Recently one of our public pools has re-opened after remodeling and we've been going there about once a week. They have a great baby pool area, but we sometimes swim in the big pool, too. Natalie has a spring float that she sits in with a wide ring band around it. It's nice, but she can't really splash as much.

I'm totally ignorant here about how a toddler's body responds to things like arm band floaties. Can a toddler use those? There are ZERO swimsuits left with floaties in them around here, and a friend told me that her toddler just fell forward in his suit like that.
Your experiences and suggestions? TIA

By Tink on Thursday, August 17, 2006 - 10:07 pm:

My oldest managed to flip herself over in one of those "floatie suits" so I'm VERY leery about putting a child in one of those. We used a small lifevest from Speedo for each of our dks before they were strong swimmers. They really kept them up on the surface of the water but they could make all the swimming motions and they aren't bulky so they don't mind wearing them while they play around the outside of the pool. HTH

By Tripletmom on Friday, August 18, 2006 - 09:19 am:

We always just used a life jacket for pools/beach and whenever we went fishing or anywhere near water.Katie wore her life jacket from a baby until she was at least 4yrs old.

By Tayjar on Friday, August 18, 2006 - 10:42 am:

I just bought a child sized vest lifejacket. I think it was a Speedo, too. Not the ugly orange ones that go over their heads but the vest ones that have 3 snaps around their midsection. I don't like the floatie suits at all. Both of my DKs are awesome swimmers. They learned to jump off the the high dives into the 12 foot wearing their lifejackets. They were both under 5 at the time they learned this. The vests gave them the confidence they needed but kept them safe, too. Just make sure they fit properly. You don't want one that is too big and can slide over their heads.

Try a pool supply store or if you have a Gander Mountain or BassPro nearby. They often carry these year around.

By Reds9298 on Friday, August 18, 2006 - 12:20 pm:

Thank you! Sounds like a life jacket is the best choice. I'll check Walmart one more time, then go to the pool or sports shop. I'll also check the fit. It may be that we end up waiting until next year (since we're in IN) and continue to use her spring float through Labor Day here. That's when the pools close here. At least I'll know what's best for next year, if nothing else.

I appreciate the advice ladies. Thanks!

By Dawnk777 on Friday, August 18, 2006 - 07:48 pm:

Yeah, the last time I was at the Blue Harbor water park, there were a lot of little kids, wearing the lifejackets, like the others are describing. They were able to have fun, while there parents didn't have to worry as much.

By Amecmom on Friday, August 18, 2006 - 08:33 pm:

We had trouble with lifejackets, too. They tended to flip my kids on their backs and make it difficult for them to swim.

Both Helen and Randy did well in something called a Swim Sweater by Swimways. It is a vest with a tube attached. Helen is just a little fish in it!
Have fun at the pool!
Ame

By Luvn29 on Friday, August 18, 2006 - 09:59 pm:

Ame, that is what I used for my dks. Ours was yellow, and had a very small ring attached to it. I used one when my ten year old dd was small, like two, I think, and it had a bottom, too, but I had to cut it out because it kept riding up. After that, it worked great!

By Tink on Friday, August 18, 2006 - 11:47 pm:

Just to clarify, the suits with a ring attached are what flipped my dd over. We were in the pool with 7 dks and 3 adults and no one saw her flip. She was under for at least 30 seconds before any of us were able to get to her and turn her rightside up. They REALLY are not my personal choice for a flotation device for a small child.

By Luvn29 on Saturday, August 19, 2006 - 02:43 pm:

Yes, I definitely see how that could be a problem. When our kids wore them, they were so young, that their dad or I was always next to them in the pool, so we didn't have to worry about that.

Our dd was our difficult one. When she was barely two, she would NOT let you hold her in the water. She wanted to go! Arm floaties were too big for her tiny arms, so we had to let her use a swim ring. We had to stay right with her because she would hold her arms straight up in the air so she would slide out of the tube--purposely! She did not want to be tied down! We were so thankful when she grew into arm floats! And she learned to swim, with a little help from me, when she was four.

I love arm floaties. You don't have to worry about them flipping over with them, unless they put them on their feet! (Don't ask!!!LOL!!!) And they are not very restrictive at all. That is what my son used till he learned to swim this year.

By Tonya on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - 01:23 pm:

Jade has a life vest that she loves. She is 2 and runs on the deck of grandma's pool and jumps right in. Never a problem. This is a jacket that has 3 latches o nthe front and one that goes from the back of the vest up to the front from in between her legs. Timmy used it and and now she does.

