Toddler life vest

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bobhunt

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hello forum hoping someone on here can give me a bit of advice?

I will be taking my 18 month old Penny-Rae on a two week Caribbean charter on a 42ft cat.
Im looking for a life vest that is unobtrusive so she can were it all the time on the boat . I have a one that comes up
all around her head that she has used in the past for dinghy transfers. But is there something less bulky for when I'm with her on the boat?
Or can anyone offer any other advice ? The charter firm offer safety netting which is an option that I will go for but how
Will this be done on a cat?

Many thanks bob
 
The safety netting may only be between the hulls, you may need to check that if you are expecting it to be all around the guard rails.

TBH we found it best to use a harness & safety line when our kids were small so that you can keep her inboard - but ours were 3 & 7 for our first trip on a 21' Westerly. Buoyancy aids or lifejackets are best for dinghy trips & transfers & safety lines for when at sea. You can also run a temporary jack stay down the centre of the deck that her line can be clipped to so she can run around the fore deck.

A lot depends on how the boat is set up & how trustworthy & confident your daughter is, I would recommend having a number of options possible & choose the one that best suits what you find when you get there.
 
The question you probably want to ask is would you be happy to leave an 18month old toddler in the water with a 'lower' spec life jacket supporting them while you carry out the necessary MOB procedures. That must take you 50m or more away assuming you see them go in and immediately shout MOB and the whole boat goes to plan. In reality I suspect its more like 100's of m.

50m is two normal sized swimming pools. Would you put your child in a swimming pool and walk to the deep end?

Now add waves, tides and a 42ft boat into the equation!

If this goes wrong youd loose the absolutely most precious thing in the world to you.

My 3 year old has been swimming since he was 8 weeks old, and can now just about do a lane or two width in a nice warm pool if he's in the mood and not distracted. There is no way on this earth I'd be testing his skills in anger.

What if she bumps her head on the way in?
 
ShinyShoe said:
The question you probably want to ask is would you be happy to leave an 18month old toddler in the water with a 'lower' spec life jacket supporting them while you carry out the necessary MOB procedures. That must take you 50m or more away assuming you see them go in and immediately shout MOB and the whole boat goes to plan. In reality I suspect its more like 100's of m.

50m is two normal sized swimming pools. Would you put your child in a swimming pool and walk to the deep end?

Now add waves, tides and a 42ft boat into the equation!

If this goes wrong youd loose the absolutely most precious thing in the world to you.

My 3 year old has been swimming since he was 8 weeks old, and can now just about do a lane or two width in a nice warm pool if he's in the mood and not distracted. There is no way on this earth I'd be testing his skills in anger.

What if she bumps her head on the way in?
Click to expand...

hence the recommendation to use a harness & safety line so she cannot go over the side, especially on beamy cat.
 
Thanks I'm aware of mob shenanigans and know that if she goes overboard I will be braking a golden rule and be straight it after her, but I'm also aware that uncomfortable life jackets don't get worn at all, I'm looking for something that can be worn at anchor when I will be watching her as a something is better than nothing job, if life lines can be attached to this then all the better (thank you searush will be putting this in the mix)
Also does anyone have any experience of safety netting supplied by charter firms for a cat, this is on the guard wires , not the net
Many thanks bob and penny-Rae
.
 
Bob,

I am with you on this one when my daughter was a toddler I went into the local chandlers and said I would but regardless of cost any life jacket she could wear and drink a cup of hot Chocolate with 2 hands... They always lost. In the tropics your going to suffer with the heat. Fully agree they should be fit for the purpose problem is they do not fit the purpose of being user friendly.

On this one she grew out of the problem, I compromised when she was about around 3 and she wore a child size automatic inflatable lifejacket with harness. In my mind she wore it for the harness, at 6 she now has buoyancy aid which she will choose to wear until I decide she needs her harness on. Although given a choice she would rather not wear either.

Absolutely no help to you as I would not of put my daughter in an inflatable lifejacket at 18 months!

Good Luck...
 
bobhunt said:
Thanks I'm aware of mob shenanigans and know that if she goes overboard I will be braking a golden rule and be straight it after her,
Click to expand...
Assuming you are wearing a LJ yourself when you do a running jump over the side to catch her you might still be 5 or 10m away from her if you are underway. 5 or 10m is hard work in a fully inflated LJ.
but I'm also aware that uncomfortable life jackets don't get worn at all, I'm looking for something that can be worn at anchor when I will be watching her as a something is better than nothing job,
Click to expand...
If there is a more comfortable option that may be worn at times it shouldn't be because there is a choice and we all know what its like when a child screams its head off when it doesn't want something. (Speaking of which anyone want my 3 year old. He seems to have forgotten that he's three and the terrible twos should have stopped!!).

