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What to Pack for a Little One's Louisiana Lake Day Heading out to Lake Martin or spending the day at the camp on False River? This one's for the mamas t...
Heading out to Lake Martin or spending the day at the camp on False River? This one's for the mamas trying to figure out what to throw in the bag so your little one stays cute, comfy, and covered from morning coffee until the drive home. Here's how we pack for a Louisiana lake day, in the order you'll actually reach for things.
The swimsuit is the anchor of the whole day, so pick the one you'd actually want in pictures. A good one-piece with a ruffle shoulder or a little rash guard set does the heavy lifting for you here. For the babies and toddlers, I always lean toward more coverage than less. A long-sleeve rash guard sounds like a lot in July, but our Louisiana sun does not play, and it saves you from chasing a wiggly toddler around with a sunscreen bottle all afternoon.
Put the suit on before you leave the house. Trust me. Trying to wrestle a two-year-old into a swimsuit in the back of an SUV in the parking lot is not the memory anyone's after. Let them ride to the lake already in it, cover-up on top, and you've saved yourself the first meltdown of the day.
Here's the trick that keeps the bag light. Pick a cover-up that looks like a real outfit so your little one isn't running around in a soggy suit when it's time to eat or head home. A gauzy little dress, a linen romper, or a seersucker set works beautifully because it slides right over a damp suit, breathes in the heat, and still looks put-together if y'all stop for a snowball on the way back.
For girls, a floral gauze dress is my go-to. For boys, a linen or seersucker short set. Both dry fast, both photograph well, and both mean you're never scrambling for a second full outfit. That's the whole game with a lake day... fewer pieces, more use out of each one.
You want the swimsuit, you want the cover-up, and you want one fully dry change of clothes tucked in a separate zip bag so it stays dry no matter what the rest of the bag goes through. That dry change is your insurance. Somebody always ends up soaked and shivering by four o'clock, or falls asleep on the ride home and you'd rather they be in something soft and clean.
Bring two towels per kid, not one. One gets sandy, one gets soaked, and you'll want a dry one for the car seat. A hooded towel for the littles is worth the space because it keeps their head and neck warm the second they come out of the water, and it doubles as a nap blanket if they crash on the drive back to Youngsville.
The clothes only do half the work out here. A wide-brim hat and little sunglasses aren't just for the photos, though they do make the photos. They keep the sun off a face that's already going to be squinting all day. Look for a hat with a chin strap for babies and toddlers, because a hat without one is a hat that's floating in the lake within twenty minutes.
Do not skip the sunscreen even if you've got the rash guard on. The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends covering exposed skin and reapplying often, and around here that means every couple of hours plus after every dip. Little ears, the tops of feet, and the back of the neck are the spots everybody forgets. Pack the sunscreen in the outside pocket where you can grab it fast, because if it's buried under towels you won't reach for it as often as you should.
Water shoes are not optional at most Louisiana lakes. The banks can be muddy, and nobody wants a splinter or a stubbed toe cutting the day short. Slip-on water shoes or little rubber sandals that can get soaked and rinsed are perfect. Then pack one dry pair of regular shoes with that dry change of clothes, so their feet aren't squishing around in wet shoes on the ride home.
For babies who aren't walking yet, soft water booties keep the sun off their feet and the mosquitoes away, which matters more than you'd think once the sun starts going down and everybody's still lingering by the water.
A few extras earn their spot in the bag every single time. A brimmed hat clip or two so you're not buying a new hat every trip. A muslin swaddle or light blanket that works as shade, a changing surface, or a nap cover all in one. A wet bag or a couple of gallon zip bags to separate the soggy suit from the dry clothes so your whole bag doesn't smell like lake water by Sunday.
And keep the whole packing philosophy simple. You're dressing for a day that starts warm, gets hot, gets wet, and cools off by evening. The suit handles the water, the cover-up handles the in-between, the dry change handles the ride home, and the hat and sunscreen handle the sun the whole way through. Get those four things right and everything else is just a bonus.
Pack it the night before, lay the morning suit on top, and you'll be out the door and on the water before the heat sets in. That's how a Louisiana lake day is supposed to go.