Marine Infant Protection

[zigzag]

Does anyone know of any products that are available to protect a young baby on a boat. I refer really to a yacht abandoment situation. What does one do in such a situation with a very young child (<2 Years old).

Many Thanks

Tim

 

[webcraft]

Standard pfds (personal flotation devices) are not really suitable for very young children.

Official US coastguard advice is shown below:

Question:What PFD does the Coast Guard recommend for infants.

USCG response:Frankly, for any newborn up to 18 pounds, we do not recommend taking onboard a recreational boat, because current devices are not adequate for all newborns. Unless the parent is able to test their newborns out in a PFD, sized for infants, in a swimming pool, they will not know if that device will float their child with his/her head out of the water. Unless you know the PFD you have works for your infant, why put the child at any risk.

In an abandonment situation you really need some kind of 'lifecot'. Airlines allegedly carry them, and it might be worth e-mailing some of them to see if you can find out where they source them.

I've also found the 'life capsule' below on the web, made by Hoover Industries, which looks ideal:

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.hooverindustries.com/infant.html>http://www.hooverindustries.com/infant.html</A>


Hope this helps,

<font color=blue>Nick</font color=blue> -

BlueMoment.Com
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bluemoment.com/>http://www.bluemoment.com/</A>

 

[qsiv]

What a good find - ours are past this stage, but I've made a note nonetheless.

As for the 'dont take them to sea' attitude - isn't that rather what one might expect from a nanny state. Our youngest was aboard at three months old and has always been happy aboard (sometimes bored .. ).

In truth I suspect that even for slightly older children the risk of hypothermia is just as dangerous in North European waters as drowning. My old man (a sometime trawlerman, square rig sailor, and ocean racer) always maintained that the primary benefit of a lifejacket was to keep the corpse afloat for the rescue services. But then, thats a rather old fashioned POV nowadays ...

 

[Mirelle]

Nanny states and life cots

Crewsaver make a "lifecot" - but very few chandlers stock it!

Our youngest was born in January this year and started sailing in May - we simply took the view that he is either down below and chocked off in the pilot berth with a leecloth and plenty of pillows or in the cockpit in the arms of one parent or other. In the event of abandoning ship one parent or other would grab him.

Frankly I think that the dangerous stage is not babyhood but toddlerdom - as soon as they can climb the companionway steps.

Insofar as one can tell what a baby thinks, he enjoys sailing - if smiles, contented burbling noises, waving and laughing, as opposed to howls of rage and misery, are any guide.

One good side effect of this early exposure to boats is that when he flew 8,000 miles last weekend he was as good as gold, all the way.

 

[steve_cronin]

THe airlines have flotation cots try Cosalt at http://www.cosalt.co.uk

We found that the most pressing problem with little unstable crew members was them falling over down below as the boat lurched and hitting their heads on hard things like table legs, mast steps and locker sides. Just when you wanted to do something vital, thescreams would shoot out of the companionway and mother (or dad for that matter) would be immediately diverted from winching the genoa in after tacking or getting the mooring line ashore in a fast running stream.

A good scrum cap ( see JB Sports etc) was a good invstment! We did go looking for two of those Commando foam rubber brimed hats but were unsucessful.

Steve Cronin

 

[Mirelle]

Crewsaver = Cosalts

it is one of their brand names, used on yottiproducts.

 

[andy_wilson]

COSALT do a life jacket that continues down like a sleeping bag. Fits snug round the neck and has a tether for mum or dad.

Paid about £80.00 for it.

Anything with aviation approval will be many hundreds. Ocean safety quoted me £900 for a life cot as used by airlines. They were being serious too!!!