Best Floatation Device for Toddler/preschooler

C.,

The best flotation for any child that cannot swim on their own are parent's two hands.

I teach swim lessons at my local YMCA and I think that any kind of floaty gives the kids a false sense of security/accomplishment while in the water. I've seen many kids in a life jacket or other floaty get in the water, bob once, then either faceplant into the water or flop backwards then roll to a faceplant. Either way it scares the kids and they don't like the water nearly as much as before.

M.

3 moms found this helpful

Goodmorning!
I myself don't like to be around the water... don't know how to swim.. so I was always paranoid when my daughter was around any body of water! So my friend turned me on to the best invention ever! It is a swimming suit that has a pocket-type sleeve in it. In the pocket fits sheets of a foam. As the child learns more skills of swimming you can take the sheets out. It's a gradual way for them to build their swimming skills. As first you start out with 4 sheets on their tummy and 4 on their back. My daughter did great and it calmed my nerves quite a bit! Have fun with the warm weather we having now! And good luck! Also... if you are looking into swimming lessons at all... Whitworth College offers great lessons!

2 moms found this helpful

Stearns makes a kids life vest that is kind of a combination life vest/arm floatie--and it's pretty cute. They are also pretty inexpensive ($20-$30). You can see it here http://www.amazon.com/Stearns-STNS-3864GRN-00-000-Puddle-.... (Hopefully that link works.) Stearns is a great company--that's where we get all our vests!
BTW, I would use this for swimming or at the beach, but not on a boat.

1 mom found this helpful

We have a Speedo "Swim Vest" for our 3-year-old son. It allows him to float, but is NOT like a life jacket. It is specifically intended to help preschool age kids learn to swim. He loves it because he's mobile and can "swim" without being choked by an actual life jacket. He does need supervision, of course. It sounds like it's exactly what you're looking for! They're on sale at Land's End. Here's a link: http://www.landsend.com/pp/SpeedoSwimVest-74228_182546_-1...

1 mom found this helpful

Hi Sweetie.....
You might try to google (flotation devices for kids) for over 100,000 ideas and the prices aren't bad either.
Good luck and have fun.

C. M Hamlin
aka g'ma

1 mom found this helpful

There are swimsuits with built in styrofoam type floaties.

we use a life jacket for my grandson it comes up around his neck but he does not have the strap between the legs. I have seen at walmart do not know the cost but thy are 1 piece swim suits with floatation stuff already sewn into them. there are also the blow up things that they can sit in and float about the pool
good luck and have fun
Paula

what we wound up doing for my 4 year old is buying a bathing suit with boy shorts so her life jacket didn't rub her raw anymore. it worked wonderfully! the suit was a modest 2 piece bought in the toddler section of fred meyer (tankini and boy shorts), and i love that extra measure of safety and security the life jacket gives us (even though we're pretty vigilant with her around the water).

Here is an example of what we have used for our two children (now 3 yo boy and 2 yo girl): http://pooltoy.com/neflswtr.html

This isn't the exact one, but similar, and it was like night and day from the floaty belts and life jackets that we had used before. My kids are such good swimmers and now my son can swim on his own and he is only 3. I have seen similar suits at Target and they have really cute ones for girls too. One thing that I have notices with these suits is that you want to get one that the foam pads are sewn into the material as compared to being 'pockets' because they can float out.
Good luck!

We just finished a swimming class that focused a lot on water safety. One of the things that they mentioned was that all the devices give parents a false sense of security so kids are frequently less safe when using them. My best advice would be for you to be responsible for 1 kid and your husband for the other. Then you can each devote your attention to your kiddos and make sure they're safe in the water. You could even switch partway through your pool time so you each got to experience the fun of swimming with each of your kids.

I've tried everything out there and when it comes down to it, the lifevests are really the best in my opinion.. and of course getting them swim lessons. I met a gal at a pool in Vegas last week and her 2 year old could swim across the pool on his own. She said she found a baby swim boot camp..It was 5 days a week for 2 weeks and by the end he was swimming like a champ?! Good Luck and Have FUN!!!

Hi,

My name is S., I am 62 years old and I have 5 children, 20 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. I live in Auburn, WA. I am raising my 3-year-old great granddaughter.

Last summer I let my little Desiree visit her aunt who lives in a rural area. She takes her kids to the lake for picnics and swimming several times a week. I went to Wal-Mart and got her a Dora life vest, making sure it fit her well. Later that week my daughter called to tell me that Desiree was swimming around like a little fish and even followed the older kids out to the floating dock out in the lake.

Sincerely,
S. Storms

a quick fix would be to have her wear shorts with her life vest. otherwise, some of the other floatie suggestions are pretty cool.

I just saw some pictures of my friends who went rafting and they had something that looked like a 5 inch wide foam circle that went around their girls waist.

Good Morning - First off I would get the kids into swim lessons. Many towns have a city pool that offers lessons (ours cost $15 for 5 days a week for 2 weeks, and lessons can run all summer). What we did for times our kids wanted to go into the deeper area (where they could not touch with their feet but on the shallow side of the rope) I have child size life jackets and they have no issue with them slipping or rubbing (have them try vest on before you buy to make sure it is the right fit). This allows them to play in the water with me sitting on the side if I dont want to be in the pool too. Our kids have gotten so comfortable with the pool they really enjoy it. One other thing is the kids might like kickboards, mine do. They have ones kids size but it can help in their learning to kick their feet to swim, especially with coordination not a strong suit at this age. It gives them a little extra balance and the ability to concentrate on one main part of their body when getting that practice down. The big thing is get them lessons and then just ENJOY your time! Take Care

We purchased a swimsafe floatation suit for our 2 and 1/2 year old and have been very pleased. After a tiny bit of learning how to float in it, she is quite confident in pools and even the ocean. She can propel herself around and start learning to swim but is not getting dunked. We got ours at Target.

WE got one at WalMart for our 2 & 1/2 year old little boy (25 lbs). They come in "shark", "frog" or red "bird" design. What it looks like: there is a front piece that goes over the chest (pec area), comes down to about the bottom of the sternum, there are two arm pieces attached to this middle piece (kinda like the arm floaties, but this is made from life jacket material, not air inflated). It snaps in the back and is adjustable around the chest area. It costs about $15. Our little boy loves it....it did NOT cause any chaffing or irritation. it gave him mobility in the water (without us worrying the arm bands would slip off)....it is NOT too bulky, so the kids can see and move their heads and arms....I think it is just perfect! good luck