TTMA Toddler Life Jackets

[lakegirl]

In October I will be going on vacation with my mom. There will be many pools. What type of device should I get DS, full on life jacket or puddle jumper? He will be 17 months and maybe 30 lbs (I haven't weighed him in a bit). Obviously he's not going to be unaccompanied in the pool but he loves the water so I thought I should get him something to give him the illusion of water freedom even if we're standing in arms length of him.

The extend of my research is reading the Lucie's List recommendations. Then I figured I should see if anyone has any real life experiences with it before I make a decision.

[ellabee]

We have a puddle jumper for DD. She's 2yr3mo, but about the same weight (31lbs). It supports her chest well so she can essentially "swim" by herself. All the other life jackets we've tried were the vest kind and needed additional adult support in the pool.

[judyblume14]

My DD is 22 months, and 25 pounds. We have the both a Puddle Jumper brand infant lift Vest (meant for babies up to 30 pounds), and the toddler Puddle Jumper for 30-50 pounds (the one with the arm swimmies and chest support).

We have a rule that if DD is walking in our back yard, whether in her bathing suit or play clothes, she has the life vest on. The life vest is not fun to swim in , and a little hard to move in. The purpose of it, is to keep their hear above water by tilting them up on their back. So, it's super safe, but not super fun.

When she is "swimming" we use the toddler puddle jumper. they can move around better and are more upright. However, I will say, that it is DEFINITELY meant for 30 pounds and up. It is definitely too big for DD and her arms can very easily slip out of the arm swimmies. So, it works for us when we are both in the pool playing with DD, but I honestly would NOT recommend it for anyone under 30 pounds. Bonce they are big enough though - all the way!

[heybulldog56]

We have the same things judyblume14 mentioned. We rarely use the life jacket. It is bulky and he hates it. If we had a pool or rose around on boats all the time, that's what we would use. He primarily uses the toddler puddle jumper and it's great. He has no issue with it and it's really improved our swimming/ pool going adventures.

[lakegirl]

Excellent. All of this is confirming what I was thinking. A full life jacket seems like overkill for a heavily supervised week long pool vacation. Since I have time I'm hoping to find a good end of season sale.
Thanks ellabee, judyblume14, heybulldog56!

[judyblume14]

lakegirl, they cost around $20 at target, but you can find them on sale for as low as $8!

[ellabee]

Jul 18, 2016 10:53:20 GMT -5 bunny said:

We use a puddle jumper in the pool, but if we were going to go boating I would get a full blown life jacket.

Yes, good point. We have a full life vest for when we go boating too.