‘Backwards Beach Days’ Could Be A Game Changer For Your Summer Vacation

Going to the beach with little kids often isn’t all that relaxing for parents. But this one change to your approach can make it far more enjoyable for parents and kiddos alike.

Kelsey Pomeroy is a content creator in Kansas City, Missouri, and mother of two who has started doing “backwards beach days” when she vacations with her 4-year-old and 1-year-old. The basic premise is this: Instead of hitting the beach in the morning like most families do, they wait until the late afternoon after her kids have woken up from their naps.

She now considers herself a “p.m. beach person.”

“This realization has actually made me like going to the beach with small children,” Pomeroy said in an Instagram Reel explaining the concept that has racked up almost 2 million views since she posted it in February.

Growing up, Pomeroy told HuffPost that her family’s beach days would go like this: Eat breakfast, head to the beach for the day, come home before dinner to shower and get ready to go out to a restaurant. But after becoming a parent herself, she discovered “that is the literal opposite schedule that works for little kids.”

Pomeroy decided to switch things up so she could actually enjoy the beach with her sons. In the mornings, they now do quicker and easier activities like the pool or the park followed by an early lunch at a restaurant. Then they put their kids down for their naps. After they wake up, they head to the beach around 3 or 4 p.m. for a few hours. Dinner is a sunset picnic on the beach.

She swears by this schedule for a few reasons. For one, restaurants are less crowded (and less expensive) at lunchtime, and young children tend to do better eating out earlier in the day.

“I will do anything to avoid 6 p.m. dinner with tired