Swim jackets or Armbands for 2 year old?

[LynnC]

I am intending starting taking dd swimming regularly but not sure what would be easiest/most comfortable for her?

I have never used either of these as I think that they don't promote a good swimming position - the best buoyancy aid I've found is a back float (straps around child's middle with 3 or 4 small detachable floats stacked on the back. You remove the floats one by one as the child becomes more confident in the water). Sorry I don't have a link but I found these quite easily on line for my 2.

I have tried all sorts and last week got an all in one thingy from woolworths with 4 floats front and 4 back. Its great as you can gradually take the floats out as dd gets more confident. My ds loves it and it saves the faff of huge arm bands taking up room in the bag- yes i am too lazy to let them down always
It was about £9 and at least wont pop like arm bands, or fly out of my bag and down the road like they did a fortnight ago... 2 unhappy ds. It also saves buying a separate costume.

The back floats are fab. Arm bands keep the child afloat but don't hold them in the correct position for starting to do any proper strokes.

thanks for the responses, and pmsl at crazylazydaisy with the arm bands, glad to hear you have now replaced them with something more suitable

a quick question about the back floats, I looked on web but they look quite bulky, do they allow them to just bob up and down normally or force them onto their front? I just want dd to be confident in water just now as she isnt long after getting over a fear of it.

DD is in more of a forward leaning position, than completely upright. You might be better off getting one with floats front and back to begin with and then move them to her back when she's more confident.

They're a lot lighter than they look, so the children bob away Don't impede movement as much as armbands.

think I will have a look at the woolworths swim suit or something with the same idea thanks everyone.