Taking 18month old swimming for first time, armbands or them jacket things??

[ploddingalongnicely]

Think i'll be freaking out either way so wondered which ones were more popular?

oo and also whilst we're on the subject, what does every one do about nappies??

I feel so clueless!

Thank you!

nappies - get the huggies little swimmers from any supermarket. YOu don;t have to put anything over the top if you don;t want to.
If its his first time, I wouldn't use inflatables, let him get used to it while holding onto you and then once you've been a few times, armbands are good I think. My DS (Same age) has been going since he was 4-6 months and loves bobbing around on his own with his armbands on. He also loves playing around on the steps that lead into the pool - that might be a good place to start. He can just sit and splash a bit. Also take a ball and some bath toys for him to stretch for. Please don't freak out, its one of the nicest things we do together. Take some snacks for after so your DS will sit happily munching once you've got him dry and you are getting changed.

Oh bugger, this seems like its going to be a right mission! Liking the snack thing for after, good thinking batman!!

My son had one of those jackets at that age and it actually tipped him forwards so his face went into the water - would defo not recommend - & armbands are cheaper too!

See, I knew MN would help me, thank you for telling me that! poor little mites!

Armbands are the way forward then!

Thank you!

armbands all the way. I've been taking my DS on and off since he was 8 weeks old. My DS also had a float jacket and like puglet said it tipped him forward so his face was in the water. Armbands are much better. But i don't recommend those Zoggs roll up ones - they are really hard to put on and take off, just get the cheap old fashioned kind.
Trixie is right though, if its their first time they will just want to cling onto you and be swished around in the water so you probably don't have to buy any armbands straight away.
Huggies swimnappies are definitely the best thing. You can put DC in just the nappy and nothing else and you can bin the nappy straight away afterwards.
Take a couple of towels and take one into the side of the pool with you so you can wrap DC up when they get out - they still get cold quite quickly at that age - i doubt they will last more than 20 mins in the water on their first visit - my DS turned blue in the lips last weekend cos he was so cold - didn't want to get out though!

Also think about what clothes you take to change DC into. Don't recommend dungarees or vests that do up under the nappy because they take longer to put on. You want quick easy trousers, tshirt, jumper - if possible make it a hoody so you can keep their head warm while you get dressed.
if your DC enjoys swimming you might want to think about investing in a little wet suit. My DS has one and it means he can stay i the water that little bit longer.

we used a washable swim nappy for ds - you can get them in mothercare, boots, etc. We also used arm bands - we got good cheap ones from ELC. I recommend taking a drink and snack for afterwards too.

we had ones like these except ours had pirates on them

how about one of these

armband and huggies swimming nappies are what i always used.

My DS bit through his armbands when he was teething.

Those jacket thingies hardly existed back in the days when this was an issue for me, but I would suggest looking for the ones you can gradually reduce the support they give so that your DC can get the feel of learning to keep afloat as he/she gets older.

Ditto the nappies. Back in the day, we just bought tiny pants or tiny swimming cossies and prayed they didn't poo.

Luckily you could set the clock by my DC's toilet behaviour so we just went swimming when it wasn't poo-time.

I personally don't like armbands - and I don't even understand why so don't ask!

I would recommend a woggle! Have used them for both DC

DD 4 and DS1 both love their 'wigglys' !!

We use washable swim nappies. They cost around a pound in the sale at Mothercare. My son has a cossie with a built-in swim nappy and it has been fine. We've never used the disposable ones, they seem such a waste for a 20 minute swim.

My DS is 23 months and he sometimes uses a noodle to scoot around. We have the zoggs arm bands and we've not had any problems with them. He has very skinny arms so they are very easy to get on and off.

should say, with that link you have to scroll about half way down the page to see what i was trying to link to.

So having skinny arms is a good thing? I would of thought armbands would have slipped off(tho its been a long time since i've seen anyone use them) I'm probably remembering it wrong.

Thank you for the links, that neck thing looks like a panic attack waiting to happen for me(I'm ridiculously pfb its sad!!)

I did get him one of them swimsuit things(like wetsuit but not rubbery just normal swim material) obviously we havnt used it yet, Thank you for all the tips, I wouldnt have thought of some of those till after we got out and i realise what i SHOULD have done!!

So them Little Swimmer's...that just like a nappy you can swim in(silly question?) should i do a test run in the bath?!!

I'm such a pleb!

Well, skinny arms are good in that we don't struggle to get them on and off. You definitely don't need a trial run and swimming isn't the faff you imagine it to be. Just dive on in, I promise it will be fine.

just remember that the swim nappies are designed to keep poo enclosed and they will let pee through so dont put it on too far in advance. You can get them in the supermarket or the pool should sell them singly

llareggub is right i'm sure the zoggs are fine on skinny arms. My DS didn't get on with the zogg roll ups because he has really chunky arms and they hurt him when i tried pushing them on - even when i deflated them a bit - which defeated the object. But for fat arms the classic style arm bands seem to work a treat.
No nead to test run swim nappies, just get the right size so they don't fall off. They have a kind of plastic coating on the outside to keep the poo in. But my DS has never actually pooed in them so for all i know they might not work
this is going to sound stupid but the front is the bit that has a picture of a bow on it - my DH couldn't work out which was the front and back of the nappy and in all fairness as they are pull ups it is a bit less obvious.

The best a the swim discs, start with 3 or 2 and take them off as they get more confident.
Woggles are good fun for play but hardly secure.

These foam discs are great, 3 on each arm at first and then you can take them off one at a time. You can get them cheaper on ebay as well.

The discs are useless for my skinny boys. They just slide straight off my 2 year old. I wouldn't bother if your child is on the skinny side.

the huggies swim nappies definitely work for poo as I can attest from experience. I usually check before taking it off that its clean but the ONE time I didn't and pulled it down there was a poo explosion, all over me, DS, the bench, the floor! Point is though, none leaked in the pool. As for armbands, the easiest way to get them on and off is to put your hand through it and take baby's hand, then pull his arm through, rather than trying to move the band. MY DS hates the woggles - just goes to show they are all different!

I use those discs for my skinny 14 month old

Here's a handy hint, you can often buy the swim nappies singly, either at the supermarket or our leisure centre sells them. If they just wee you can rinse and dry them out and get a couple of uses out of them.