Hellobee Boards

No LO, but floaties aren't considered safe from my understanding.

We LOVE the puddle jumper. LO is completely independent in the pool (we are always an arms length away) with it and loves it.

Our public pools only allow life vests. I wanted to get a puddle jumper, but we dont really go to non-public pools that often.

We're all about the Puddle Jumper as it gives the LOs so much freedom in the water and lets them build up their confidence a bit. I will just note though that it works better in saltwater than freshwater. We always used ours in Australia (saltwater pools everywhere) and LO always kept her chin above water and never had any bouyancy issues. We could let her swim off away from us and she was fine (we were always in the water with her but she didn't need to be within our reach at all times). When we went swimming in the States though, in freshwater pools, I found that it didn't keep her as buoyant and she frequently had the water lapping up to her nose. It was alright, but it meant we couldn't let her out of our reach as her mouth would submerge a bit.

As a PP noted, we also always did flotation device free time before we got out of the pool every time so DD knew that she wouldn't always float in the water. Our good friends, who are swim instructors for babies and toddlers, strongly encouraged that and we found it worked well with DD.

Our 2 year old is great with the puddle jumper. He can float mad swim by himself, he will even jump in with it and pops up fast. One thing we have noticed is on vs off he doesn't quite get, so when we take if off he still thinks he can float on his own like Ree mentioned above, so we are trying to talk about the difference and do time with it on and off. We have been in chlorine and salt water pools, main salt though and it's been great.

One thing the swim instructor said about the puddle jumper is kids get used to swimming with it and swim with their arms way out, so it's good to gain confidence but not to learn to swim due to how it positions the arms.

DD learned how to swim at the Y and they use a swim belt, but it wasn't for very long. I think nothing is best so that they don't develop the habit of relying on a flotation device.

@regberadaisy: Personally I go with none of the above! I prefer to let LO learn to swim without any assistive devices so they get conformable in the water without them. I may be a little more gung-ho about swimming than most though -- I make my 8 month old go under water and do unassisted backfloats

I agree with @Torchwood, that floaties are not considered safe because (1) they give the parent a false sense of safety and they may not watch the kiddos as closely and (2) there is a risk kiddo may get turned upside down/under and not be able to right themselves due to the floaties in the way. Lifejackets must fit properly (don't go above ears when tugged, otherwise kiddo can get submerged and not breathe). I have no experience with the Puddle Jumper. Another option for providing some assistance is a kickboard like PPs have said or a pool noodle.

At least this was my experience as a former lifeguard and swim teacher, and momma to a little guy who doesn't mind being dunked underwater

@regberadaisy: This is my personal feeling, obviously go with whatever you feel comfortable with, but if you're doing active swimming lessons, I wouldn't introduce a floatation device at all for other time in the pool, it can be confusing for kids and they tend to forget that they're not wearing something. I understand you want it for confidence building, but it could have the opposite effect.