flotation devices

From your experience, which works best? I bought these yesterday and can't decide which would be better in the water. The vests seem a little restrictive and cumbersome. Do the puddle jumpers keep your kids faces out of the water, or do they force them to sort of float face down?

vest with sleeves:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Op-Girls-Deluxe-2-Piece-Swim-Trainer/16617229
sleeveless vest:
http://www.amazon.com/Ocean-Pacific-ET-9861LOP-Floatation-Trainer/dp/B0058WUAL4/ref=sr_1_2?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1310145602&sr=1-2
puddle jumper:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dsporting&field-keywords=puddle+jumper

Then there are the swim suits with the flotation device built in, they seem thinner and a little more comfortable, but are they effective?

 

My kids used something like this flotation suitwhen we shared a rental house with an indoor pool last summer. It was great because most of the pool was too deep for them, so they could just bob around and we didn't have to worry about them. (Of course they were never unsupervised, but we didn't have to stay within arms' reach.)

They are one-piece and a little tricky to get in & out of, but not much worse than a regular wet bathing suit. The thing we liked was that once on, there was no chance the kids would slip out of them by accident!

I think they actually did help them learn to be comfortable in the water, too, even though I'm always dubious that flotation devices can help kids "learn to swim."

 

Luke & Lila have these which they love. This will be our 3rd year with the same vest, so they have held up really well and aren't too bulky so they can move around well. We also have Puddle Jumpers which I bought last year thinking they might like them, but they are always their second choice.

 

Puddle jumpers have been the absolute best for us! Pretty much anyone who sees my kids with one have then gone out to buy their own.

We have tried many different types and the PJ was the only one to truly keep their head out of the water and allows them the movement to actually learn to swim.

 

I can't recommend the Puddle Jumpers more highly!!! We love them!!! DH was very very against life vests for many years, but with 2 non-swimmers to watch it's just way too difficult at the pool. We bought these last year and are using them again this year. They allow them to learn to float on their backs. It is frustrating to them not to be able to go completely under the water. They can put their faces in the water, just not their whole head. My nephew this past weekend had a traditional vest and could barely move and definitely couldn't float on his back. I think my kids would go crazy if they weren't able to move in the water as freely as they can in the PJ.

PS...Of course I didn't bother looking at your links until AFTER I posted, sorry. The sleeved vest/suit looks interesting.

 

I don't have any of those specifically, but something similar. I have one that the child steps into and it zips up in the back like a swim suit..with flotation things built in. And I also have one that goes around the chest. Neither one is supposed to be a "life-jacket" but a flotation device to help them. My twins are almost 2 1/2. They used them for the first time when we went to a pool last week. The pool was only 2 feet deep which I thought would be perfect for them. I was standing right with them in the water the whole time. And after a while, I looked down to one side and one of them had lost her balance and went down, face in the water, struggling to get her feet underneath her. I scooped her up and looked to the other side....same thing, the other one went right down. Luckily I was right there and she was just down for a few seconds. This happened a couple more times when we were there. It made me realize how I really can't rely on these things at all to keep their faces up and out of the water...it was like it leaned them sort of forward and they couldn't get back to vertical. We don't do pools very often but I think I'm going to look into some other types of life vests. It stinks that they are not as comfortable but I was scared by what I saw the other day. If it was just one child it's a lot easier to keep your eyes and hands on them, but with 2, I'm not taking any chances!!! Plus I have 2 older children (8 and 6) to watch so that's part of it too. I definitely need to do some more research on it too! Good luck!


Shannon

 

Puddle jumpers!! We tried thses for the first time this summer and LOVE them! My kids LOVE them and my youngest fell into the pool head first with one on and he was up SO fast, we were all standing there but it popped him right up and he had hardly any time to even realize he went in.

 

My kids loved their puddle jumpers and they let them move the most.

 

I love our puddle jumpers! The girls can basically swim back and forth between dh and I with their puddle jumpers on which is awesome!

 

Another HIGH recommendation for puddle jumpers! :Clap:

 

We just have regular life vests and they work well for my girls.

 

puddle jumpers!

 

Another vote for the Puddle Jumpers! I don't know if it was already mentioned, but they are coast guard approved!

 

Yet another vote for Puddle Jumpers! Our pool only allows Coast Guard approved stuff so Puddle Jumpers work great for us. The kids are very comfortable in them and can hang out outside of the pool in them too and don't want to take them off. They practically lived in them when we went to Mexico, and I could relax with them in the pool too since I knew they were safe.

 

We just used Puddle Jumpers today after attempts at numerous other life vests (all have to be Coast Guard approved at the waterpark we go to) and they were awesome! The kids could "swim by themselves," felt secure in them rather than bobbing and wobbly in lifejackets, and the really did keep their heads up (when my kids weren't intentionally putting their heads in the water)!

 

Thanks for all your replies! You've sold me on puddle jumpers!

 

Puddle Jumpers!