Warm swim wear 4 year old. Swimming lessons

[Rollerbird]

Any idea of what is available that isn't a wetsuit?
He gets the blue shivering as he's skinny.
Would a pair of long tight shorts (jammers)
And some sort of lycra vest be any good?
Any recommendations appreciated

A shortie wet or dry suit would be best to keep warm, I can't imagine much else would work.

Mine wore a shortie in pre-school swim classes and when we went swimming together and appeared much warmer than kids without one. Get a well fitting one though or it won't make any difference.

Jammers dont keep you any warmer and a lycra top when wet will actually make you colder when your top half is out of the water. Do they spend a long time out of the water? Even a skinny 4 year old shouldn't be going blue in a half hour swimming lesson. Could you find swimming lessons that use a hydrotherapy pool instead?

Also a proper dry robe to get straight into when he gets out would help. They do on in 5-9y so you'd get years of use out of it.

Both my DS use the shortie wetsuit from jojo. They do still get a little cold but much better than just trunks!

Trouble is at that age they’re not being kept active enough in the water and some pools are cooler than others

Pools used for athletes need to be kept cool, but even when we’re standing at the end after a set or something it does get cold, and even if we haven’t got something to do sometimes we’ll do a couple of lengths cos we’re cold. A 4 yo can’t do this

Try a rash shirt, jammers etc, but it’s not going to make that much difference.

Poor little thing! Perhaps pause lessons till it’s warmer?

Or is there the possibility of finding somewhere where they can give lessons to the little ones in a smaller pool they can keep warmer?

A nice wooly hat for afterwards goes a long way and some thick socks. DD has a swimzi hat which has sherpa fleece on the inside, they are £££ but I'm sure you could find similar for less, especially in a smaller size.

If he can get changed afterwards great, but if he needs to leave wet Dd has found as it gets colder a tracksuit/thick fleece onesie over her wet costume is much warmer than towelling robe. Probably because there is less exposed wet skin.

In the pool, you could try a long sleeve rash vest it might help although trickier to swim in. Pools won't let you use wetsuits in them although I know friends whose babies used to wear neoprene vests. I'm not too sure whether that was for heat or bouancy or how large they go.

Is he doing anything different to the other children? Just thinking back to baby swimming and they used to say to try and keep shoulders under the water to keep the little ones a bit warmer. Could you encourage him to tread water or keep his shoulders under if he’s standing around. my 4yo doesn’t tend to get cold despite the standing around as she’s always fidgeting, spinning around, jumping around etc (although she does get told off a bit).

Neoprene is buoyant, and difficult to get a proper swim position in. How about a Thetmal rash vest?

I don't think anything will help with warmth except neoprene. Just get a cheap shortie wetsuit (TWF or Decathlon).

My now 6 year old is a total water baby. But also turns blue after 10 minutes despite not being still for a second.

We found the perfect solution - jammers and a neoprene elbow length top thats meant for surfers but is accepted by our pool. We bought it in Decathlon. Its absolutely fantastic. He can swim in it no problem and will now stay in the pool at least 90 minutes, even in late September when the pool had the roof open....

How long are the lessons? Are they too long? We did best with 30 minute ones.

if he gets shivery he's not moving enough.

decathlon have microfibre towelling robes, they are great for keeping warm and getting dry quickly after.

We got the neoprene top that has a fleece lining. Very thin but brilliant as I said

I disagree that DC get cold cos they're not moving enough. One of my DC just really feels the cold especially in the water. He wears a wetsuit in the sea and on the beach in August in France in 35 degree weather....

My DCs have always worn Decathlon shortie wetsuits since growing out of the longer length cossies popular with toddlers. Both feel the cold at the pool easily, even though DS1 is normally hotblooded to the point of not owning trousers, but both have a very twiggy, lean build.

I wear one too for hanging out with the DCs rather than serious swimming, and I wish I'd bought one years earlier for the majority of mother/ baby/ toddler lessons.

We also use poncho towels and hair turbans to get dry and warm quickly.

It's a 30 minute lesson in a leisure centre
They sit on the side in between turns.
It's a beginner lesson so not actually fully swimming but floating and kicking etc.
I might try a shorty wetsuit as we can use it in summer at the beach if they don't want it in the pool.
Otherwise will look at the decathlon top

@InvincibleInvisibility did you get the zip front or one with the higher neck?

I agree with InvincibleInvisibility that some children feel the cold more than others but I also think the way some teachers teach the early classes makes it worse. I had one teacher for red hat where my daughter spent more time stood around waiting and another one that had them all doing something. The difference in progress and enjoyment was huge. She only ever said she was cold when she wasn’t doing as much.

I would honestly look for other lessons, a half hour lesson with sitting on the side between turns works out at very little swimming and I'm not suprised they get cold. Have a look for small independent companies using school pools, they tend to have a far better teacher to child ratio and a lot more in the pool time for your money.