Anonymous wrote:https://www.facebook.com/WaterGuardiansLevisLegacy/posts/levi-wore-a-puddle-jumper-in-the-pool-mere-hours-before-he-died-i-thought-i-was-/400424450568839/

I don't know how you could read/watch this and ever use a puddle jumper again. Its willful ignorance.

The issue is people using puddle jumpers INSTEAD of swim lessons. That post and video both clearly explain the risk of puddle jumpers which is that they put kids in an upright position in the pool when they need to learn out to float on their backs. No one is advising using the puddle jumper that way on this thread.

We used the puddle jumper CONCURRENTLY with swim lessons that emphasized water safety and proper position. We also never let our kid go in or near the water unsupervised regardless of whether they were wearing a puddle jumper or not.

The scenario you are talking about is a child with no swim training whatsoever who acclimates to wearing a puddle jumper in the pool and assumes that's how swimming works and then falls or jumps in a pool and assumes the "puddle jumper position" (upright) and drowns. The man in that video talks about creating layers of protection for kids to avoid drowning. I agree. If you do not have a backyard pool (so no chance of your child wandering near or into the pool without your supervision) and only go to the pool when you can be watching the child attentively the whole time AND enroll your child in swim lessons as soon as possible AND reinforce the lessons on your own with supervised practice then there is absolutely no danger in ALSO letting your child sometimes play around in the pool wearing a puddle jumper. Because you already have several other layers of protection in place to prevent drowning.

It is very tragic when a child drowns. I have nothing but compassion for parents who go through that. But you can't assume that a single factor is the determining factor when there are a bunch of other factors that might not be the same in your situation. The post at the link talks about a child who used a puddle jumper and had no swimming lessons under his belt and then accessed a backyard pool on his own. That's awful but is not a situation my kid has ever or will ever be in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look my kid is a great swimmer who started learning how to swim at 3 but also used a puddle jumper sometimes from age 3 to 5 and it did not result in us ignoring her in the pool nor did it delay her swimming development. It enabled us to take her to the pool more often and to stay longer when we did.

We also sometimes used teaching aids like the flotation device you can strap to a kids back or stomach or the barbells they hold in front of the to practice kicking and breathing technique. But it was nice to have something we could put her in when she just wanted to chill in the water that was more secure than a regular floating tube or something (which a kid that small could easily fall through or lose hold of and if she was tired or panicked might not know how to handle).

It was fine. People who are adamantly against the use of puddle jumpers are fixating on specific scenarios (parents who put their kids in floaties and then leave them unattended, people who use flotation devices in lieu of teaching their kids to swim, people who rely on flotation devices to avoid teaching basic water safety). I agree they should not be used in those ways. But that does not mean that any use of a puddle jumper is de facto bad for kids.

This is just like those people who believe anything other than breastfeeding for the first year will make your child stupid. Or people who yell at you for letting your kid fall asleep in a carseat. It's just a weirdly rigid and context-free approach to parenting.

People who are against puddle jumpers are familiar with the basic statistics of child drowning and when and how it typically occurs. That is all.

People who are against puddle jumpers read statistics without understanding all the factors involved in child drownings and also struggle to understand how risk mitigation works in real life.

The most important factor for avoiding child drowning is the presence of attentive caregiver regardless of whether the child is using a flotation device or not.

https://www.facebook.com/WaterGuardiansLevisLegacy/posts/levi-wore-a-puddle-jumper-in-the-pool-mere-hours-before-he-died-i-thought-i-was-/400424450568839/

I don't know how you could read/watch this and ever use a puddle jumper again. Its willful ignorance.

My kids all learned how to swim before age 5 and they all used puddle jumpers when they were aged 2 and up. If you have more than one child it’s the only way they can both play and have fun.

Having fun in the water with the puddle jumper on how my eldest learned to love the water and then was pumped to learn how to swim before Kindergarten and now has been club swimming ever since.

Anonymous wrote:Look my kid is a great swimmer who started learning how to swim at 3 but also used a puddle jumper sometimes from age 3 to 5 and it did not result in us ignoring her in the pool nor did it delay her swimming development. It enabled us to take her to the pool more often and to stay longer when we did.

We also sometimes used teaching aids like the flotation device you can strap to a kids back or stomach or the barbells they hold in front of the to practice kicking and breathing technique. But it was nice to have something we could put her in when she just wanted to chill in the water that was more secure than a regular floating tube or something (which a kid that small could easily fall through or lose hold of and if she was tired or panicked might not know how to handle).

It was fine. People who are adamantly against the use of puddle jumpers are fixating on specific scenarios (parents who put their kids in floaties and then leave them unattended, people who use flotation devices in lieu of teaching their kids to swim, people who rely on flotation devices to avoid teaching basic water safety). I agree they should not be used in those ways. But that does not mean that any use of a puddle jumper is de facto bad for kids.

This is just like those people who believe anything other than breastfeeding for the first year will make your child stupid. Or people who yell at you for letting your kid fall asleep in a carseat. It's just a weirdly rigid and context-free approach to parenting.

People who are against puddle jumpers are familiar with the basic statistics of child drowning and when and how it typically occurs. That is all.

Look my kid is a great swimmer who started learning how to swim at 3 but also used a puddle jumper sometimes from age 3 to 5 and it did not result in us ignoring her in the pool nor did it delay her swimming development. It enabled us to take her to the pool more often and to stay longer when we did.

