Our resident blogger Mrs ATWWAH lifts the lid on the highs and lows of visiting beaches with a toddler in tow.
BEACHES FOR TODDLERS
Saltburn By The Sea, N. Yorkshire
Cliffs with a lift, a pier, fish and chips, and a pup. This is a proper traditional English beach. Master ATWWAH loved running down the pier, chips in hand.
Needles, Isle of Wight (pictured bottom left)
Coloured sand cliffs, a chairlift to the beach, lovely walks and an amusement park nearby.
Domes of Elounda Hotel, Crete
This boutique hotel in Crete has its own beach, which is a perfect cove – ideal for toddlers – with fantastic views over to Spinalonga. Master ATWWAH loved wallowing in the sea here in the late afternoon.
Mariner’s Beach, Santa Eulalia, Ibiza
This beach can be found at the mouth of Ibiza’s only river. It’s perfect for toddlers as it’s so calm and shallow. Master ATWWAH loved watching the ‘motorbikes on the sea’ – or jetskis, as we call them.
Camps Bay Beach, South Africa (pictured bottom right)
The poster beach for South Africa with an amazing backdrop of Table Mountain.
For more tips on travelling with a toddler, visit Denise’s blog aroundtheworldwithahighchair.com
ACTIVITIES
We’ve found jumping around in the sand has encouraged him to take a few tentative steps. Recently on holiday in the Isle of Wight he was fascinated by the rock pools on the beach and happily went trotting over, forgetting he was walking on the sand.
It probably doesn’t help that I’m not great with mess and he has no doubt picked up on me heading for the taps to rinse my feet and flip flops straight after leaving the beach. So, on our next holiday I need to make sure I embrace the muck too. We’ll definitely be getting out the bucket and spade, just to show him that it’s not only building bricks that make a great castle.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Your first trip to the beach is a rite of passage. I remember mine: it was in Blackpool andm apart from the bitterly cold windm I fondly remember a ride on a donkey, followed by a glass of milk and Club biscuit with my little brother at a café.
Master ATWWAH is a bit luckier and has already been taken to some gorgeous, sunny, sandy beaches. However, he has recently developed a fear of sand. He is very reluctant to take a step on a beach and instead Mr ATWWAH gets to put him on his shoulders as we walk along the beach loudly exclaiming how lovely the sand feels between your toes.
I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have eremikophobia – the technical name for a fear of sands/deserts (thanks Google search) – but is more going through that funny toddler stage of not liking to get dirty. This phase is usually over pretty quickly and can also be contradictory as he thinks nothing to jumping in puddles, putting his hands in them and subsequently sucking his fingers.