Anonymous wrote:My kids are both on swim team so can swim 500m without stopping. They're 9 and 11 yo now and it's their third year on swim team, so they've been swimming well for a while.
For us, life jackets at the ocean really depends on what the waves and current are like. Some beaches are perfectly calm and I'm fine with no life jackets. Others have strong waves and are prone to riptides. Then we do life jackets for sure. It's super beach dependant for us.
We do visit a deep, dark lake and up until last summer there was a rule that if kids headed out of the house towards the water they needed a life jacket on. Literally anytime they were behind the house, even if on land and not on the dock. We loosened up a bit last year and let them swim off the dock while watched without life jackets. I'm sure we'll keep heading in that direction.
This summer I think we're at the point where the kids can also fish, read a book, or watch the sunset off the dock without a life jacket, possibly without being closely watched by an adult. They'll always have one on with a moving boat or tubing/water skiing. That's non-negotiable.
Anonymous wrote:Never stopped. As adult I always wear one on the water, and my kids do too.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I was just thinking about this because my sister's kids, age 11 and 9 wear them at the beach. I have a 9 year old who has never worn a life vest except a few occasions on a boat. He learned to swim in a pool at age 4/5. We started going to the beach around that time and until last year was in arms reach of an adult while in the ocean. Last year and this year he goes in on his own with and adult watching (and lifeguards on duty).
It seems like anxiety or lazy parenting to me.
In an ocean your kid could easily get caught in a wave or what ever it is called and pulled out. It’s smart.
Anonymous wrote:I was just thinking about this because my sister's kids, age 11 and 9 wear them at the beach. I have a 9 year old who has never worn a life vest except a few occasions on a boat. He learned to swim in a pool at age 4/5. We started going to the beach around that time and until last year was in arms reach of an adult while in the ocean. Last year and this year he goes in on his own with and adult watching (and lifeguards on duty).
It seems like anxiety or lazy parenting to me.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We have never done life jackets for active swimming but we were just at the beach and I was surprised how many I saw. The ocean is a different beast. If I had this to do over with my kids I think I would do life jackets in the ocean until they were able to pass our pool’s swim test — for our kids that’s 6/7, but they’re great swimmers.
This is really dumber because people die in freshwater at a vastly greater rate. I grew up in the south and have a pool, I don’t think bodies of water are inherently dangerous with the proper precautions. In lakes, that includes a life jacket at almost all times. Even as an adult I use one.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We have never done life jackets for active swimming but we were just at the beach and I was surprised how many I saw. The ocean is a different beast. If I had this to do over with my kids I think I would do life jackets in the ocean until they were able to pass our pool’s swim test — for our kids that’s 6/7, but they’re great swimmers.
This is really dumber because people die in freshwater at a vastly greater rate. I grew up in the south and have a pool, I don’t think bodies of water are inherently dangerous with the proper precautions. In lakes, that includes a life jacket at almost all times. Even as an adult I use one.