Buying a used life vest for a child

I know you didn't ask this but -- our park department has swimming lessons for cheap, cheap, cheap. They are a much better investment than life jackets.

That said, I doubt there would be a real problem with a regular style life jacket that has been used. Any time you get on a boat or rent a boat or borrow one at a pool it has been used. Make sure you get one that has the neck thing (I'm not sure how to describe it other than a little pillow type attachment) because that is the one that flops them onto their backs and keeps their heads above water.

Swim lessons are actually on my mind this year as well.

The public pool gives them for 35.00 for the summer.
You attend at your pace in the appropriate age group class. which I think are 2 times a week?? And it is open for 8 weeks?


..Im not sure about the .. err.. neck thinggy?

I found ....... lemme see if I can find an image of the one I found...

http://di1.shopping.com/images/di/58/48/65/79376a2d525548683739726f34734c41774841-60x60-0-0.jpg



Kind of like that one..

A neck thingy like this, a floaty thing that goes up behind their head:

I don't know if you want one like that blue jacket, shewolf. Though it doesn't sound like Bean will be swimming in rough water (public pools around here get pretty rough though) you really want one with the neck thing because it is what keeps their face out of the water.



(http://www.marinebd.osmb.state.or.us/Safety/Lifejacket.html)

I think swimming lessons are VERY important but I do live in waterworld where even people who do know how to swim drown every day. The schools here have started offering free lessons to all second graders because there are still a lot of kids that don't know how to swim.

Totally agree with boomer, on both counts. (Neck thingie, and swimming lessons.)

The kid took her first swimming class when she was about Bean's age, I think, and loveloveloved it. Only problem was that it was way too cold a few times -- it was early in the day, and in Illinois. Probably would be less of an issue in Texas.

Check with your local fire and rescue department. Around here in river country the Sacramento fire departments give child size life vests away for free, or rent them out for next to nothing, to all the boaters during the summer season.

One of the biggest concerns is the proper fit for your individual child.

This is an image showing how to determine proper fit:

http://www.watersafety.org/pfd_illustrate.gif

Check out these websites for advice from industry and officials:

http://www.safeboatingcampaign.com/choosingjacket.htm

www.pfdma.org/local/downloads/documents/pfdmabrochure.pdf

I think she has grown too big for the infant , crotch buckler ones..

She is over three and a half feet tall..


Our friends pool has a graduating bottom that starts at one foot and goes to 6. She also has a hot tub ( which I dont think Bean should get into just yet) so no, rough water isnt an issue, but still..


I will look around for ones with the neck thinggy.

Most of the ones I see are like the one I linked to, and in the first drawing of the links buterflynet posted.

The snap down the front and come up a bit higher behind the head.

Kids should not go anywhere near a public or private pool without an adult in the pool with them, holding on to them the entire time until they, at the very least, are able to float on their backs and know how to hold their breath under water; preferrably able to navigate across the width of the pool by themselves.

The life vest and constant adult supervision is essential if she has not yet completed and passed a series of swim lessons.

Be cautious of the one with the neck, that they do not block her from raising her head out of the water should she be face down. Those neck reinforcements are great if the kid knows to float on their back. That's an added reason to be sure Bean knows how to turn herself around to float on her back.

She has never set foot into a pool.
Which is why we are starting the introduction in my friends home/pool.

I dont want a public pool to be her first experience.
Too many kids, too many people too much excitement.

I need her to hear me when I tell her the rules.

and I need her in a quiet safe place so that she can explore with me before we start the swim classes.

maybe Im a worry wart, but I think, for her .. that is the best way.
A simple, quiet introduction to a BIG bathtub. hehe..