Hi Moms. My son will not be 2 until mid-August (nearly the end of summer), so the life jackets made for 2+ year olds will not work for him. Plus he is pretty small (22 lbs), so those would be too big on him anyway. It seems like most of the "stage one" life jackets/devices are for smaller babies. My little one is very active and would go nuts if he had to stay in a floaty ring/boat.
Any ideas on what I should buy him? My daughter (almost 4 yrs old) had one of those Body Glove suits with the built-in floaters in the chest, but it would float up and hit her chin. She did not like it. She really likes her Speedo life jacket, but again, this is a "stage 2" device for 2-4 year olds.
Thank you for your help.
COSTCO has great life jackets for children. I bought one for my daughter when she was as baby (Infant size 0-30 lbs) and another for this summer since she's outgrown the infant size. They are a vest made with very soft (almost spongy-like) float stuffing. She has always seemed comfortable in hers.
I agree with Kristen M, One Step Ahead is the greatest place for all kinds of safety things. My kids used the swim suits with the inflatable ring built in, they thought they could swim for real with it in fact one of them asked to take it off and couldn't understand why they wouldn't float, lesson learned. You do still need to stay close, they can get stuck head first underwater if they get too wild.
It's hard to tell from your post if you're interested in swimming or boating, but you would probably need different life vests for boating, you want something that will keep his head up if he would be knocked unconscious as he entered the water (or you were knocked unconscious) I know that's hard to think of, but that's the real purpose of a life vest.
We bought a real life jacket for our son. You can find them in the sporting department. They are the ones made for boating & are approved by the U.S. Caost Guard.
God bless!
The company One Step Ahead has really great products--including swim products. www.onestepahead.com
just go by his size, not his age. It really sounds as if the "baby" vest is the best option for now!
Here's irony for you: my 12 y.o. wears the same life jacket as his 63 y.o. Grandma! Age doesn't matter, size & weight do. .....Ooooh, & he was not happy to see that life jacket on her, because he thought that he had picked out a pretty cool-looking one! Her response was, "yep, man, can I pick em' ". He was not impressed.
We have a body glove life jacket for our son. He has had the same one since he was 6 months old. He is now almost 2.5 and weights almost 25 lbs. The next size up starts at 30 pounds. It fits him well and does not ride up on him or flop him in the face. He likes to wear it and typically falls asleep with it on in the boat. We got ours at Sam's Club but I know they sell out of that size pretty fast. When we were there last week they had some and we bought another for our daughter who will be 6 months when we go on vacation this summer.
They are NOT the same as te Body glove swimming suits with teh floatie built in. They are certified life jackets.
Hope that help. if you have any questions email me!
K.
A. -
I am in a very similar situation as you. Daughter turns 2 mid august and is 24.5 lbs. I bought her a life jacket (30+) pounds but it was too big and always forced her foreward or backwards, thus not really helping her with swimming!!! While at Wal-mart, I looked in their swimming section and found a bathing suit with built in foam in the front and back (around $20). I cannot locate this on their website. I decided to try it and boy am I glad!!! They have it in her size and one larger. She loves it (it is a bathing suit so you don't need to buy one) and she has worn it three times this year so far and is already 'swimming' around the pool on her own!! She basically just bobs up and down but the suit allows her to control her body when she's kicking her feet. She still does not know what to do with her arms so they are often behind her like she's trying to fly!! But after wearing it just 2 times in the pool, she was ready for me to let her go and she kicks and moves all around the pool!!! If there are a lot of waves in the pool, she will still bob up and down and go under more often than not so I stay close at all times. She's still learning to keep her mouth closed which is hard when she's smiling from ear to ear!!! She is also jumping off the diving board and going off the end of the slide which this suit allows for and does not hurt her. I have heard with regular life vests, they can damage kids necks if they jump in off the side or from the diving board becuase of how they come up around the neck. I defintely recommend this suit!! Good luck!
Speedo makes one of thise swimsuits with the floaties in it, but is different from most you find in the stores. In previous years you could get them at Target, but I have only seen them on speedo's website. They don't have the big pieces of foam like the ones at the store. Instead they have inflatable inserts. They come with directions on inflating them. My sister started my niece with them a few years ago and has really liked them. It doesn't fly up in their faces and it doesn't push them forward like the others tend to do. They are kind of pricy, but my sister and myself and several of our cousins have been using them for our little ones and have had great luck with them. It may be worth looking into.
My son is almost 9 months old and weighs 20 lbs. For his weight you are going to have to get him one of those baby life jackets whether he likes it or not. I saw a speedo one Im going to buy for him at Target. Its has that floater thing for the back of his head. With life jackets you have to go with the weight requirements no matter how old they are. Where we go boating, its not an option, you have to have their life jackets on at ALL TIMES, even when you are not moving. Again, go with the weight, not the age, because if its too big, it will not save his life, hence being a useless life jacket.
I also wanted to add that those swimsuits with built in floaters are not life jackets, and will not save your child from drowning. Also, if your on a boat, you will get a ticket if thats what you have on him as a life jacket, because its not one.
