LOL YEs!!! she sheds a TON! But Beagles are incredible with kids! She would NEVER bite him or anyone. And Noah is always smacking her wtih his toys and all over her- he squeezes her too hard...etc... everything you can imagine a toddler would do, he does it. And she tolerates it all. So, for me the shedding is secondary, even though i hate it! The most important thing is the dog's tempermant and if they will handle a toddler. But I have to vacuum twice a week and I have those sticky rollers- for the sofas to get the hair off a couple times a week. Noah always has one of her hairs stuck to him.
beagles are very willfull, they run away because they follow their nose and they eat everything in site so they can get real fat. they're great dogs but difficult meaning they won't sit in one place all day and chill.. they need to run and play a lot and need lots of attention and get lonely fast. But i'd say they're prolly one of the most child friendly breed.
have you ever seen a Boston Terrier short hair but i dunno about shedding. i just think they're cute
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/bostonterrier.htm