The best thing to do when you’re babyproofing is to get down on the floor, to baby’s eye-level, so you can see what dangers she could get into. Essentially putting yourself in baby’s booties. I actually do that with everything when it comes to my babies.
I wonder what it would be like to be the one who drinks breast milk instead of the one who supplies it. I wonder what it would be like to be sitting in a poopy diaper. And now after seeing the Inflatable Baby Swim Ring, I wonder what it would be like to be submerged in water with a floating tube around your neck holding your head above water.
I know how to swim, but I remember when I was a kid and was learning. The water seemed scary. So was the time I swallowed too much and so was the taste of chlorine stinging my throat. I remember having a tube and the way the plastic sounded when it was wet and rubbed against my waist. I also remember floaties on my arms and how I couldn’t wait to take them off. But I was a kid. Not a baby. And while I am all about swim safety and teaching the little ones to swim at an early age, this swim collar that goes around baby’s neck just seems wrong.
Check out this baby wearing one. Does that look like a happy baby to you?
It has to be tight around the neck for it to keep baby afloat. How comfortable would that be? I would be worried about the plastic choking the baby. I won’t even get into the toxins emitting from the PVC it’s made with. And how do you get into one? You wiggle into a regular tube, but with the neck ring, it gets attached on the side. Is that safe? Of course mom or dad would be right next to baby to help if it becomes detached … but still, I find this odd. I’ve never tried one on my baby, and I don’t think I ever will.
I get how it would help baby learn to swim with hands and feet, but it seems like having a collar around your neck would be awkward and infringe on any natural swimming motion you would do in the water.
The product says that it’s suitable for babies 1 to 18 months old. Would you put your 1-month-old baby, a baby who cannot yet hold her head up by herself, in this?
What do you think of this inflatable swim collar? Would you try one?
