Floating Device

The pool should be fenced/gated. The other comment was correct. The time to worry is not when they have a life vest on, it's when they don't.

We got ours at ToysRUs (I think)

It's an inflatable tube with a nylon seat in the middle and a sun umbrella that attaches to the top. I think it was around $20
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http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12378529

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3934869

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12623657 (this is the one we have)

I went to ToysRUs website and searched "float"

I have friends who have used a flotation similar to what Dad mentioned. Looked great to me. Also, my son had a swim suit with floats built in to the tank top portion (one on the front and one on the back). He loved it! They well them at Walmart.

Keep in mind that they are going to be standing right there. They are not going to just put him in the pool and go back inside the house. He will be watched very carefully.

We have a pond on our property (which is probably at the most 2 feet deep, as we have had very little rain this year), and my MIL is terrified. She tells me every chance she gets that our pond scares her and keeps her up at night. I try very hard to nod and give her a sympathetic look and promise to be careful and keep an eye on the boys. But inside I'm screaming, "Why can't you trust me to be protective of my own kids?" We have a fenced in back yard, and I am very much watching them as they play. Actually, my husband complains that I don't get very much housework done when they are outside. I watch the kids. They do not go near the pond.

It's very sweet of you to be concerned. Just remember that they are as well.

There are different things available... Stearns (as well as others, I'm sure) make a floatie swimsuit, where it is a one piece suit with foam pads enclosed in the suit itself..... the foam pads circle the waist, so if I remember correctly, they keep them fairly balanced in the water. My daughter just got an interesting swim vest where there is a vest that circles the chest, and it is attached to arm floaties, helping keep him upright.

If it is an in-ground pool, it should be enclosed in a fence within the yard, with a good locking gate. Above ground pools should either have a removable ladder, or a locking gate at the access point, or on the deck.

We had a pool when my kids were 9, 7, 5, and 1..... my toddler wasn't outside unless I was outside, and we had a gate across the deck access.

You can also get floating alarms that sound off when something disturbs the water, like a child falling/jumping in.

He needs to be in an infant life jacket AND supervised of course. Swim lessons are a big help too.

The infant life jacket has a piece of floation which is behind the child's head. This head float rests on the child's back except when the child goes onto his or her back, stomach, etc. When the child is down in the water, the head float pops up and cradles the child's head, rolling the child onto his back theorectically. It is designed to keep the child on his or her back and NOT face down. The head float has a loop strap which helps you if you ever have to haul the child out of the water and also as a convenient handle on the child while you are supervising. Do not feed the crotch strap through the head float strap because then the head float can't do its job. I have seen that so many times and it defeats the design of the infant life jacket.

On the link below you can see the difference between child life jackets and infant life jackets.

http://www.safelifejackets.com/category/kids-life-vest.ht...

We have an 18 month old and a pool. Some of the safety precautions we take - infant life jacket, supervision at all times by an adult (my husband or myself), pool fence, and a door chime on all exterior exits out of the house. If a door opens and we hear the loud chime, we know immediately someone is leaving the house so we can go check on the situation. Also my husband and I are strong swimmers who take annual CPR/first aid classes. Good luck.

It's not a swim vest or floaty thing you should be worrying about.
When there's supervision, these things work out fine.
It's the times when the pool is not in use and a toddler might slip outside and stray near the pool unnoticed that are the scary times.
Get them a pool alarm which can be set and goes off if anyone falls into the pool.
Every pool owner should have one.

Please make sure the pool is gated, has an alarm as well as indicators if the doors are opened.

My friend was watching her grandson in September (15 months old at the time) and he fell in the pool. He was revived but is still in a coma with a very poor prognosis.

There is a device a child can wear as a bracelet or anklet that if they fall in the pool it immediately sounds an alarm. This may be a good option for whenever they are outside where he could get too close to the pool. Assuming mom or dad are outside with him they should be able to respond quickly enough to the alarm.
Hopefully the pool will be fenced in thereby reducing the chance of him wondering over to it unnoticed.

There are flotation devices that are like bathing suits so they don't ride up. You have to be sure to get the right size so it won't come up over his face.

Even if he has swimming lessons, the pool is still dangerous. They should consider a fence around the pool. If not that, then if I were his mom, I would not allow him out in the backyard without supervision. Life vests are all good and well WHEN YOU PUT IT ON, but if he's just out back playing with toys, he's not going to be wearing a life vest.

A 4 yr old at my daughter's school almost drowned last week. She had taken swim lessons for the past two years and had been wearing water wings that she had managed to slip off. After a few days in ICU, her prognosis is good. No floatation device is foolproof; constant, obsessive vigilance is required with children around water.
They need a fence, a pool alarm, locks on their doors, and constant, obsessive vigilance.