Baby swimsuit

[momtoemma]

My daughter is nearly 7 months old, and I am going to taker her to a mommy and me swim class beginning in March. It's more of a class to get babies used to the water, etc...Anyway, I'm wondering what sort of swimsuits any of you would recommend??? I can't decide whether it would be worth it to buy one of those suits with the floaties around the chest area. Have any of you tried these?

Also, I'm hoping to get a suit that will last us at least through part of the summer since they aren't exactly cheap. Is it okay to buy one a little big for now in hopes that it will last awhile? How do they fit with the swim diapers I've seen discussed in this forum?

Thanks for any advice!

Stephanie
aka Mom to Emma

[jojo2324]

No info on suits per se, as I have a boy and we have swim trunks. I think for the most part bathing suits run on the small side, so I would definitely get a bigger size anyway. They tend to have slimmer cut as well. However, I think that infant suits are usually cut a little bigger at the bottom to accomodate diapers. (I am dredging up info from my long-ago retail days.) If possible, buy a suit or two and return the one that doesn't work well with a diaper. Stores are not nearly as stringent with infant suits as they are with adult ones.

I haven't tried one of the suits with floaties. In our swim class, while we don't dunk, the instructor does encourage us to get our babies up to their chins. Also, we do a lot of swaying, with the babies in the water up to their shoulders. I imagine it would be slightly more difficult to do in a floatie suit. Hope that helps a little! Happy swimming! It's a lot of fun. :)

[Rachels]

I agree-- I wouldn't do a floatie suit. You can find baby swimsuits at BRU for around $15.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[egoldber]

I agree. The floatie swim suits are more for "near swimmers" than babies. BRU has very cute suits that are inexpensive. Just a warning, I bought a pink OshKosh suit for Sarah there last spring and the dye RAN all over everything it touched after it was wet. This continued to happen even though I washed it repeatedly.

I also agree that swim suits tend to run small. I bought 18 month size suits for Sarah last spring when she was 7 months old and I didn't regret it. In fact, in some cases, I really wished I had bought 24 month sizes, especially in the BRU suits.

Sarah is now wearing 2T size suits and some of them are snug. Buy all the swim suits and swim diapers that you think you will need for the rest of this year including this fall and winter before all the suits are gone. The stores start to clearance all the suits in mid-June and they are almost impossible to find after July. Huggies Little Swimmers are also hard to find in larger sizes after about August. Also, buy hats in both your baby's current size and also the next larger size before they are all gone.

You don't really need a bathing suit. Your baby can just go in the pool in a swim diaper and also a Tshirt if the pool is chilly. But there is almost nothing cuter than a baby in a swimsuit. :)

HTH,

[parkersmama]

We have a floatie suit that I love but we didn't start using it until the boys were toddler age (last summer Wesley was about 27 mos. when we started using it). They have a specific weight range on the suits so that the child's weight will be enough to just offset the floats and make them the right level in the water. It's important to buy the suit so that your child is in the right weight range (don't buy a size up or they'll be bobbing out of the water!).

I've always bought infant suits from Gymboree because they have the built in swim diaper. These fit nicely and seem to hold in the messes *fairly* well. I've never had a poop problem with them but the pee definitely does leak out. Because of that, we often use them over a disposable swim diaper. Those really seem to work the best.

Have fun swimming!

Denise
mom to:
Parker, 9/1/1997
Wesley, 3/9/2000
and #3 (a girl!) due 4/29/2003

[westgre]

I noticed a couple swimsuits on sale on the Old Navy website the other day. I was tempted to order one, but don't know what size to get either.

[caroliner]

The swim school I am taking Caroline to requires all babies to wear 2 swim diapers made by www.ecobaby.com they have cute patterns and are quite cute all by themselves. You may want to check them out.

[sophiesmom]

I did the same class with DD (now 18 mos) last spring through the fall. She just wore a regular bathing suit. I bought a larger size for her. I think at the time she started she was 9 mos and I may have bought her 12 or 18 months. I always buy a bathing suit each bday for my little cousin, and always buy her 1 size up.

Last year Sophie had bathing suits from Children's Place, Walmart, and the Disney store. The Place usually has cute suits w/ great accessories. The Disney store had an adorable Pooh one I got her last year (had a little skirt around it!) and I of course had to get matching everything! Walmart prices were great, @ $10, and she had a really cute Minnie Mouse one from there.

Don't forget the swimmie diapers for your class! Enjoy it, it's a lot of fun, DD LOVED it. She still likes to sing the songs from the class while she's in the tub. Hoping to start again this spring, but due w/ #2 in May, so we'll see!

Stephanie
Sophia (8/4/01)
#2 EDD 5/17/03