Hate the built in vest jackets they always flipped my kids when we tried them.

By Mrsheidi on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - 09:23 pm:

I say don't use them at all and try to use the time with her to teach her to swim. JMHO
Connor and I practice blowing bubbles, kicking, laying back, getting up and out of the water, paddling, and entering the water and kicking while returning back to the ledge, etc. We also have some "down time" in the baby pool that he can stand in. He loves both.

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 - 08:00 am:

Our public pool doesn't allow life jackets or floatation devices at all. Floaty/pool toys are allowed in the toddler pool but that's it. My kids have always had life jackets for boating and/or swimming in deep, unfamiliar water but we've never used water wings or the floaty bathing suits.

By Amecmom on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 - 08:39 am:

I have to say I've been really comfortable with Helen in the Swimways swimsweater. It puts her in the right position for swimming and keeps her head and face out of the water. The one that had the full swimsuit turned her over, but the one that is just attached like a T-shirt has been wonderful. She is able to swim and float and we can all have a good time in the water together.

Every lifejacket I have tried has turned her on her back.

I took them to the lake yesterday and I'm glad she had her swimsweater on. She is fearless when it comes to the water. She loves it and just wants to swim! It gave me a few moments of peace so that I could watch her but not have to be on top of her every second.

Heidi, do you hold Connor in the big pool, or is he already floating on his own? If he is, that's great!

My son who is almost five has water wings. They are great! They enabled him to swim in the deep end of the pool and in deeper water at the lake without a problem.

I think these floaty things should never replace a parent's vigilance, but they do allow a family to swim together and have fun in deeper water without an adult having to hold onto a little one the entire time.

Ame

By Mrsheidi on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 - 10:09 pm:

Ame, yes, I do hold him. But, he's not that heavy when he's in the pool. And, since he's an only child, I don't have to keep an eye on another one. He loves to "kick kick kick" back to the ledge after he gets in. We also do swimming lessons on Thursdays and just practice on the other days. He even goes down this cute duck water slide all by himself! So cute...

By Luvn29 on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 08:02 am:

My dd made it impossible to just hold her from the time she was almost two, on up! She wanted freedom in the pool, so that's why we used floaties.

I agree with Ame. They should never take the place of a parent, but it does make it a lot more fun for everyone involved if the smaller ones have the confidence to splash around and play in deeper water with older siblings and parents.

Now, while at the beach, there was this tiny little girl, didn't even look two, who had on arm floats. She would run around the entire pool, and it was a very big pool, getting in and out everywhere by herself. The pool was an overflow pool, so it got deeper gradually, but went to five foot in the middle. I never saw any parents with her. Several of us moms who weren't hers were scared to death, but we never could see anyone who was even watching her closely enough to be noticed as her parents. They just let her go and sat back and never paid any attention to her. Now that's dangerous, because there was no lifeguard, either.

You never know when an arm float may slip off of someone that small especially. Or she could have slipped and hit her head and then fell in. No one was EVER with her either day I saw her there. Crazy!

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 09:08 pm:

I didn't swim much with Sarah, until we moved to Sheboygan 13 years ago. She was 3-1/2 and turned 4 over the summer. The first year we were here, the Quarry swimming hole was closed, because they were fixing the road that ran past it. Over the winter, she was 4 and Emily was 1-1/2 and turned 2 in March. We often went swimming, in the winter, at the Y's family swim. We were in a pool that was 2-1/2 feet deep, at the shallow end. I never had any kind of floaty thing on Emily, because I think they weren't allowed. We couldn't bring toys or anything into the pool. I usually just held her in the water and she was okay with that. When she was very little, she mostly stayed by the steps, where it was even more shallow, as the steps went up. I was always right next to her! It was fun watching her grow and be able to go out farther into the water, as she got bigger.

I never ever bought floaty things for my kids. In the pool at Blue Harbor, though, it's deeper water and I can see why people would use them, though. They do have shallower areas, for the kids to play in.

When we did swim at the quarry, it's like a beach with zero-depth entry and we stayed in the shallow water, when the kids were little, and gradually got deeper there, too! We weren't allowed floaty things at the quarry either. The reason was, they figured it allowed kids to get out too deep and since the quarry was more of a beach, than a pool, it was harder to see someone if they went down, since the water was murkier.

Edie and I just stayed in the shallow and watched our kids carefully.