Hellobee Boards

He's 2 and uses a puddle jumper and can go around without help with it which is lovely.

She's 4 and uses a puddle jumper.

@Mrs. Champagne: what size is his? The one DD1 uses is made for 30-50 lbs. DD2 is probably about 28lbs as I just think her sisters is enormous on her! Do they sell smaller ones?

@sorrycharlie: what are swimmies?

Looking for ideas for young toddlers that's not a float!

@regberadaisy: it's the same 30-50. He wore it last year (around 25lbs) and couldn't do it on his own. Now he's about 29-30lbs and can use it.

I put dd in a puddle jumper yesterday for the first time. Even though it is for 30+ lbs, it fit her great and she swam all over the pool without help! I was SO surprised. She is also super petite and maybe 23-25 lbs.

Puddlejumper. The rule though, is that if he's in the water, there's also a parent there.

My kids both wore water wings at a year and could get around on their own (there was a small learning curve since they were so small). I even put them on my LO when she was like 8 or 9 months (before she could walk) and they let her be able to walk around the baby pool unassisted (but with me hovering right next to her). Still had to be right there and watch them like a hawk since their lil arms could start slipping out. With my oldest she was very resistant to swimming without them even when she had shown us plenty of times she could swim so we just slowly deflated them till it got to a point where she's like alright guys I get your trick. The pool this year doesn't allow water wings anymore and we have a puddle jumper but it's not great for letting them learn to swim so I've been thinking about getting one of those back floaters.

puddle jumper

wings are not allowed in the public pool since they are not coast guard approved

Puddle jumpers for both.

@sorrycharlie: @Aandmklover: For what it's worth, Alice is 22 lbs and fits in her puddle jumper fine with it tightened all the way. She has less mobility in it (like her arms aren't as free as Blake's are, if that makes sense) because it's still big on her. But with a parent with her, she does fine in it!

Mine are 3.5 and 2 and both prefer noodles wrapped around them and secured with a diving ring. They can both swim across the pool independently but I would think you younger LO might need help.

What about something like this
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B013Z8F6HA/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1466465427&sr=8-2&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=infant+life+vest+under+20+lbs&dpPl=1&dpID=41G6uXqb7BL&ref=plSrch
FWIW my 1yo and 3yo both wear puddle jumpers. The 1yo is 20 lbs and it inhibits her mobility because it covers her elbows, but it's adequate with a parent very near.

@rattles: even though our baby isn't mobile yet I still don't/won't take them swimming by myself. I'm only comfortable with a 1:1 adult to child ratio around bodies of water until the children are confident swimmers. I'm not scared of water (I swam competitively until I was 18 and spent all my summers growing up at the beach) but I have a very healthy respect for it. My biggest fear with puddle jumpers is my daughter thinking "when I jump in a pool, I float" and then doing it without a puddle jumper on.

@Miss Ariel: I feel you on the in laws. My in laws have a pool and last summer when my daughter was 2.5 one of my husband's cousins legitimately made fun of me for "watching her like a hawk" when she was in the pool. Uuuhh, yeah, because I love her and don't want her to drown? This same cousin's 5 year old jumped out a second story window in their house when they weren't watching him so I'll take his parenting advice with a grain of salt.

Our almost 4 year old has a puddle jumper. We have him play around with it on (adults are always in the pool with him), but we've taken it off a few times so that he can feel what it's like to not always float in the water (for exactly the reason @Truth Bombs: mentioned).

@Miss Ariel: @Mrs. Lion: @Truth Bombs: I agree with you guys but i recently got a puddle jumper for my 18mo because he already thinks he can float and be free by himself in the pool. What I mean is, the last time I took him, he was getting so bored of the usual walking around while holding him thing we have done so far at baby drop in swim. He was trying to get out of my arms and wiggling all over the place. I got the puddle jumper so I could Hold him a bit less tightly and just manage how he floats. Didn't leave him in the pool for a second further than arms reach with hands on him since he tends to go face first constantly!

@Truth Bombs: @Mrs. Lion: I both agree and disagree. My son is 3.5 and with a PJ can swim in the deep end, jump in the deep end, etc. And he has learned to hold his breath by jumping in and has learned to kick and paddle in order to get around. He can also kayak safely with the PJ. He's used it in rivers with water above his head, the ocean, the intercoastal, and it has allowed us to do so much more as a family. However on the flip side I do swim lessons with him every year without floats specifically to increase his competence, and usually spend some of every swim day without floats because I know it makes him feel invincible. Just last week he started swimming under water. We haven't done official swim lessons yet this summer so I'm hoping he will develop a lot this summer.

Lo is 3.5. She has a puddle jumper but she prefers nothing. She's in swimming lessons and now we just let her practice and also use a kickboard. One of us (or swim coach) always gets in with her but we'd do that even with the puddle jumper until she's really swimming.

@Maysprout: I thought the PJ was ok as long as it was worn, and not just hanging around on the boat? I know regular life vests are rated even if not worn. Like for example, you can't throw a PJ into the water, but you can throw a life vest into the water.

@Maysprout: That is definitely news to me-- I just thought that they had full CG approval as long as they were worn. We haven't taken LO kayaking on the river before, we just take him in the lake. Doesn't make a difference in terms of the law, but would explain why we hadn't encountered any resistance. But we have taken him boating in just a PJ! And he has definitely gone swimming in rivers and in the intercoastal just in a PJ, which I'm assuming is still legal? GA law seems only to refer to boating and not swimming from the shore...?

@Mrs. Sketchbook: According to the Puddle Jumper website, they're only approved for kids 30-50 lbs and my son is only 20 lbs.

There are several classes of PFDs. The one we used is a type II, so it's a vest with a head piece to help make the wearer float face up (though, as I said, this isn't perfect). Puddle jumpers are a Type V (http://www.watersafety.com/store/facility-equipment/puddle-jumpers.html and http://www.pfdma.org/choosing/rightpfd.aspx).

My understanding is that the type IIs are safer for a baby that can't swim but provide limited range of motion. Type Vs require closer supervision, because they don't flip a kid onto their back if they fall in, but they have better range of motion, so they're better if your kid is trying to learn to swim. We might get a puddle jumper for the pool, in the future, but I don't think I'd use them for boating, or in deep water, for a baby/child that can't swim.

@JenGirl: Well it appears to be against the law so yeah definitely I agree! We didn't go boating with ours until he was over the weight minimum so that part wasn't something we had to think about. The funny thing is we actually have a regular lifejacket for him, but I was so certain the class fives are OK when worn that I just chose not to bring it.