Kid's Life Jacket / Vest Advice

[RuneSpyder]

Hey all....We just bought our 1st boat last weekend. A Bayliner 205. We are taking it out for the 1st time this weekend!

Anyways, my son is 4 years old and I am trying to decide what type of vest he should wear at all times while on the boat. We aren't going to go out into any "open water" (Puget Sound) anytime soon. Just hanging out at the two lakes closest to us for now.

I want him to wear a vest at all time since he's not a good swimmer yet, but I don't want something so big and bulky that he's bugging me every 30 seconds to take it off.

Is it a good idea to just have him wear one of the Class III "sport" vests like you would wear when tubing, etc? Or would one of the "heads-up" vests be better? I know that anything would make him float, I just wouldn't want him floating face-down in the water if something bad were to happen.

Any advice?

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Kid's Life Jacket / Vest Advice

I think this is the best type:

Mustang Lil' Legend Youth Type III PFD


http://www.landfallnavigation.com/mustangchild.html

 

[Smig]

Re: Kid's Life Jacket / Vest Advice

Congratulations on the boat!! We are also newbies and found a lot of great information from this site and from our state's (Michigan) website. In addition to life vests, there are a lot of other things that we were required to have [horn, fire extinguisher, etc... ] It's a good thing we did because on our second trip we were pulled over and had to show the sheriff each item on the list!!

Regarding the life vest, Michigan requires that "Children less than 6 years of age must wear a Type I or Type II PFD when riding in the open deck area of a boat."

My daughter got used to the jacket very quickly and we found that the head float also makes a good built in pillow for napping on!

Good luck and have fun,
Shaun

 

[ricksrster]

Re: Kid's Life Jacket / Vest Advice

My 2 year old grandson wears a Type II. It fits him comfortably, He can move his arms and legs, and its straps bettween his legs to keep him in it.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Kid's Life Jacket / Vest Advice

My 6 year old complained about the strap that goes between the legs on kids vests (keeps them from slipping out the bottom of the vest).

Now she found that swimming is a lot more fun in deep water wearing her PDF and after a few times in the water wearing it, she decided that it is better to wear and complain than not wear and sink.

What ever you end up choosing, make sure it is the RIGHT SIZE and FIT for their age. In my little 14.5 footer, everyone must wear one at all times. We use the "flat" style vest available at places like Walmart for about $20 a piece. Bright colors, cartoon characters, etc make them fun for kids to wear too.

 

[hidust]

Re: Kid's Life Jacket / Vest Advice

One of the biggest things I very quickly learned was when you buy a life vest for the kids do NOT go cheap.

The cheap life cheaper use cheeper material and if and when the kids go in the water to swim or float those cheaper life vest will rub and tear up there skin and give them rub rashes.


The extra 15-20 bux per and it made a world of difference. My kids spend a lot of time in the water swimming and such and with the cheaper jackets the next day they would have rashes all over from the fabric rubbing their skin.

So I would get something secure and soft. For someone very young you will want to their sure you get the strap ther goes between there legs.