so it’s reassuring to know there are no hidden nasty chemicals. In fact, the WaterWipes range are the only baby wipes to be approved by Allergy UK.

WaterWipes has teamed up with Dr Wilkinson, expert child dermatologist to provide handy hints and tips for parents on how to keep their babies cool and protected in the summer months. Here are her top tips:

1.     “Keep babies under 6 months in the shade. Sun cream is not tested on babies under 6 months and so should not be used.”

2.     “Babies have immature sweat ducts, which are more likely to get blocked, meaning they are more prone to prickly heat. To avoid this happening and your baby overheating, it is best to dress them in loose clothing.”

3.     “Wash off chlorine or sand in the shower as soon as possible and apply a moisturiser to the skin, especially if your baby is prone to eczema.”

4.     “Summer time means your baby may be exposed to potential skin irritants that they haven’t before, such as: seawater, sand, sweat, sun cream, chlorine and air conditioning. Make sure you’re taking extra care and using tried and tested products to protect your baby’s skin. WaterWipes have been carefully designed to be gentle on babies’ sensitive skin. They are the world’s purest baby wipe that contains 99.9% water and a drop of grapefruit seed extract – a natural skin conditioner.”

5.     “Before applying moisturiser dry your babies skin thoroughly in order to avoid locking in moisture after swimming or changing their nappies (as this can create an irritant on the skin). This is a common cause of nappy rash and is easily prevented by drying the skin.”

We had such a lovely time paddling in the water. Both girls weren’t sure to start with, the cool water on the bumpy pebbles was tricky for Violet to keep her balance, so we ended up both getting soaked as she toppled over in a big wave – but it was so hot I didn’t mind!

It was time for a snack after all that sun and sea. My favourite refreshing snack for a day on the beach has got to be Watermelon slices – both girls love water melon so much, but of course it goes everywhere and makes another sticky mess!

It was a super hot day, so it was only natural the girls were going to get tired, quickly. I could have stayed all evening, but all of a sudden it all got too much for the girls and it was time to head home. Gone are the days we’d sit on the beach for hours into the evening until the sun sets with a BBQ. One day they’ll be old enough to do that and we’ll miss these busy, crazy days when they are so little and every experience is new. We’d had so much fun, exploring the beach and paddling in the sea, no wonder they were exhausted!

Before we left, we made sure to completely tidy our space, taking home all our rubbish as not to leave any mess on the beach – I’m keen to get Violet involved with keeping our beaches clean so I challenged her to find 3 pieces of rubbish to clean up too. Making it into a game kept her organised whist V packed the bag and picnic blanket up. Luckily this part of the beach isn’t too bad so there wasn’t much rubbish to pick up but we found a few tiny bits and Violet was so proud of herself for finding it. You can never start too early with teaching the importance of keeping our beaches clean.

We had so much fun on the beach, despite the challenges we faced having two small children to look after. I hope we can start to enjoy more beach days very soon!

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Post written in paid partnership with Waterwipes