Stearns Puddle Jumper Deluxe Child Life Jacket

We love this for our little mermaid! She is 18months and 20 pounds. We were struggling this summer with pool parties bc she wanted to splash around with the big kids and hated the baby rafts. The first 4-5 times she used it we kept her in our arms and taught her to keep her head up. After that she got the hang of it and can float freely now! Her face can still get in the water but as she gets stronger she remembers to lean back and even leaning all her weight back she still stays upright. We have an above ground pool and whenever we are outside or near the pool she keeps it on and is still able to play! Would reccomend this for all little swimmers. She is below the weight recommendations for this but the back buckle tightens very tight so it fits properly.

After asking for recommendations from a moms group, almost every single one recommended the puddle jumper. I am so glad I listened. We love it. I wanted something for my toddler that specifically would keep her face out of the water while we were in the pool. I wanted her to learn to be comfortable in the water before exposing her to her face getting stuck in. I'm with her 100% of the time but because she is new to the pool she is clingy while in there. To get her more confident I wanted something that would allow me to be next to her without physically holding her- and keep her face out of the water. With my older daughter everything I tried would bob her forward and she would get a mouth full of water. This does the trick perfectly. If she does nothing at all she simply bobs onto her back, face up. She is loving the freedom without the fear and I am loving knowing she is safe and learning to love swimming as much as I do.

My boys are 4 & 6 and they ask for these - they love them. I appreciate that these come in a pattern that's not "babyish". We don't have a pool at home, but they've had swim lessons and they're comfortable in the water, although not super strong swimmers. These are essential for those times we're at friend's houses and I don't want to be in the water with them the whole time. The can paddle around the whole pool regardless of the depth. I always supervise closely, but it's nice to not always have to be in arm's reach.My boys are both super-skinny, so this design fits better than traditional vest-style PFDs that always ride up, even when tightened all the way. Our local city pools don't allow these, though (their allowable PFDs must be type 3 vests with crotch strap) so don't assume that just because these are coast-guard approved that you'll be able to use them in public pools.

2 year old daughter no longer liked playing in the inflatable kiddie raft since she was starting to get more aware/scared of just floating by herself. For the next few trips to the pool, it was just us holding her - which is fun but has its pros and cons. Enter the Puddle Jumper...it's nice because daddy doesn't have to blow it up every time she wants to go swimming - and since it can't deflate, it makes it a bit safer as well. She can still hang onto mommy or daddy (more often daddy) but we can challenge her and let her float at arms length away from us. She seems to enjoy wearing it and it doesn't stop her from climbing the stairs to enter/exit pool.I deducted one star because if she tilted forward a bit, she would be capable of swallowing water. Of course we are always by her side, but drinking pool water never seems like a good idea. I don't think any pool toy will ever come close to 100% safe but this is a great product since it allows quite a bit of freedom for the little one.

My daughter is 2, almost 3, weighs 33 pounds and is about 36 inches tall. We have this pulled as tight as it will go and it fits perfectly. She is able to float without falling backward or forward now, no issues. She did need to learn how to hold herself up, but that only took a couple of sessions in the pool, playing with her and letting her feel her way around. She's now "swimming" on her own - dog paddling around, with close supervision because it's all still new to her. I know by the end of the summer she'll be a lot more confident and so will I. She likes being in the pool but was resistant to swim lessons. I think this will get us to a point where she'll be happy learning to really swim. This would make a great life jacket for kids on a boat, too. Easy to use...and would work well if actually needed. If you're looking to raise your confidence and your child's confidence in the pool - this is the one for you!

I bought two of the life jackets for my kids. One was blue with turtle graphics on it, and the other was purple with a giraffe on it. The blue one worked well for both of my 2 and 5 year old kids (They were average sizes of their ages in terms of weight and height). But this purple one didn't fit my 5 year old son. The arm pieces were too small for my son's arm to get through, so my kids couldn't switch the life jackets. I don't know if the life jackets come in different sizes to fit kids of different ages/sizes.

We purchased this for our 4 year old granddaughter to use on her first cruise with us. We thought maybe it would help give her a little confidence in the water, since she was a tad nervous and wanted to be held, ride on our backs and so on.OH MY GOSH this thing was awesome! She was a different child in the pool. One of us was with her in the water all the time of course but she was all over the place! Not once could her feet touch the bottom but she didn't care. She played with kids, kicked those little feet and moved fast all over. We were absolutely amazed. By end of cruise she was floating on het back, dog peddling everywhere. I just cannot say how great this product is. We saw several kids with them both smaller and little larger than her, having fun wearing these.This puddle jumper tag said up to 50 lbs. She weighs 48 and it was perfect. It gave her the confidence she needed and it was probably the best purchase we have made here, no kidding.I would recommend this over and over.You never want to turn your back on them, but I was dismissed as the official pool toy.

Rides up in front

arm holes are really really tight

As someone who works with kids, this puddle jumper enables me to get 5 kids that can’t swim in the pool, and not stress as much!

Great life jackets

The puddle jumper was great quality and did exactly what it was supposed to do. Unfortunately, my little boy hated wear it.

I wanted to love this until I put it on my 2 year old in the pool and slowly let go of him to see what this floatie could do and my son instantly rolled forward.

worked perfect for my little swimmer, she's a fish now!

We love this life jacket. It hold our 2 year old up just right and allows him to kick his feet and arms and "swim" on his own!!

I bought one of these years ago for my son and now that my daughter is old enough I bought this one for her. She wasnt really a water kid like my boys are so this was a must.

My son like it very much. It is easy to wear and good for learning swim.