A rant about timing

[SanDiegoSidemount]

I have a new daughter born last July. My wife was back to diving with me by September.

What helped us the most is (1) having a baby who sleeps really well on boats, (2) having an extra buddy on our outings, and (3) being flexible about who gets to dive and who watches the baby.

In our case, the extra buddy is my older son, who is also open water certified. On any given dive, two of us will be diving, and the third person will be topside watching the baby. Then we switch off. As you mentioned, finding another couple who dives and wouldn't mind watching the baby would accomplish the same thing.

We do have the luxury of our own boat, which helps a lot. We avoid feeling crowded or rushed, and we have a nice little "nest" in the cuddy cabin for the baby to sleep. However, we are also investigating the possibility of bringing the baby on overnight/liveaboard boats here in SoCal.

The same approach could work with shore diving as well. The key is to have a little help along, and be flexible. Also, the baby's temperament can make a big difference. It would be much harder for us if our little girl wasn't so quiet, easygoing and low maintenance.

 

[victorzamora]

Congrats, Button!!! I know the timing sucks (right AFTER you get into diving)......but like Skittles said, if you wait til it's convenient it'll never happen. I hope you got a dive in in your new gear, at least. Also, if you're preggers now....that means you'll be having the baby in, what, July? PLENTY of time for diving next year

Plus, I'm sure you'll raise an AWESOME [-]dive buddy[/-] child.

 

[button]

People always say if you waited until it was convenient to have a baby, no one would.

Congratulations on the addition to your family, sorry it has made diving more complicated.

Haha, I know. Everyone has been saying this to me - that there really isn't a right time. I suppose the hubby and I have had a good run at being DINKs... we rehabbed our house, have had lots of fun trips, got into diving... and we've been married for 3 years. The worst of it is that I just accepted a position at a new company, so that makes things a little bit more complicated/exciting.

I have a new daughter born last July. My wife was back to diving with me by September.

What helped us the most is (1) having a baby who sleeps really well on boats, (2) having an extra buddy on our outings, and (3) being flexible about who gets to dive and who watches the baby.

In our case, the extra buddy is my older son, who is also open water certified. On any given dive, two of us will be diving, and the third person will be topside watching the baby. Then we switch off. As you mentioned, finding another couple who dives and wouldn't mind watching the baby would accomplish the same thing.

We do have the luxury of our own boat, which helps a lot. We avoid feeling crowded or rushed, and we have a nice little "nest" in the cuddy cabin for the baby to sleep. However, we are also investigating the possibility of bringing the baby on overnight/liveaboard boats here in SoCal.

The same approach could work with shore diving as well. The key is to have a little help along, and be flexible. Also, the baby's temperament can make a big difference. It would be much harder for us if our little girl wasn't so quiet, easygoing and low maintenance.

Fingers crossed for an easy baby! I was just talking to my husband about getting our kid certified as soon as he/she was old enough. And then I realized that there was no way that a child of ours will be responsible and calm enough to dive at 10.

Congrats, Button!!! I know the timing sucks (right AFTER you get into diving)......but like Skittles said, if you wait til it's convenient it'll never happen. I hope you got a dive in in your new gear, at least. Also, if you're preggers now....that means you'll be having the baby in, what, July? PLENTY of time for diving next year

Plus, I'm sure you'll raise an AWESOME [-]dive buddy[/-] child.

Thanks Victor! I did get a few dives in with the new equipment, at least. I did my AOW using the new stuff as well as a few dives in the Dominican Republic. So I worked out some trim issues on the last few dives. Of course I'll have to do that all over again later this year! I am having some floaty feet issues that I think I'll be getting some ankle weights for until I'm a better diver. I'm also praying that the wetsuit still fits me after this pregnancy. The problem with the H2 is that the zipper is above the hips, and I already have pretty wide hips.

I'm due in August, so hopefully I can get some diving in in late September or early October. We had planned to dive in Florida during my week off between jobs, but since I'm knocked up, we'll be waiting for warmer weather and finding a buddy for my hubby. This summer I guess that I'll be helping out our LDS while hubby is diving. He really needs to work on his air consumption, so maybe by the time I get to dive again, we will have to worry about our NDL's instead of his air.

 

[Lake Hickory Scuba]

Hey button, First and Foremost CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!, As much as I love diving, Kids are even better. But I understand completely about things coming to a hault. When my wife went into labor, I was underwater teaching an Open Water class. One of my Divemasters came under and signaled for me to come up. Once on the surface, he notified me of the phone call he received. Now trying not to run my emergency fire lights in my truck while driving to the hospital, and trying to strip out of my wet suit, and doing my best not to wreck (completely over exaggerated), scuba diving was the last concern I had. I was way too excited about the blessing I was receiving. You will be the same way. Now my daughter is 2 and every time she takes a bath, she will lay on her belly and say she has to go SCUBY DIVING. Of course every time I put on camo she ask if I'm going to shoot a deer, then she screams boom. Kids will completely take over your life and there is no greater feeling. Finding another couple is a great idea, and no place better than here on SCUBABOARD. Another thing I would suggest is to find a local shop that does trips with families that encourages them to take their children, meaning trips where you can dive and snorkel. When your child is old enough, they will have spent many hours in the water with you snorkeling, and then diving becomes second nature to them. Growing up, I spent many hours in the water with my father, swimming, snorkeling, and diving. Now I co-own a dive shop with him. One last thing, kids will make you appreciate life so much more and makes you mature quicker. That being said that will make you that much more of a safer diver. Knowing that you have a little one at home to look after, will make you be more conscientious under water. You will realize how important pre dive safety checks are, and how important it is to monitor or gauges more often. Scuba is meant to be a recreation for us to enjoy, but a child is a gift from above. Don't think of it as a cramp in your style but a way for you to flourish as an adult. Once again CONGRATULATIONS, and enjoy what is to come.

