Infant PFDs

Being the adventurous folks that we are, Jen and I decided we’d try a little canoeing with The Gail. First things first she needs a life jacket. Hit up the interweb, do a little research, then spend $200 on five different models/styles.

See the most important thing about an infant life vest (beyond the fact that it’s a type II US Coast Guard certified PFD) is that it fits and is comfortable for the infant. Unlike most adults, the infant has to wear theirs and wear it all the time.

Considering most stores don’t stock an over abundance of life vests for infants (who would be so nuts to take their infant paddling?), we had to order them over the net and order a bunch.

Today three of the five came in, so it was torture time.

First one, as you can see, didn’t go so well. If she can’t manage thirty seconds in it, she’ll never do a couple of hours. Onto the second one.

Though she looks accepting, this quickly broke down to a tantrum as well. It’s a shame. I kind of liked this one. Instead of being made of nylon like the others, this one is neoprene. Some website somewhere said they were best, though not sure why.

Now onto the third.

Yeah. So far the life vest thing isn’t going well for us. As you can see even Gretchen was concerned at this point.

Not ones to give up so easily, we’ll try again. I think there was some promise in that second one and worth another attempt. I’m really not sure why they were so uncomfortable for her. Maybe while she’s sleeping I’ll hold them up to her profile or something and check out the possible contact points for her discomfort.

We also have two more on the way next week.

The other option obviously is to just bail on the idea and wait till she’s older.

And don’t worry. There was no permanent damage. Between each fitting and afterwords she was all smiles – sort of.

– b