Hey ladies, we just moved to a house with a pool and the weather in NM is getting toasty. I am excited to get in there with LO but I'm paranoid about safety and what you put baby in at this age. What did you stms do? Also, the pool is fenced in and I plan on keeping the gate locked up like Fort Knox. I've never had a pool before so paranoid doesn't even begin to cover it...
We have a pool too, and I'm extremely paranoid about my LOs. There is a gate around it, and no access from the yard. The only access to the pool deck is from a door in our kitchen. We have a handle lock, deadbolt, and a safety latch at the top of the door. From the kitchen deck, there is a gate to the pool area with a latch and a safety lock. I take no chances!!
At this age with DD1, we used a pool floaty with built in canopy (from walmart) and always kept a hand on her, or I wore her in a sling (if I was cleaning the pool or something that I needed my hands free). As she got older, we moved up to a life jacket, and started swimming lessons. We just did winter session of lessons, and I'm helping her practice until next winter. She's 3 now, and is very good about pool safety. When other kids visit, we have a rule that an adult must be in the pool with them, and every kid not swimming independently must be wearing a life jacket to be on the pool deck.
I take Violet swimming all of the time. They have great little boats for babies. I hold her other than that. I used to teach kids how to swim, so I do that a little bit, but she's too young to take direction.
I haven't seen any baby floats that are for under 30lbs or 18months. My LO is tiny, only 15lbs, do you think the smallest float with the canopy would work for him?
This is the one I got for my almost 9 month old: Swimways Baby Spring Float with Sun Canopy from Target.
It says 8-24 months on it. You could always buy it and try it out and if it doesn't work, return it. I haven't used it in the pool yet, but I put my baby in it and it looked like the mesh seat fit him well. He is also bigger though: 22 lbs and in the 98th percentile for height.
Like PP have said, I have a little kiddie pool from when DD1 was that age that's sort of like being in the bathtub. I let her sit in it and kept right close by (she could sit well without falling). For our pool, I have a boat-like float that she can sit in.
Thanks guys, I'll look online, the kiddie pool is a good idea, I may do that!
We have a blow up frog kiddie pool (with a canopy of sorts) and just tried it out today. LO loved it! We just put a few inches of water in there so he could crawl around and splash in it. We got ours at Target.
Ooh, any excuse to go to target! Our nearest one is an hour away but it's a great day trip AND I get to eat out somewhere nice (the town where we live sucks, why can't they out mil bases anywhere nice???) So win-win!
We don't have a pool, but I take him twice a week to open pool time for babies at our community center's aquatic center, and he starts baby swim lessons there in a month. I just hold him in the water, and alternate between that and spending time with him sitting and splashing in the zero depth entry area where it's shallow. I would like to get a floatation vest for him since he loves being free in the water and I think would love floating with me just holding my hands if he were wearing a vest that keeps his face put of the water. Alas, I can find NOTHING for under 35 lbs. I want a wearable pfd, not a tube or float. The aquatic center allows wearable floatation devices, but not "pool toy" like ones.
Re: Swimming advice
At this age with DD1, we used a pool floaty with built in canopy (from walmart) and always kept a hand on her, or I wore her in a sling (if I was cleaning the pool or something that I needed my hands free). As she got older, we moved up to a life jacket, and started swimming lessons. We just did winter session of lessons, and I'm helping her practice until next winter. She's 3 now, and is very good about pool safety. When other kids visit, we have a rule that an adult must be in the pool with them, and every kid not swimming independently must be wearing a life jacket to be on the pool deck.
It says 8-24 months on it. You could always buy it and try it out and if it doesn't work, return it. I haven't used it in the pool yet, but I put my baby in it and it looked like the mesh seat fit him well. He is also bigger though: 22 lbs and in the 98th percentile for height.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ARPETGY/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1464031503&sr=8-2&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=baby+floats+for+pool&dpPl=1&dpID=41uGBTeMKiL&ref=plSrch