Toddler swimwear--- if you live where it’s hot out, it may make one of the most important categories of your child’s summer wardrobe! The wide variety of swimwear for tots available these days mean you shouldn’t have any trouble finding what you need—but it also means that, if you don’t know quite what you want or need, you may end up badly confused and overwhelmed, not knowing what to buy.
My advice in picking a swimwear for kids is quite simple: nail down your top priorities and keep them in mind while navigating the swimwear catalogues or the summer displays at your favorite children’s clothes store. But whether you have a thing for hot pink or want to make sure your child is covered up when playing in the water, there are two things you’ll always have to work with: comfort and good fit.
There are a number of things that you’ll have to decide before you go shopping for toddler swimwear. Chief among these is your beliefs or preferences regarding sun exposure. Do you want your child covered up as much as possible, to protect him against burns and sun cancer, or are you hoping that your toddler will get a nice, dark, almost full body tan this summer?
Research shows that a whole lot of sun exposure isn’t good for children, especially young children. The ozone layer has become so thin that many harmful sun rays are seeping in; and your little one is very vulnerable. If you live someplace like Florida and your child will be in his swimsuit all summer, you may want to look into buying sun-protection toddler swimwear; these are swimsuits that, while they don’t do a complete cover-up job—no child could tolerate that! –do provide as much protection as a t-shirt and shorts would.
If swimming is just something you do three or four times in the summer, if you live in high latitude areas, or if you would just rather slather on the waterproof sunblock and let your child get a little color, a standard swim suit is perfectly all right.
Some sun protection swimsuits also offer built-in flotation aids—perhaps not enough to save your child in a threatened drowning situation, but enough to give him a little added buoyancy that might make the water more pleasant to play in or help him learn to swim.
Boys--- If you’ve decided to go with traditional swimwear your options for a little boy’s swimgear is pretty simple: a pair of comfy, loose-fitting trunks. You want them to have enough room so that your toddler can move his legs about freely; kicking like a frog if he likes. You should check the elastic at the top though—or the capacity of the drawstring—to make sure it’s tight enough that it won’t sag even when the swim trunks are carrying around extra water weight. It’s no fun to be wearing a pair of shorts that threaten to come down with ever step you take.
Girls—For girls there are more questions, more options—two piece or one piece? Bikini style top, or is that pushing it? what kind of neck? While modesty is scarcely an issue at this age little girls tend to be more comfortable playing in one piece suits. The only drawback to these is that she’ll need help on potty breaks, and if she’s wearing a swim diaper diaper-changing might not be as easy as it could be in a two-piece.
I would advice against bikini style tops for toddlers as well—that style of clothing just doesn’t fit your little girl’s little toddler body, and it will only make her uncomfortable as it slips and slides in different directions. If you’re doing two piece, do your baby girl a favor and go with a style that offers a little more cover up.
Make sure the straps on your little girl’s swimwear are comfortable, and won’t chafe against her neck. Little girl’s swimsuits should never be worn too tight or you daughter won’t be able to get comfortable; but too loose doesn’t work either. Strive to find a perfect fit.
Don’t let your little girl keep a wet swimsuit on throughout the day—have a few spare so that she can change from one to the other as she goes in and out of the pool or the water at the beach.
Have fun buying toddler swimwear—you’ll have even more fun in the water with your toddler this summer!
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