Anyone use swimsuit with floaties in it?

[momtoemma]

Does anyone here have a swimsuit for their child that has the floaties built into the suit? I have been thinking of getting one for my oldest DD but thought they were a bad idea because they might provide a false sense of security. Has anyone tried them and do you think they are a good idea?

Thanks!

[twinmama]

Hi Stephanie, I haven't tried them and I don't plan to because I've heard that in addition to the concern about a false sense of security, it's also hard to teach a child how to swim properly after they've gotten used to being vertical in the water while using floaties. A former life guard told me that she could always tell which kids had used floaties when they were younger: they were the kids who hated to put their face in the water and swim horizontally during swimming lessons. I really haven't heard anything good about floaties in general, but maybe someone else here has a good experience with them. HTH.

-Lisa :)

[AdoptChina]

We tried one with one of my older boys. He had previously tried swimmies on his arms (and did okay, not great). He hated the suit b/c he kept tipping forward and getting water in his mouth and face. Now maybe it was the suit, or maybe he was lopsided lol, but we didn't use it anymore

Susan

[erbono]

I just got an AQUA LEARN SWIMSUIT from www.onestepahead.com. I had my dd (2ys, 3mos) in an Elmer swim class in the Spring. She loved it but hated putting her face in the water. She would also cling to me at the pool, even in the kiddie pool she lingered around me. Last week I got the aqua learn (it is a suit with the floaties but you can take them out. There are 8 floaties and you can put as few or as many as you want in). Well, the first day at the neighborhood pool with these floaties in she had a blast!!! She would just hold on to my hand and doggy paddle.

I see the concern with the lack of horizontal movement but that is something to work on. I keep enforcing her to make splashes with her feet behind her. We start a YMCA swim class in July which should help.

She has become more confident which is good and bad. It is bad because she has a false sense of security. But we just show her that when we take the floaties out she sinks so she needs to stick to us. I will eventually take more and more of the floaties out as time goes by. I think with me being there enforcing the horizontal kicks as well as the fact that the floaties are removable and swim classes the concern of her not swimming properly isn't so much there.

Good luck! She loves her new suit!

Erica