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life vests versus floaties

blueshirt2003blueshirt2003
in Pre-School and Daycare

Which do you prefer? 

My 2 year old child's life vest flipped him onto his stomach instead of his back.   

ETA:  

This is the life vest that flipped forward on him.

 Child Hydroprene Watersports Life Jacket

 

We also have this but I felt that the vest itself was a bit safer, but I was wrong I guess??

 

 Stearns? Puddle Jumpers?<br>

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Re: life vests versus floaties

  • brightningbrightning member

    I'm probably in the minority on this but I still put DD in a "seat" floatie.

    My fear with any device that is a part of her actual body (vest, arm floaties, bathing suit with floaties in it) is that she'll become overconfident in her abilities. Right now, I think it is very important that DD knows she cannot swim and will not get in the water unless she's in her seat or I'm holding her.

    But based on the number of other 3 yr olds that I see at the pool in seats (zero), and the amount unsolicited comments about where I can purchase swim vests (at least two every time we go to the pool), I'm sure I'm in the minority on this.

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  • roseroseroseroseroseroseroseroseroserose member
    We use a suit with a built in life jacket. We talk about water safety every.single.time we are around water. We take her to the pool in regular suits too and remind her she can't float. I'm still uber paranoid about water.
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  • NaplesWifeyNaplesWifey
    We have a Puddle Jumper & DD does great in it. They are designed to keep them upright & allow them to float on their back. I agree with the others that it is important for them to know what it feels like to be in the water without anything on, but with 2u2 I can't hold them both at the same time. So I feel much better knowing DD has this on.
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  • marriedchick06marriedchick06 member
    We also have the puddle jumper and LOVE it. I have tried a swim vest with DD and it was so uncomfy for her and I felt like she had to work to keep her mouth out of the water. With the Puddle jumper she can let her feet hang and not kick and her mouth is well above water. We also talk every time that we are in the pool about water safety.
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  • mrsmikeymrsmikey
    We have the same 2 life jackets and had the exact same thing happen.  We were just using the puddle jumper in the pool, and when we went out in the boat on the lake for the first time we put the life jacket on him.  We parked and he was jumping off the boat, and the puddle jumper popped him right back up out of the water with no problems.  But when we put the life jacket on him, it flipped him right on his belly with his face in the water.  I immediately took it off.  He's within the limits of the life vest, but if we were to wreck or he were to fall off the boat, he would drown.  The puddle jumper is a US Coast Guard approved life preserver and a perfectly safe and acceptable alternative.  So now we use the puddle jumper all of the time for all our water activities.
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  • Dani123Dani123

    We ONLY use floaties unless she's on a watercraft....

    They are just enough to keep her above water but not too inhibiting where she cant actually swim....

    She is a champ with her swimmies..jumps in by herself (with supervision) and even "swims" to the deep end, etc... 

    I also tried the Puddle Jumpesr but they, like the vests, were a bit too cumbersome for her to really "swim"...

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  • kada626kada626 member

    for swimming, dd uses the puddle jumper. We also let her go in the water without anything so she is aware of what can happen and we help her learn how to swim.

    Bright- just becareful using the floaties with the seats at this age. My dd1 wanted to use dd2's floatie with the seat...so I let her. She jumped off a step in the pool and completely flipped herself over....head in the water/legs in the air. My mom was right next to her but had trouble lifting her...I had to jump in the pool fully clothed to get her! It was very scary but luckily we were paying atttention.  

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  • metiscametisca

    DD uses floaties (we call them water wings!) and does really well.  She loves that she can swim across the pool now.  We also tried a life jacket this year, but it just kept making her head get wet in front or back and she didn't love that! 

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