Whats the best lifejacket for a 3 year old?

[thinwater]

Tip for toddler life jackets. Don't tell them they have a whistle!

So funny!

I never face resistance from my daughter. Dad made sure he generally followed the same rules. Additionally, kids grow up in car seats, so they are accustomed to being strapped in.

The biggest problem I faced--not a UK problem--is the heat. In the summer here (US mid-Atlantic) asking a kid to wear a PFD full time is like asking them to wear a parka in temperatures that routinely exceed 35C on the water. It sounds "safety first," but exposes them too a VERY real risk of heat stroke. Little people can dangerously overheat more quickly than adults. My solution was to use a harness instead in lighter conditions, when heat was a problem. The tether was short enough she could not get near the edge.

Do what you like, just watch the heat.

 

[t21]

Great responses above.

For small newbies to boats, i think it a good policy is to designate an adult (often Mum) whose sole job on board is to look after them, especially in out of the marinas when people can often be needed to help with the boat ... but not the designated childminder.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Concern about an adult entering the water

I am sceptical about the wisdom of someone being prepared to go in after a child. Several reasons, one being that from having one casualty to deal with, you've now got two! Unless the person going in is a trained lifesaver, they won't be able to give much assistance to the child, anyway. A person in a lifejacket has very limited swimmimg ability. Another thing is that the water round our coasts is never warm enough to be SURE that cold shock won't affect a person going in, and even if cold shock doesn't affect them, hypothermia will get them eventually.

I happened to take an inadvertent swim in our marina last weekend, on a very hot day by UK standards (high 20s centigrade). Even so, I was shaking by the time I got out, after less than about 10 minutes in the water - my wife couldn't help me get out of the water and had to get help from a neighbour.

You often read of people entering the water to attempt to help another person, and the result is two people drowned instead of one - or even one person drowned as well as the dog they went in after!

 

[jwilson]

Re: Concern about an adult entering the water

Not sure if your "sports boat" is a sailing boat or a powerboat - both have types that get called "sports boat". On a sailing yacht type I'd go harness instead of LJ. Both my children when very small each fell off a sailing yacht ONCE, pulled back again quickly spluttering with the harness line. At low speed/anchored/moored the harness is better. Wouldn't want a harness at 35 knots!

The point about someone jumping in to help is valid - you can (and it has happened) go from one casualty to two in the worst case. It's a reflex that has to be trained out of people. I've done a lot of MOB training, sometimes with real humans.

 

[thinwater]

Re: Concern about an adult entering the water

I am sceptical about the wisdom of someone being prepared to go in after a child. Several reasons, one being that from having one casualty to deal with, you've now got two! Unless the person going in is a trained lifesaver, they won't be able to give much assistance to the child, anyway. A person in a lifejacket has very limited swimmimg ability. Another thing is that the water round our coasts is never warm enough to be SURE that cold shock won't affect a person going in, and even if cold shock doesn't affect them, hypothermia will get them eventually.

I happened to take an inadvertent swim in our marina last weekend, on a very hot day by UK standards (high 20s centigrade). Even so, I was shaking by the time I got out, after less than about 10 minutes in the water - my wife couldn't help me get out of the water and had to get help from a neighbour.

You often read of people entering the water to attempt to help another person, and the result is two people drowned instead of one - or even one person drowned as well as the dog they went in after!

As a parent, if your three year old falls in, someone is going in. I'm a cold hearted and analytical sailor, but let's face facts. If the kid drowns and you don't go in you'll need to step in front of a train when you reach shore. If the kid survives you'll get a divorce. Your going in (if someone else can bring the boat back--not certain). If the weather will be wild, you really, really, should not have taken the kid, but that hardly changes what I said. Someone will jump in. Just try stopping mom.

And this is what I meant by "someone should be prepared." Either wear a dry suit, make certain the kid cannot possibly fall off, or don't take them. One way or another, you need to have faced the reality you described very clearly and have an answer. I've been in seriously cold water and it is a common cause of death among hunters and fisherman. Your points are well made.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Re: Concern about an adult entering the water

As a parent, if your three year old falls in, someone is going in. I'm a cold hearted and analytical sailor, but let's face facts. If the kid drowns and you don't go in you'll need to step in front of a train when you reach shore. If the kid survives you'll get a divorce. Your going in (if someone else can bring the boat back--not certain). If the weather will be wild, you really, really, should not have taken the kid, but that hardly changes what I said. Someone will jump in. Just try stopping mom.

And this is what I meant by "someone should be prepared." Either wear a dry suit, make certain the kid cannot possibly fall off, or don't take them. One way or another, you need to have faced the reality you described very clearly and have an answer. I've been in seriously cold water and it is a common cause of death among hunters and fisherman. Your points are well made.

I am the father of two daughters, both now grown up and independent, and with an 18 month old grandson. I hope that should the situation ever have arisen when they were little (it didn't; my late wife wasn't a sailor), I would have done what was best for them and not reacted emotionally. It is very clear that the WORST thing anyone can do in this situation would be to enter the water. This appears to be the uniform advice from all life saving organizations, as well as common sense. At best it will double the difficulty of recovering two people instead of one, at worst it will result in two fatalities. Keeping all able-bodied persons aboard to assist with recovery is clearly the best procedure, and even if the situation had arisen and had gone wrong, I would have known that I had done the best I could. If I'd allowed someone to go in the water and there had been two fatalities, then I might have felt that railway lines offered an option.

Of course, the right answer is to ensure that they can't go overboard. Short tethers and constant attention (as others have suggested), as well as sensible rules about where they can go while under way would make it extremely unlikely that they would ever be in the water.

By way of an example of "sensible rules", when my brother and I were toddlers, Mum and Dad owned a Heron dinghy. The rule was that if they were sailing the dinghy, we were to sit in the bottom of the boat on the floor boards, acting as ballast! Such periods (when Mum and Dad were having fun sailing) were short, and compensated by us operating the jib under my mother's immediate supervision and with Dad sailing the boat very gently. Later, when we graduated to a cruiser, we operated under strict rules about when we could be on deck and in what conditions. And there were conditions (for example, where both Mum and Dad were needed to handle the boat) where the right place for us was below decks, amusing ourselves in the cabin.

Of course, as we grew up and became more capable, these rules were relaxed gradually as we learnt the ways of the sea!