We also sometimes used teaching aids like the flotation device you can strap to a kids back or stomach or the barbells they hold in front of the to practice kicking and breathing technique. But it was nice to have something we could put her in when she just wanted to chill in the water that was more secure than a regular floating tube or something (which a kid that small could easily fall through or lose hold of and if she was tired or panicked might not know how to handle).

It was fine. People who are adamantly against the use of puddle jumpers are fixating on specific scenarios (parents who put their kids in floaties and then leave them unattended, people who use flotation devices in lieu of teaching their kids to swim, people who rely on flotation devices to avoid teaching basic water safety). I agree they should not be used in those ways. But that does not mean that any use of a puddle jumper is de facto bad for kids.

This is just like those people who believe anything other than breastfeeding for the first year will make your child stupid. Or people who yell at you for letting your kid fall asleep in a carseat. It's just a weirdly rigid and context-free approach to parenting.

Puddle jumpers put them in the wrong body position. They actually delay learning to float and self rescue. So many parents of drowned toddlers are vehemently against the puddle jumper. You’d have to live under a rock not to know this. If your kid finds water during a non-swimming time, they jump in thinking they will float and then they don’t.

3 is old enough to learn how to swim for 99% of children.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop judging people, ladies. Some kids learn how to swim later than others. Not all of us have the luxury to sit by the pool five days a week every summer. Also, not all kids WANT to learn how to swim. We tried lessons for years with my youngest and she refused to put her face in the water until one day, she finally did (at 6!). She did use a flotation device up until that age (puddle jumper, life vest, kick board) but there was always a parent in the pool with her - I don't know why people here are assuming that parents put a puddle jumper on their kid, throw them in the water, and walk away. Pools don't even allow that.

Uh…what? If your kid is going to a pool you have an absolute duty to teach them to swim. Good lord, you are a horrible parent.

DP this response is peak DCUM lol

Anonymous wrote:Stop judging people, ladies. Some kids learn how to swim later than others. Not all of us have the luxury to sit by the pool five days a week every summer. Also, not all kids WANT to learn how to swim. We tried lessons for years with my youngest and she refused to put her face in the water until one day, she finally did (at 6!). She did use a flotation device up until that age (puddle jumper, life vest, kick board) but there was always a parent in the pool with her - I don't know why people here are assuming that parents put a puddle jumper on their kid, throw them in the water, and walk away. Pools don't even allow that.

Uh…what? If your kid is going to a pool you have an absolute duty to teach them to swim. Good lord, you are a horrible parent.

Anonymous wrote:Stop judging people, ladies. Some kids learn how to swim later than others. Not all of us have the luxury to sit by the pool five days a week every summer. Also, not all kids WANT to learn how to swim. We tried lessons for years with my youngest and she refused to put her face in the water until one day, she finally did (at 6!). She did use a flotation device up until that age (puddle jumper, life vest, kick board) but there was always a parent in the pool with her - I don't know why people here are assuming that parents put a puddle jumper on their kid, throw them in the water, and walk away. Pools don't even allow that.

If you google puddle jumpers (or read the post explaining it) you’ll better understand that it’s not about when they wear them.

Stop judging people, ladies. Some kids learn how to swim later than others. Not all of us have the luxury to sit by the pool five days a week every summer. Also, not all kids WANT to learn how to swim. We tried lessons for years with my youngest and she refused to put her face in the water until one day, she finally did (at 6!). She did use a flotation device up until that age (puddle jumper, life vest, kick board) but there was always a parent in the pool with her - I don't know why people here are assuming that parents put a puddle jumper on their kid, throw them in the water, and walk away. Pools don't even allow that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stearns is the best. We used it on my daughter when she was 28 lbs and she was fine.

I don't get all the parents knocking them - they are great! Not a single parent in here is plopping their kid in a puddle jumper, throwing them in the deep end and walking away to go lounge on a chair. Come on people.

Oh yes they do. I see this all the time.

+1, they absolutely give parents (and the kid) a false sense of security. I would never use them.

I have seen people do this but I never did it and we used a puddle jumper. In fact I didn't let my kid go in the pool alone until she was 7 and had been swimming for several years. Just because some irresponsible parents use flotation devices irresponsibly doesn't mean everyone who uses a flotation device is irresponsible.

Literally in the tag it will tell you to never allow your kid in the water unsupervised. If some people violate this clear directive, they will or bably also do other risky things, puddle jumper or not.

Anonymous wrote:Get a grip people. My 3 y/o can swim and still has a puddle jumper for playing for longer stretches in the deep end with her cousins— she doesn’t have the stamina yet and doesn’t want to be left out. Calm down.

The body-glove brand has shoulder straps which made for a better fit on my skinny kid.

+1, my kid learned to swim at 3 but would get tired after 15 minutes or so and I didn't trust her with a pool noodle or an inner tube like I would an older, stronger swimmer. Heck, I hang onto a pool noodle in the pool sometimes if I'm tired and want a break.

I'd rather my kid spend 2 hours in the pool and 80% in a puddle jumper than have to limit all our pool visits to 15-30 minutes until she's 5 or 6.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stearns is the best. We used it on my daughter when she was 28 lbs and she was fine.

I don't get all the parents knocking them - they are great! Not a single parent in here is plopping their kid in a puddle jumper, throwing them in the deep end and walking away to go lounge on a chair. Come on people.

Oh yes they do. I see this all the time.

+1, they absolutely give parents (and the kid) a false sense of security. I would never use them.