Is a life jacket/swim vest useful for safety for a 3 year old on holiday?

[WaitingForRainAgain]

We are taking DNiece on holiday, she is 3. Her DM cannot come. There is a pool at the villa. I was thinking it would be safer to get a swim vest to wear or similar to ensure that if she fell in she had some extra safety, but I have been researching and it looks like these are just for learning to swim.
Is there something that I can get for her, or might it be safer to not get anything and just spend all week teaching her to swim with old fashioned armbands?
We had armbands for my DC but that was a long time ago!
Thanks for any guidance.

A turtle back style float is best for learning to swim. But the reality is that you aren't going to teach a 3 year old to swim in a week's holiday. And as a parent, it would make me really uncomfortable to think you might even try. If you are going to take a 3 yr old on a holiday with a pool, you need to fully supervise her around the pool and never leave her unsupervised. And you make sure that there is a gate around the pool and it's locked anytime you are not out there supervising her using it. That's really the only safe option. Or you just don't take her.

I often take my 3yo to a house with a pool. There’s no gates round the pool, so if we’re inside we don’t have all the door locked so she can’t get out (which is a pain on nice days!) and if we’re outside she’s watched like a hawk. There’s always one adult clearly ‘on duty’ so there’s no ‘I thought she was with you’ confusion.

I considered floats ect, but I worried that would give her a message that it’s OK to go in the pool (because she’s effectively wearing swimwear), when it absolutely isn’t.

My friend’s three year old drowned in a pool on holiday, he had wandered off briefly as they were unpacking, each parent thought he was with the other, and the pool wasn’t fenced. It happened incredibly quickly. A three year old is a toddler and has to be supervised at all times near and in water. Even if she started being able to swim this would still be true.
I would follow Yalla s advice above.

I think this is something you need to talk to her parents about. If she has already been swimming before then she will presumably have flotation aids at home and you'd be best to stick to what she knows and is confident using. If she's never swum before then I'd discuss getting her ideally a backpack style float as armbands are quite restrictive to learn to swim with. Yes she needs to wear something at all times in and around the pool but a non-swimmer needs total supervision so there shouldn't really be any opportunities for her to just fall in.

I think far safer not to get her anything to wear because it may give you, her, or someone else supervising her a false sense of security.

If the pool is shallow enough, or had a shallow enough end, I wouldn’t try to teach her with armbands. IMO they hinder learning, rather than enabling it. Both of mine learned without them at under 3. OK, not proper strokes, but they were happily confident in the water.

I would get a swim vest.
For me it’s just a back up when your outside. It means if she is playing in shallow end with you and steps back for example she will at least float rather than straight under within you having to be holding her at all times.

I have a 3 year old. To teach swimming he goes without and dh or I hold him, but when he’s paddling in lake edge near us or in pools shallow ends with toys we put either swim vest or floating back thing on him as back up. That way we can sit with him but allow him to play a metre or so away from up or in and out sand/ sea.

I also make him wear the swim vest if we hire paddle boat/ kayak/ take boat out

A pool noodle is handy also for them to float with you, they are long though and solid foam, so buy on arrival locally. About £3

You can't see the swim vest / life jacket as a safety back up if she falls in. She'd need to fall in the right way up and not gasp and intake a load of water. Imagine if she falls in face down and the floatation aid holds her there.

I wouldn't take a 3 year old to a villa with a pool unless it is properly fenced off with a secure gate. I don't think I'd even take my 6 year old as you just cannot relax if you have a small child and open access to water.

The thought of being responsible for someone else's 3 year old next to a pool for a week is nerve-wracking to me to the extent I wouldn't do it unless the pool is secure. If you do do it, the child needs to be supervised at all times which is harder than it sounds as you'll likely want to leave them alone when they're asleep but you'd have to be absolutely sure they couldn't get from their bed to the pool without being noticed.

Yes definitely get a swim vest. She will have more fun in the pool, though at that age you will need to be in there with her, within arm's reach, as she will easily tip forward.

It will also help her learn to swim - both my kids learned to swim in a vest without lessons and me just paddling around with them. I think once they got to about five I would start to take it off and let them swim without as by then they had the basic technique, but it was useful to put back on in deeper pools, for example, as if they start to panic they forget to swim.

Is the pool fenced? Be incredibly vigilant. She should never leave your sight while in the pool - put your phone away - and make sure doors are locked and she can't access it. Pools are great on holidays but watch her.

Discuss the rules with her parents.

She must always be supervised, but personally I would put her in arm bands or a vest because if she does fall in when skipping round the pool she’ll pop up quickly and it will be a less scary experience. I always did this and it never made me at all complacent.

If you are wanting something that will keep her afloat if she falls in whilst unsupervised then it needs to be a life jacket as that will keep her afloat with her head out of the water. The swim vests just add a bit of extra buoyancy, but rely on the child being able to kick and should be used with supervision as a learn to swim aid

I wouldn’t take a 3 year old to a villa with a pool unless the pool is fenced. You won’t get to relax at all as will always have to be with her, even lying on a sun bed around the pool won’t be safe as you won’t be in easy reach.

My 20 month old son loves his swim vest, it also saves me from lifting him all the time if there's no shallow end because he's pretty heavy now! Mostly I just see it as a fun thing to have when you're playing in the pool, definitely not a life saving device. You really can't take your eyes off them for more than 2 seconds in or around the water.

I would absolutely get her a swim vest, she'll be able to paddle about in it as it'll keep her at the surface. But I would 100% be right there with her in the water, the vest is a bonus not a solution.

Best advice I got with kids and water is make sure you all know who is responsible for watching them at all times. That person then doesn't take their eyes off them.

Thanks for all the replies. There are 4 adults and no other children, we are all anxious about having her there with the ungated pool and will all be watching her like a hawk. We will be locking the doors when we are inside if we are having naps but my DD (19) is going to be on baby watch in the afternoons she doesn't need the nana naps the rest of us will prob have.

It's a mixed bag as to whether to get a best or not. She's been swimming a lot with arm bands so we will stick with this I guess, as she's used to them. There are plenty of noodles there so I'll get them all out. I had thought a vest might give a little extra safety in case of accident but it looks like it wouldn't.

I'm so sorry to hear about PP friends' child that drowned. How terrible.

I will make sure all adults know about this and that we all need to hand off the hawk eyes verbally and clearly if we go off to do something.

Yes handing over supervision is worth more than a swim suit.

I also sadly know of a three year old who drowned in a holiday villa so it does happen and it happens fast and silently. But preventable as long as you are aware of the dangers.

l think the important thing is to always name someone to be on toddler watch when the door is open/when outside. That person's only job is to know where the toddler is. If they need to go to the toilet or want ro relax they should name the next person... "mum you've got toddler now" and that person should always acknowledge it to make sure they heard "yes I've got toddler". That way there are no misunderstandings.

https://floatee.co/fr-gb

There is a difference between the swim vests you use just for bouyancy in a pool for fun under close adult supervision, and the kind of life vests which are designed to keep the person upright even if they are e.g. panicking or unconscious and an adult can't get to them immediately.

You can buy the latter in Decathlon. We're looking to get some because DH is desperate to hire boats but we live abroad where safety is a bit lax and they probably won't have lifejackets for children. Falling into a freezing lake fully clothed is hugely different from splashing around in a pool in a swimsuit.

I don't think a lifejacket will be practical though, unless you're planning to keep it on her at all times just in case? And the swimming vests are fun (we have them and find them useful) but won't protect from accidental drowning, even if she did wear one all the time.

Agree that supervision is definitely key and maybe a visual cue like a necklace/wristband meaning "I'm on toddler duty" and also take a few really jangly keyrings so you can keep doors locked, but they make noise if anyone opens them.

Mothercare used to do a travel stairgate (can probably find on marketplace) which we find an absolute godsend for our balcony as it means we can have the door open without the small DC being able to get to the balcony. It fits into the frame of a UPVC door.

Or perhaps just put a jangly thing on the toddler so you can hear her like a cat's collar with a bell (I'm joking, but also kind of not!)

now this is a cunning plan... will look for some pretty cute bracelets that she might like 😁