To say to DH that our 2 year old shouldn’t be doing this activity?

[Yeqpll]

DH has booked a lovely trip for us. He does minimal parenting day to day due to work and i can tell he’s booked nice lunches and activities to make an effort

Last night he informed me he’d booked a boat trip for 1.5 hours, for today. We are in the UK so this will be a windy and choppy event and it is open to the elements. I think DS is going to be extremely bored after 15 mins.

My main concern however is that DS is not yet potty trained and obviously there’s nowhere to change him on board.

I feel strongly this is a bad idea but maybe I’m being dramatic… thoughts very welcome!!

If you really think that your toddler will hate this and be hard to handle, then surely the only way to show your DH what the best kind of trips are to go on with a toddler is for you all to do the fishing boat trip and your DH to be in charge of the toddler during?

He'll soon learn what sort of things are best to do with a two year old if he's in charge of entertaining a two year old.

Seconding wet weather gear. If you’re relaxed about stuff, bubs will be relaxed and more able for enjoying the experience.

Don’t expect to sit quietly. He will likely want to keep moving and that should be ok. It’s only 90 minutes. Have fun yourself.

I have a 6 year old disabled child still in nappies. If we held off on things because of this it would limit life even more. Enjoy yourself!

My 2yo would love going on a boat and weather has to be sunny and fine across most of the UK today. Really can’t understand the concern.

We used to nappy change in all sorts of places! Please don’t worry, and just enjoy the moment. Take extra spare clothes for DS in a rucksack so you are covered 😀

Children that age typically poo after a meal. What makes you think he'll poo right when he gets on the boat? Weird thing to worry about. Op it will be fine.

Obviously the most important thing is that the child is wearing an appropriate life jacket so check they have his size and it's fitted correctly. Secondly, if it's open water it will be much, much colder than on land (and even colder still if out at sea). Hats, gloves, warm trousers, coats etc. Don't skimp on taking extra layers.

I used to go sea fishing and I doubt they'll be far out to sea in a 90 minute round trip. Nappies are manageable - just need a quick change to avoid getting a cold bottom!

Your DH will be able to do him a standing change, surely? If needed. I'd be more concerned that dad doesn't pull his weight than about the trip.
If there's a motor it might be noisy, try to sit away from it.

You're massively overthinking this OP. Chances are your DS will be fine and absolutely love it. If he does happen to get bored or play up (which I doubt he will as young kids tend to love stuff like this) then so what. It's only 1.5 hours - not 1.5 days!

It's a tourist trip on a boat, it'll be fine and perfectly safe.

Your dc will probably love it and if he doesn't and gets bored, hand him over to daddy. If he needs a nappy change urgently, hand him over to daddy. It's daddy's idea

@Yeqpll Ridiculously over-dramatic. We took our 2 - close in age and both toddlers - at the same time, on all sorts of trips. Including boat trips when they were 2 to 3. It's an hour and a half, not 7-8 hours! You have a long challenging parenting life ahead of you, if your little boy can't cope with an hour and a half of being 'unable to have his nappy changed' and getting bored after 15 minutes. (Plus, I used to be able to change my DC's nappy anywhere, literally on my lap, you need to learn more nappy-changing skills! It's essential!!!)

Just go!

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Why not see how it goes rather than assuming that it will be terrible? If its shit, then don't do another for a couple of years.
Sounds like a fun trip to me

I never did the lap nappy change but would find a corner and do it on the floor. Some fond memories of changes at various landmarks

Right.

Warm waterproof clothing and a correctly fitting life jacket.

Does your son have any water training?

I wouldn’t take anyone, old or young, on a boat trip if they couldn’t swim.

I probably wouldn't take my dc at 2 for a 90 minute boat trip if there were no toilets on board tbh. I'd worry about having to change a poo nappy or baby being sick, and having to change them in windy/chilly conditions. I'd be happy with a short trip during summer with toilets on board.

Give it a try - you all might love it! If DS hates it, well, it's 90 minutes, you can take distraction options and he doesn't have to go again.

My DC loved previous open top boat trips. My favourite was when they spotted something in the water (probably a dolphin) and yelled "SHARK!!!!!!". That was fun.

Just make sure the life jackets fit properly and dress for the cold. Have fun!

As you are the primary carer for your dc, your dh should have consulted you before booking something like this 🤦🏻‍♀️

Oh come on! The father can book a day out for his child without having to ask for permission!

I think a 2yo probably will be bored quite quickly, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go.

Sounds brilliant fun, my daughter did something similar at same age. I don’t think changing her nappy even occurred to me. Throw him on your lap and go for it?!

Definitely go but wholeheartedly recommend on the knee nappy changing. I remember when I saw my MIL doing this with DC2 when she was helping me post op and I couldn't believe I'd never thought of it - a real lightbulb moment! No more kneeling on grim toilet floors or worrying about there being a changing table!

This. Likewise for all the suggestions about how to dress him etc. Time DH didn't just stop at booking the activity.

Also, all the 'you mean you've never changed a nappy half way up Everest with one arm in a plaster cast?' comments are quite grating.

It’s like a fishing boat so it’s open to the elements and reasonably choppy

I was all for it when I thought it was a boat like a Thames Clipper, but now you've described it I'm getting horrendous flashbacks to a similar sounding boat trip I went on. It was fine for the first 20mins or so then we all got so sea sick and it just became an endurance test trying to not throw up till we got back to land. It was similar timeframe, going out to see dolphins, but by the time we got to them, we couldn't give a stuff about seeing dolphins. The weather was fine, the sea wasn't stormy or anything, it was just the boat being smallish (maybe 10 of us on it in total) meant that any choppiness got very sicky very fast. We all (2 adults 2 DC, age 10 and 7) swore off any such trips in future. So that's the only note of caution I'd give. Less about nappies, which I wouldn't worry about, more about seeing what the set up is and whether you need a bigger boat!

you wont need to nappy change during that time though

do you have reins?

Live dangerously and go. I’ve taken a younger child and a two year old on a boat trip, they loved it.