This past Saturday was my daughter's first day back at the big pool since last year! She LOVED it and was quite the little fish! :fish: We used swimmies/floaties? on her arms and they worked, but barely kept her mouth above the water. (of course she wanted to swim "By MYSELF MOMMY! :lol: )

So I'm looking to see what type of floatation devices other parents used for their kids when they were first learning to swim.

Anyone use those swimsuits with the floats IN them? I thought they'd be bulky and then after she gets out of the pool, she'd look puffy and funny and would that get in the way? :lol:
Or how about one of those styrofoam squares that you strap to their back? :scratch:

My brother just put in a pool and he went out and bought Jack a life vest. I think that's the safest route for a really big pool. My cousin has one for her son and he loves it.

I'll let you know how the swimsuit with the floats in them works. :) My mother just opened her pool for the summer and I will be taking Abby for a swim this weekend in that swimsuit, weather permitting.

Thanks girls...
Rebecca... Please let me know how she likes it! :)

Here's one I found at One Step Ahead. I'm not too keen on the out of pool *look*, but if it keeps her afloat and lets her have mobility, I might have to try it out. http://www.onestepahead.com/images/product/detail_views_jpgs/3051T-dv-3.jpg
http://www.onestepahead.com/images/product/detail_views_jpgs/3051ANEW-dv-7.jpg

Or....
http://www.onestepahead.com/images//product/family/7476_v.gif

I posted this in your journal too.....


My mom always bought those swimsuits with the flotation devices in them for my sister. She always got the ones with the flotations devices in the chest and not the ones with the ring around the waist. Do you know which ones I'm talking about? They were great!! Olivia had one last year but she never used it. I'm going to try to get her another one this year. They have them at Wal-Mart for $24.99.

Lots of the girls in my playgroup sworn by the one you posted, Lette. The swimsuit with the built-in floaters in the front and back. So they had them at BJ's and I picked it up for $22 or $23 (can't remember). We haven't tried it out yet....hoping the weather will be nice one of these weekends though. However, now that I look at your pic again, the one I have doesn't look as bulky as the one in the picture. Hmn.... :scratch:

I thought the same way as you though, thinking it'll be so bulky when Lexie's not in the pool (the out of pool *look* as how you described it :lol: ). But I guess we'll see how it goes! :dunno:

I bought a Saf T Seal (looks like the Aqua one above). My granddaughter loves it! It has layers that can be slowly taken out to encourage actual swimming. I want something that she can wear (over a regular swim suit) for playing with the family, but that we can remove when we want to work on actually swimming.

We have Troy wear a life jacket in and anywhere around the pool. I'd rather him be safe than worry about how he looks in it. :lol:

I work at the Y and we use swim belts in our swim classes. They have 3-4 foam pieces that can slide off the more confident they are in the water. We actually sell them and with the weather being warm, I 've sold a TON the last week to parents of kids in classes. They must work well! Fairly cheap too-$9! You might check a place in your area that has swim classes, maybe they sell them too!

http://www.onestepahead.com/images/product/detail_views_jpgs/3051T-dv-3.jpg
http://www.onestepahead.com/images/product/detail_views_jpgs/3051ANEW-dv-7.jpgNichole has this one... works nicely to keep 'em afloat and "balanced"... some of the other floatation devices can hinder the child from moving around, cause they lose their balance in the water because of the placement of the floaties... does that make sense?? :lol:

Rebekah had a suit with the foam in it and it seemed to want to flip her onto her head all the time. It was also a PITA to get on and off. I think this year I'll look for a life vest or something similar.

Well, we've tried the swimmies and the aqua thingy below:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4d801b3127cceb0ff9763ad750000001610 (http://javascript<b></b>:openSlideWin(1,%20'67b0de21b2121aa975fc',%2052);)
This one seemed to make Lexie *roll* when she tried to swim on her belly. :scratch:

We've yet to try this one with the foam inserts, that hubby picked up at BJ's. Ours is pink with short sleeves and a regular highcut leg. Now I'm hesitant to take the tags off to try it. :scratch:
http://image.basspro.com/images/images2/17000/17027-32.jpg

The swimmies seem to have done the best job so far.. maybe I'll get nicer swimmies that don't pick me.

some of the other floatation devices can hinder the child from moving around, cause they lose their balance in the water because of the placement of the floaties... does that make sense?? :lol:I think this is EXACTLY what was happening with the aqua thing. :nod:
The strap between her legs couldn't be pulled tight enough because she's short and it kept moving around.

hmmm....

We have Troy wear a life jacket in and anywhere around the pool. I'd rather him be safe than worry about how he looks in it. :lol:
Can Troy move around in the water with a life jacket on? Does he have a fit wearing it?

We bought a Speedo brand one at Target for Tyler (25 lbs) It is like the one with the foam insert except the insert it plastic that you blow up. The idea is that you let the air out as the child gets better at swimming on their own. The first time Tyler tried it I thought it was defected. Then I realized it was him that was defected :lol: Really, it took him some practice but now he kicks and keeps himself up quite well! I totally recommend it.
Let me find a pic....
boys
http://www.speedousa.com/images/catalog/e1/115X140/757261_400.jpg (http://www.speedousa.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Catalog_Id=10&Section_Id=412&Product_Id=28688)

girls
http://www.speedousa.com/images/catalog/e1/115X140/757260_125.jpg (http://www.speedousa.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Catalog_Id=10&Section_Id=412&Product_Id=28678)

Can Troy move around in the water with a life jacket on? Does he have a fit wearing it?
We haven't had him in the pool yet this year. Last year he didn't mind the life jacket at all. As long as he was in the water, he didn't care at all!

Rebecca... Please let me know how she likes it! :)
Sorry I am so late in getting back to you about this! We finally got to use the swimsuit on vacation last week. It worked well on Abby but I still had to hold her since she was still too young and hasn't had enough practice to understand how to keep herself upright by treading water. She is 22 months right now, and I expect by next year she should be fine. It seemed like the suit did a good job of keeping her head above water, that is, as long as she didn't purposely put her head in the water! :lol: Abby didn't seem bothered by the floats being bulky on the suit when she was out of the water.