Holly Cassidy

As a young child who managed to survive drowning TWICE (I was very stubborn 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️ and my 1980s mom was too trusting of my 3-4 year old judgment when she said “DO NOT GET IN THE WATER” and turned her back for 30 seconds to find my floaties and whatnot) who then turned into a lifeguard and swim instructor at age 17, beach patrol at 19 on beaches with different challenges and currents and terrain all over the country… I became extremely passionate about water safety. 

Puddle jumpers absolutely create a false sense of security for the child. They literally train the child to “swim” in a way that is utterly unsustainable for a non-swimmer without that specific flotation assistance. No blame being placed anywhere, because accidents, as tragic as they may be, can absolutely happen to anyone… but this false sense of security can be such a deadly contribution to a bad outcome for both child and parent when water is involved. 

Allow usage of puddle jumpers only in specific situations, make sure your children are more familiar with the feeling of their natural buoyancy and parent-assisted swimming (as well as basic water safety) much more often than they use a flotation device like this.