Collapsible Baby Pool for Young Kids

[rollycolly2007]

Hi everyone. I would like to surprise our kids with a bigger baby pool for the summer. Right now we have a small hard plastic pool that barely fits my 2 year old. My 5 year old does not fit at all. We will be donating it next week before we move.

We do not have a yard, but we do have our own private driveway. I was thinking of using a foldable dog pool for them. I do have a tarp that I can put down on the driveway before setting it up.

I wanted it to have the folllowing if possible:
-foldable (not hard plastic since we can’t store it)
-no air pump required
-drain

Any other recommendations for a pool for my 5 and 2 year old?

IMG_9413.JPG


Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains

[mom2binsd]

Isn't the condo pool going to be open, I think a pool on concrete in Florida does not sound fun!!! Having to fill up a pool and drain it on the driveway sounds like a lot of work and I'm not getting how they would enjoy it vs going to the condo pool. I think with Florida having so many outdoor activities, you can safely take them outside of the condo confines.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[rollycolly2007]

Isn't the condo pool going to be open, I think a pool on concrete in Florida does not sound fun!!! Having to fill up a pool and drain it on the driveway sounds like a lot of work and I'm not getting how they would enjoy it vs going to the condo pool. I think with Florida having so many outdoor activities, you can safely take them outside of the condo confines.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Thank you. My husband is high risk, so we will not be going to the condo pool right away.

We are normally a very active family and yay outdoors all day. This is the longest I’ve ever stayed home. Last year we only stayed home 13 days out of 365 days for the carpet cleaner, pressure washer guy, etc. We were always on an adventure every day before the Covid quarantine.

Hubby is extremely high risk, so we have stayed home except for daily neighborhood walks since 03/13 to protect him. He works 12-15 hours a day and the earliest he gets home is 8PM. We are completely screen free and do Montessori.

We went to Disney at least twice a week (104 times last year) not including water parks, character breakfasts/dinners, camping, resort visits,etc. The kids and I went to a different beach every week up to 4 hours away on the weekend since he had VPK, different playground every week, different nature hike every week, so 52 new beaches/cities, 52 new playgrounds, and 52 new hikes every year. You name it, we’ve probably been there. I am always looking for a new adventure.

We also did nature school with 20-30 friends every week, navigators troop, 2 morning co-ops, afternoon VPK for 3 hours for my son, cooking school (4 courses), Sea World, and lots of other field trips every week.

This baby pool would be for them to just relax in not swimming. It’s to replace the hard plastic baby pool that I am giving away this week since my 2 year old can’t even fit in it.

When we are at the pool, I do not put my kids in floaties. They’ve never owned them. We do have life vests for kayaking, paddle boarding, canoeing, sailing, and for when we rent the boats at Disney, which they’ve been doing since they were babies. They normally take weekly ISR swim lessons and know how to float, roll over and swim. Their last lesson was in March before quarantine. We normally go year round (indoor heated pool) since we do maintenance lessons. They are very good swimmers, but it is hard with 2 young kids to keep them both safe at the pool without my husband present since he works until 8PM or later every day.
I used to take both of them to the pool by myself using my water sling, but she has outgrown it. That’s why I went to a different beach up to 4 hours away every week since we explore the new city and the beach before sunset. They usually just play in the sand and run to the water’s edge. When went to Disney’s water park every week for 2-3 hours, I would just take them to the baby/kid areas since it was just me by myself. The water level is manageable in those areas.

When my husband is available, we just each focus on one child and let them swim to their heart’s content, but the condo pool is not something we will be using since he is high risk.




Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains

[rollycolly2007]

Maybe a padded mat underneath the pool might be better than tarp?


Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains

[BDKmom]

I got this one for my kids in store this weekend: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Intex-6ft...-Pool/55196368. Seems to work pretty well so far. We have also had the inflatable ones which were fine. Similar to this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Play-Day-...x-22/296273194

My kids are 10 and 8 and are having fun playing around in the pool, splashing each other. I would also recommend water guns and squirters, buckets, and water balloons. I put ours in our driveway since it’s the flattest part of our yard and DH doesn’t really like it being on the grass for long. All I had was a canvas drop cloth, so I put that under it to minimize ripping a hole in the bottom.

ETA: Just re-read and saw you say no air pump, so the second one wouldn’t work. The top one I linked has bendable plastic sides and can be rolled up when not in use.

[mom2binsd]

The one in the link above would be a pain to take down and store and put up (my 16 year old bought it last year for fun, but it's not really meant to be moved around a lot/set up and taking down would ruin it pretty quickly), inflatable one's would be best left inflated, can you put it inflated on the patio when not in use, also get a pump to inflate it, and that pump is super helpful to have. Absolutely get a drain as they are very tricky to drain without that, as water weighs so much! Also check how far your outdoor hose attachment is from where you want to put the pool and fill it (I"m trying to picture if you don't have a yard where you put the pool, is it near other cars in the parking area?).

Also, agree with the water guns/super soaker types outdoor water toys.

I hope you are able to find some ways to get to a beach etc, I can't imagine being in Florida and not being able to be in the water. I would think there would be a way to safely take a day trip to the beach, it sounds like you know the area very well, and could go on less busy days (not weekends) and choose places to go that aren't super crowded.

[carolinamama]

When my kids were that age, we got a ton of mileage out of large rubbermaid tubs filled with water, super soakers, anything to use for pouring, water balloons and paint brushes. It kept them cool and was easy to set up and put away. I'm not saying you won't want a more formal pool, but if you can't figure out exactly which one until you move in and get a better feel for what works best, it's a good option.

[doberbrat]

do the condo rules allow this to be left out? It seems annoying to put up and take out every day.

[hwin708]

I think the Intex style of pool is fine and very common. I have a home pool and I even used the Intex style one some summer with the little kids, when I didn't feel like getting in the big pool with them everyday.

You don't need a drain for these, you just step on the side of them and the water come out. Notably a drawback when kids don't listen to you telling them to stop pushing on the sides lol. The big inflatables offer somewhat sturdier sides, but if you don't want to deal with inflating, this is what you're left with. Honestly, I have a cheapo air pump - like $15 - and can just plug it in and walk away for things like this. But the flip side of the inflatables is that when they are left outside in the sun, they wear out pretty fast. Neither option is perfect.

You don't need a padded mat underneath, the cold plastic bottom is plenty fine for little feet. The tarp protects the bottom from tears, though, as it inevitably shifts on the concrete.

I agree that a neighborhood association will not look too fondly on this left out permanently, but a couple of days at the top of a driveway, with a car often blocking it - meh. Clearly this depends on the neighborhood, but a small kiddie pool outside in the summer would be akin to bikes left in the yard here. I.e. not a problem.

Despite not being huge, they do take a bit of a wait to fill up, and obviously use a lot of water, so I would find it pretty wasteful to drain it each day. A second tarp to throw over it would buy you a longer stretch of time with clean water.

In your position, I would just compare measurements of the various options, and pick the biggest that is actually in stock right now. Because this is the kind of stuff that sells out the second summer hits around here. Which is now in the south! And fyi - the inflatables usually have deeper options.

[rollycolly2007]

I would not leave it out on the driveway since my husband has to park his car in the driveway when he gets home.

We would not use the pool every day. Just as maybe twice a week.


Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains