To buy a buoyancy aid instead of a life jacket?

[Summersunplease21]

Wise Mumsnetters, I need help with a holiday question. We are going to the French coast and will be swimming/SUPing at one of the surf beaches with lots of waves and currents. Currently struggling with what the buy the DC (7 and 10) for the water. Research gives me conflicting info- a life jacket is better but also hard to swim in but still recommended for open waters. If it’s too bulky and annoying they won’t want to wear it. Am leaning towards a buoyancy vest, is this the right call?

You buy the one that's best at keeping them alive, and they wear it or don't swim.

Not even sure why you would consider anything else. Comfy and dead, isn't a plan, is it?

I’d buy a life jacket before you go and then if necessary cheap buoyancy aids from a supermarket/decathlon when you go. Though thinking about it, will you be hiring paddle boards, if so can’t you hire life jackets too. There’s also (hopefully) a good chance they won’t let you hire paddle boards if you haven’t got like jackets.

We go SUPing in lochs and we wear life jackets.

How well can your kids swim because mine are 9 and 11 and haven’t worn buoyancy aids for years? If swimming in lochs/sea they tend to have wetsuits on so that helps with flotation a bit. I should add I always swim with them.

Peak UK do children's buoyancy aids. They are the very best there is. No BA no going in the water. Be firm. Truss them up tight and they will keep them warm and safe and they'll stop noticing it soon enough.

No lifejacket, no going in the water.

Would you let them go in a car without their seatbelt?

Why are you planning on letting your children into the sea in an area not suitable for swimming?

If its an active surf beach the children are in danger and create a danger for the surfers.

Why not find a better beach shallow water beach and/or keep them out of the sea untill they are strong enough not to need swim aids.

Surely there are two separate needs here. If doing a water based activity like sailing or SUP where you expect to be out of the water for it but there is a chance of falling in or capsizing then a life jacket. If not strong swimmers then buoyancy aid to help keep afloat whilst swimming. However I would really consider whether these are the correct beaches to do either activity especially if the kids are not strong swimmers, with or without buoyancy aids etc. Or at least try it out with an organised group where all equipment and training is provided plus a qualified instructor to supervise and help, on a suitable stretch of water.

Life jackets all day long when in the sea, in my opinion.

A buoyancy aid is to aid you when treading water and most, if not all, don't have the required buoyancy to carry the weight of a person if they aren't able to tread water. Not as big a concern sometimes but when dealing with the ocean and currents I'd prefer a life jacket for my kids.

How well can they swim? If they can swim properly then it would never occur to me to put a life jacket on a child swimming off the beach. Swimming in a life jacket is bloody hard work. If they can’t swim well enough then they shouldn’t be in the water beyond paddling about. On the SUP I’d put them in full life jackets if there are currents but have them try them on if you can. Some are a lot more comfy than others.

I assume you don't mean proper bouyancy aids with a gas cannister and a toggle you pull to inflate? If you mean a floaty jacket for use in swimming pools, then no. Take the advice and get life jackets that are the right size for them. They're not designed to swim in, they're designed to stop you drowning.

Well, i wouldn't be letting 7 & 10yo's go paddle boarding in the sea in those conditions at all & as you haven't got the kit, this will all be new to them?

Life jackets are bulky and will make mastering a SUP harder, so a buoyancy aid is best but in a safer life guarded area with an instructor, such as a shallow in land lake.

A life jacket is designed to turn you onto your back so the only swimming you can do unless you are very strong is on your back. Bouyancy aids just help you float.

Presumably it is lifeguarded? I would say lifejacket when on a board. If there is a swimming zone I think an adult close by is more important than a bouyancy aid.

They are life jackets not bouyancy aids.

I mean, they are two different things.

Buoyancy aid is just that, it helps negate the weight of clothing you are wearing. Typically you will still need to swim/ tread water to keep properly afloat.

A life jacket will keep you afloat without effort but as such is bulkier and more designed for when you are going to be rescued back into a boat, rather than swimming any great distance.

Honestly, if you don't know the difference between the two I'm not sure it's especially wise to be thinking about open water swimming/ SUP, unless you are doing it under supervision in which case any reputable company/ instructor will provide you with suitable equipment anyway.

I don't think paddle boarding with children in waves is ideal. Generally you would want to do it in relatively calm water in which case, bouyancy aids are adequate.

Life jackets aren't a swimming aid but are rescue equipment and not really suitable for swimming or paddle boarding. They can impede getting back on the board and they impede swimming. It's different if you're on a boat and the expectation is that you WON'T enter the water but where you're intending to enter the water I would ensure that safety is considered firstly in terms of the water itself being safe and suitable for the planned activity and then any safety devices are considered in the context of how they would be used.

Finally someone that actually knows what they are talking about! Lifejacket use is very rare in watersports. Almost all people that go paddleboarding use buoyancy aids. Nobody swims in a lifejacket! There are huge variations in how big and bulky a buoyancy aid can be. I wouldn't put my kids in a lifejacket in a surf beach, but to be honest, if things are that dangerous there, I wouldn't let them swim there either.

The fact you're inexperienced enough to be asking this question shows you absolutely shouldn't be taking a 7 year old to this activity, you don't sound responsible enough to supervise.

Just to add - local knowledge as to sea conditions is always best so I would check with local lifeguards/coastguard etc as they should know rip/tide/current/wind conditions at given times and would be better placed to advise as to safety in the water.

At that age, they would need self-inflating life jackets, which would inflate every time they hit the water. Life jackets are bulky and difficult to do anything other than doggy paddle. Buoyancy aids are just that - aids - they will not support staying alive.

I would wait until they get an opportunity to do SUP somewhere with no waves. It’s hard enough to master on flat seas.

Boogie boards, in the swimming zone, with you and a life guard keeping watch, would be a much more fun option at that age. They can stay in their depth and have the fun of successfully catching waves, rather than trying to master SUP under difficult and possibly dangerous conditions.

Thanks for the answers, some more passive aggressive than others. I do know the difference hence the question as there is a lot of conflicting info out there and also in the answers in this thread.

To give a bit more info, we (the adults) SUP on lakes already and both children are excellent swimmers. Thinking about it I don’t think it’s a good idea to SUP in the sea in these types of areas so will leave the boards at home this time. Of course we supervise the children swimming, but I take water safety seriously and was somewhat take aback as to recommendations on line to have children swim in a life jacket as seems a bit over the top to me. I will stick to boogie boards in the calmer parts and get them vests to be on the safe side.

There is a lot of misinformation on this thread. For a normal weight adult, a 50N buoyancy aid will completely support your weight in the water. You don't need to swim. You only need to be conscious so you can hold your head up. Buoyancy aids are what people wear for kayaking, SUP etc because they allow you to move freely and the chances of being unconscious in the water are low (a trade off of risks). A children's buoyancy aid will do the same thing for them IF you get a proper one. Look for brands sold in outdoor shop in the UK.
A lifejacket supports an unconscious person in the water. It is overkill for SUP for adults.
What you choose for your children is your call.

if the surf is too big for a reasonable swimmer to safely swim in then it isn’t safe to swim! For water sports (in deeper waters) you need life jacket but I don’t think sup is going to be possible if people are surfing

A buoyancy aid will support your weight in water (if correctly sized) but it won't support the person in a life saving position and in some instances, can flip someone face down. They work if someone enters the water alert and not injured

My dc had buoyancy aids for bodyboarding when young though, worked well

no need for such an arsey response

the whole point is that different supports are better for different scenarios which is exactly what OP is asking.

In the paddleboarding incident last year in Wales, for example, 2 of the people who survived WEREN'T wearing any sort of buoyancy aids or life jackets at all, and those who died WERE - because essentially those without were taken under the water and then came out in a calmer part of the river where they could get out, but those wearing them kept being pulled up so couldn't escape.

Having done a lot of SUP-ing and being chest heavy I find it really hard to get back on with any sort of aid or jacket around my top so in some conditions I would be safer not wearing anything so I could get back on the SUP easier (I still wear a belt etc, and wouldn't recommend this for kids).

OP, sometimes people get confused and think buoyancy aids mean armbands or something - as long as you mean the jackets then I think they are completely fine and better for what you'll be using them for - the main advantage of lifejackets is the way they will keep you face up if unconscious - presumably the aim will be to stay on the boards so you just want something that will help the DC float for a few minutes if they do fall off while you get them back on again. There's no point in them having lifejackets that they can't actually move their arms sufficiently in. Most buoyancy aids are VERY buoyant, thus the name, it's not like they aren't as "good" as life jackets, they just balance you differently. For what you want to teach the DC (actually using the boards and ideally self-rescue) they are much better than lifejackets.

oh and whatever you get, get them in a bright colour!