He however wears his lifejacket quite happily. He will appear holding it to go and play on Daddy's boat... usually while Daddy is still waking up! So guessing its not as uncomfortable as it looks! I did used to sail dinghies as a child at a club that insisted on 150N LJs rather than 50N BAs. I had a crewsaver one that was not dis-similar to what we make little kids wear: big foam front, stupid collar, put on like a waist coat, had 50N inbuilt and 100N from inflatable bladders. and apart from being bulky and making getting under booms difficult it was not a great issue in terms of comfort.
 
bobhunt said:
Thanks I'm aware of mob shenanigans and know that if she goes overboard I will be braking a golden rule and be straight it after her, but I'm also aware that uncomfortable life jackets don't get worn at all,
Click to expand...

What choice does an 18 month old have about wearing a lifejacket?

At that age I really don't think there is any sensible option other than a full lifejacket with attachment point for harness. We used a Crewsaver.
 
There seems to be a compromise with small children. It is easy to specify a full life jacket but it of no use if the child is not comfortable wearing it. On the other extreme I have a dinky little vest about the right size for a biggish 18 month old. It is quite comfortable lacing up at the front. But it is only a life vest in that it will not hold her head above water but certainly she will not sink in it. So I can only suggest that OP gets a proper life jacket (foam buoyancy) and also try to find something more comfortable to wear long term and just see which one she will use. It would be aweful if she would jnot have any. You certainly need an LJ for dinghy transfers etc. Actually at sea on the boat it is more important that she be tethered. So look for an LJ with a tether of some sort and if possibnl;e a handle at the top for lifting the child. NB around here it is a legal requirement to have proper approved LJ for small children.
Don't be afraid to make something yourself. I can help if you PM me. Another good source around here is the trash and treasure car boot sales. good luck olewill
 
JumbleDuck said:
Define "no use".
Click to expand...

My definition would be that she makes so much fuss when you try to put her in it that it discourages you from using it all the time - or that she wriggles out of it when you are not looking. Kids often wriggle out of full harness seatbelts despite being in a form fitting seat. How they do it I don't know, but it is trying having to keep checking while driving.
 
If the end result you desire is that the child and parents have fun together on a boat then no use would mean that the child causes such a commotion in refusing to wear it or wanting to escape that you keep the child in the cabin or just don't take the child and parents boating. Hence I advocate having a variety of floatation devices to find something she is satisfied with that will also save her life. Of course a proper LJ (wht we call approved) is best if the child is bobbing around in the water with no adult nearby. The child is forced to float face up like adult LJs but the buoyancy around the back of the beck can be very stifling. (she may accept it) I have no experience of auto inflating LJ for infants. I do however have a lot of faith in foam buoyancy. olewill
 
Thanks for all input , I will try and adopt a safety line as much as I can, as I still think that a full offshore life jacket at all times is all well and good for UK waters where the high collar and bulk my keep the worst of the rain and cold out.but in warmer waters I think over heating could be a real problem
I would just like to add that I have many thousands of miles logged in all oceans and seas ,I'm not new to sailing but am new to fatherhood
Many thanks bob
 
If the parent assumes the life jacket will be a problem, it probably will be - but if you treat as just normal for going to the boat then kids just get used to them as normal (just like being in a car means strapped in).
When the kids are a bit older it may be important that the same rules are seen to apply to all - including adults, otherwise expect objections.

We used a crew saver for a 1 year old, plus a short rope whenever out of the cockpit.

Should never happen, but think carefully who goes in if the worst case happens (having first made sure this won't).
With grand daughter on board we gave her mum the best life jacket - and detailed her with this task in extremis, as
- she is the best swimmer - a qualified lifeguard
- if her dad jumped in we would struggle to get him out - as the fittest strongest person he would be the puller outer
- skipper mustn't go in as he/she needs to ensure get back to position quickly and safely
 
I have to note that the two strongest supporters of full offshore type life jackets are both Scottish based where one more layer of clothing is never a bad thing? And if I were to take us up there that's probably the way I would go, but I keep going back to warm waters most adult crew will be in swimmers and hats, baby will be in oz style sun suit and I think to put her in full life jacket will rub and chaff her skin .
To be fair we have already worked out if the worst did happen the wife would be the one over the side after her as an open water swimmer, and please can everyone else stay in the boat!
 
bobhunt said:
I have to note that the two strongest supporters of full offshore type life jackets are both Scottish based where one more layer of clothing is never a bad thing? And if I were to take us up there that's probably the way I would go, but I keep going back to warm waters most adult crew will be in swimmers and hats, baby will be in oz style sun suit and I think to put her in full life jacket will rub and chaff her skin .
Click to expand...

Seems like a reasonable point. In which case, I'd go for a good harness and forget the buoyancy altogether.
 
JumbleDuck said:
Seems like a reasonable point. In which case, I'd go for a good harness and forget the buoyancy altogether.
Click to expand...

Which is what I said we did with our 3 & 7 year olds - and they were used to buoyancy aids having been out in dinghies with me previously. You will still need an L/J or BA for use in the dinghy & self-inflating ones are useless if they are splashing around in the water anyway. At the end of the day there is unlikely to be one "suit all scenarios" solution.
 
The foam collar on Crewsaver kids life jackets provides useful protection to the head. Son fell down companionway steps on a number of occasions. They're are also extremely cosy and light. And they can swim in them.

Only replaced them with auto life jackets when they got to 8 and 10.

I do need to sell the old foam ones....
 
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