 

[SanDiegoSidemount]

I would add that smaller "day boats" or "6 packs" are probably no place to bring a baby, since there would be no quiet/safe place to settle the kid down. For these types of dive trips, you'd probably need to arrange a sitter on shore.

Larger boats with protected "dry" sitting areas would be more desirable if you want to try diving with an extended buddy team + baby on board.

The first year or so is actually the easiest in some ways, since new babies sleep a lot, and don't want to crawl/walk around.

Also, if you want to get into details, it will help a lot (for more than just diving) if you get baby accustomed to feeding from a bottle. Yes, boob is best. However if you breastfeed exclusively (no pumping, no bottle) it can seriously hamper your freedom and flexibility. If your baby feeds from a bottle, this will enable other people (your husband and/or sitters) to participate much more effectively in feeding and caring for baby while you're in the water.

How early you certify your kids depends SO much on their personality. My older son was more than ready to learn scuba at 10 years old, but his younger brother (nearly 11 now) is quite content to snorkel for the time being. The important thing is everyone loves the water, and we've found a way to do these trips as a family. Having the new baby hasn't slowed us down too much, it just requires extra planning.

 

[letterboy]

When my older sister was in high school she would tag along with a family that had young kids on vacay. The family paid for her travel,food etc and she took care of the kids. There may or may not have been additional incentives... maybe check the local college and hs for a child care program as they will be much cheaper than a nanny service. We looked into nannies,pricey...

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk

 

[TheOnlyRae]

You've got some time now, that you can't dive. Maybe use this incubation period to babysit for the other families that CAN dive...get some favors in the "dive bank"!



Good luck and congratulations!

 

[violamama]

First, Congratulations!!!
Second, it will all change so much in ways you did NOT see coming. I think from your comments about the new job and other lifestyle restrictions, you are catching glimpses of that already.

It's a wild ride, becoming somebody's parent. I never ever thought I would be a homeschooling weirdo, I never thought my career would take a backseat in the ways it has (and how hard that really is- even when from the outside it's all going swimmingly), and I never thought I would still be realizing who I am and what's important at age 40.

One thing I find helpful is to keep in mind that whatever is sucking at the moment is only for a season. For me, the first 18 months or so are killer hard. I do not do well with sleep deprivation, and I have trouble with being touchy-feely-huggy-inmyspace! 24 hours a day. Don't get me wrong, if you see me with my kids (who rock, of course) I'm all over them with hugs and blowing raspberries and such. I'm intentionally spending most of my waking hours with them, after all. It's just different when they're 5 instead of 1. Babies are a whole other universe of intense and while it may sound harsh, it's very helpful to keep in mind it does not last.

In addition to cultivating diving parent-friends as others have wisely advised, I would add that in no time in my life did I need friends in similar situations more than when my kids were infants/toddlers. Don't let yourself navigate those murky depths alone, and plan to make time for connecting with other humans because it will NOT happen organically.

Anyway, congrats again!!

 

[KLETCO]

Hi there!!

I'm also in Maryland - although Northern Maryland - and I have an 8 month old. I'm an assistant instructor and yesterday I assisted in my first open water class since getting pregnant (17 months out of the water). Now, I'm DYING to go diving and we CAN'T for the same reasons as you - no one to watch the little guy.

So, once your baby is born and you want to get back to diving, let us know! Bonaire and the Florida Keys would be great options for us (although we are Little Cayman people - we were married in Little Cayman and our little guy is named Owen after Owen Island).

Kim

 

[Shasta_man]

Oh, how much you don't know. By the time you have this child, this won't even rate as a problem. My wife and I just had twins in October, and all schedules and plans are in flux at all times. Prepare yourself for lots of work and screwed up plans otherwise you will drive yourself nuts and ruin the time you are supposed to be appreciating. There's plenty of time for diving and enjoying later on.

BTW, contrary to common thinking, anything over 35 is getting pretty late in the pregnancy game. Things can happen easily or not, with the docs telling us that once over 30, essential hormones, etc start to slow down and it's appreciably already increasing the difficulty of getting pregnant. This is important because it doesn't matter how much you want a baby, a whole lot of things have to work for it to happen. Anyone reading this should know that if you think you want a baby at some point in the future, go get yourself tested today to know where you are at. Male and female. You'll find out whether it can happen, where you are in the process and can start doing something about any problems. Otherwise, you'll never know and it could be too damn late. An easy way is to ask yourself if you will be OK with NOT having a baby.

Congratulations on being able to have a beautiful baby. You'll be diving again soon enough.