Would I be unreasonable to warn my family of the dangers of puddle jumpers?

If it's your pool then you can have whatever rules you want but I don't think it actually made a difference in the death of Tripp Kiser.

There was no pool cover for days before his death
He was left unsupervised with an uncovered pool for at least 9 minutes
His dad was watching sports and placed a bet around the time of his death

It was preventable and all down to lack of supervision and lack of safety when you have your own pool and toddlers in the house.

I think you would be ok to suggest that if they come to your pool again then they should start to learn water safety as you would like them to enjoy it more often as they grow and want them to be safe to use it.
You could do it in a non arshole way by gifting them a water safety type book for little kids and a float or something. You coukd say you saw how much they enjoyed the pool and heres a little gift.
You could mention that you have seen somrthing onling about the puddle jumpers and ask the parent if they have seen it too or have a view on them and you can send them the link.
Often parents are overwhelmed with stuff and I personally would welcome the support. Maybe they havent thought about it.

Agree with you. I refuse to use them as I don’t want my child to have a false sense of security.

Out of interest, what device would you get if you could afford it? I don't see what you could use that wouldn't cause the apparent risk of the child being over-confident?

Arm bands can be useful for getting kids comfortable in the water.

My ds was born abroad.

We never used any floatation device and taught safety and staying within depth.

When we came to the UK he was put in armbands because that’s what we do here (not by me and I understand family member who took him swimming wanted their own safety plan followed) and he was told he’d drown without them.

Took years to undo that as he truly did believe you were only safe with armbands - but also in the flip side he was safe in armbands iyswim?

No long term harm mind - he’s a swimmer now 🫣😂

But I do agree the narrative around floatation devices needs to be clearer and the message to children needs to be clearer.

They shouldn't be alone around water. The little boy you're talking about fell in accidentally. I don't buy this "false sense of security" thing. Kids naturally don't have good risk awareness. Flotation devices can still be useful.

Surely this 'false sense of security' would be the same for any floatation device people use - vests, armbands, rings, life jackets

My 5yo has used all of the above and is well aware of the fact he can't float and that's why he needs his arm bands 🤨

I think you'd probably be overstepping. My four year old goes to swimming lessons and we take her in the training pool without armbands to practice where she is used to submerging both accidently and on purpose, but when she comes in the deep pool for fun play she has her armbands on with us by her side constantly. They are a useful way for a not yet swimming kid to have some water fun in a deeper pool with family. She knows that she sinks without. I don't really agree with you to be honest that these never have a place. They seem sensible to be using them in this scenario where you have multiple kids you are watching.

Sorry OP but I don’t think it’ll be warmly received if you tell them. I get the point about false sense of security but I don’t think the danger is acute enough to justify approaching them and basically telling them they aren’t keeping their children safe.

In that case you have to supervise them like a hawk. Or politely decline the use of the pool till they get the safer equipment.

Lessons or no, they still need closely supervising. DS had lessons from six months, he is 8 now and can swim 200m quite happily, and I still wouldn’t leave him unattended in the pool (I’m more worried now about him slipping and hitting his head, or getting his hair trapped in the filter).

I live (and have always lived, except for a short time following Uni when I lived in London) in the SW very close to the coast.

My parents regarded learning to swim was an essential skill. I learned to swim in the sea, firstly learning how to float & then to swim. My brother & me then went on to have lessons in a local swimming pool.

When we had children we did the same - firstly learning how to float in the sea (closely supervised of course) then lessons in a pool.

My GC have been taught in the same way & my youngest GD (aged 8) has recently competed in a triathlon swimming in the sea.

We have never used arm bands or other aids as these are not helpful. Learning to float is an essential skill, as should the person get into trouble they know how to relax & signal for help.

Float To Live – What To Do In An Emergency – RNLI

My kids ALWAYS wear protection around swimming pools. It's very dangerous not to.

But what I also do at the beginning of each holiday or pool season is after they've gotten comfortable jumping it with the floaties, invite them to jump without. They sink like a stone, I scoop them up, they are shocked and scared, and they learn that they do NOT know how to swim without.

You could do that with them on the day? (If the parents are the neurotic type, maybe warn them.)

I thought it was the waterproof onesies! Assumed some parents thought they were like drysuits…

No child should be unattended near water, whether you plan for them to go in it or not.

It’s not necessarily about supervision, a large proportion of children who drown do so with an adult present. I forget the exact numbers but a proportion will drown with a supervising adult within arms reach. Drowning doesn’t look like how we expect it to, and it happens fast, so teaching water safety is really important rather than relying solely on supervision.

As long as they are always supervised then the puddle jumpers/floatation devices aren’t a problem. I’ve found it’s the false sense of security they give parents that is dangerous.
We regularly use an outside pool throughout the summer, children have to be supervised but most parents are sat around chatting, reading or scrolling through their phones.
My youngest child doesn’t wear any floatation devices, he’ll use a woggle if he needs to. He knows where the pool goes out of his depth and knows what the consequences of jumping in if no one was there, as he knows he would sink…. If I’m not in the pool itself I’m sat on the side watching the whole time whilst he plays with his much bigger brothers, who can stand up/strong swimmers.
We’ve never used arm bands etc all our children attend/attended swimming lessons from tiny and the instructors made it quite clear that floats and woggles were all that were necessary and other things could be dangerous.

A valid concern OP, and nothing lost by saying something, perhaps before anyone goes near a pool.

Depends on the age- would I pop a 8 month old on one and walk away-no. But I have a 3 y old who cannot yet fully swim and these were invaluable over the summer when staying with family with a private pool. I was within arms reach at all times and had eyes on constantly. But it gave them freedom to play and swim and splash around that they wouldn’t have had if constantly held directly in my arms.

Trigg was an unsupervised child who tripped and fell into a pool. His dad was too busy gambling to notice.
It's very different if you're supervising, as anyone should do with kids and water.

Could you supply alternative things that are safer? There must be manufacturers that do stuff that's officially recognised as a swim/buoyancy aid. Like the stuff swimming teachers use?

Obviously they should be supervised at all times if they can't swim, or even if they can and they're younger than about 13.

You don't need to be scathing or rude, but you can raise the fact you heard they weren't very safe and just say 'I've got this stuff instead for them'.

One of my kids used arm bands always supervised. Both had swimming lessons and both got took swimming regularly with and without arm bands.
They both learnt to swim between age 3 &5years old. They are strong confident swimmers now.
Accidents happen when children are unsupervised by shit parents who have no idea about water safety.
If there parents supervise them and aren’t neglectful parents I wouldn’t say anything.

How old are these children?

My two both used flotation devices at times, had swimming sessions from being babies, and they absolutely knew by 3 that they would sink if they didn't have armbands on. While I also never trusted to that fact - I would never have left them unsupervised in water at all, ever - I've never encountered a 3 year old who thinks they can swim without armbands when they can't.

The little boy in the awful case OP references didn't jump in, he fell. Never having worn a flotation device wouldn't have changed a thing.