Sadie’s New “Ride”: Her SwimWays Baby Float

This post was sponsored by SwimWays as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

To say that my nerves are a little shot when it comes to being around water would be the understatement of my life. There’s something about traumatically experiencing just how fast accidents happen that has me on edge about going to have fun in the water again. (I just typed and erased several things about Hadley’s near-drowning accident, but since I’m trying to move on, I’m actively trying not to dwell on what happened.)

I’m glad that Hadley’s accident happened at the tail-end of summer last year timing-wise so that we could have a max number of months to regroup and try to regain a fraction of confidence to let our kids enjoy swimming again. Being in the water has always been something our family has truly enjoyed, and we’ve talked about how we’re going to do our best to frequent our amazing community pool in the evenings like we so enjoyed doing last summer. I want to not only go, but I hope to begin viewing swimming as leisurely again and a way to have fun with my children. I want these feelings of anxiety to go away, and I’m hopeful that they’ll lessen with each enjoyable trip we take to the pool.

Now that it’s May and the temperatures have consistently been in the 80s this week, swimming season is upon us. Time to face the music, Erica!

We wanted to enroll both girls in ISR, but sadly it’s not available in our area (and I was unsuccessful at convincing my friend Meg to get certified). 🙂

So our realistic pool safety plans for the summer include taking Hadley to private one-on-one swimming lessons the first week of June, putting her in a swim vest as soon as we enter a pool area, and only taking both girls to the pool if both Jamie and I are available to go.  Really, we’re just going to do the best we can to keep our babes safe but also have a good time.

SwimWays Baby Float

For Sadie, we’re planning to utilize the SwimWays Baby Spring Float with Sun Canopy. Last summer she was only 3-4ish months old, so we mainly just held her in the water as we waded around. This year we want her to be able to kick and splash her hands in the water on her own, and this float allows her that semi-independence. We also love this float because it keeps her shaded (with a UPF50+ canopy), balanced, and supported.

We got to test it out earlier this week when one of my girlfriends invited us to enjoy the hot day at a local hotspot with dancing water and a shallow concrete “creek”. We’ve been to this spot 100 times throughout the last few years and consider it a favorite place to spend our time during the summer.  We got there early enough that no other kids were there yet, so Hadley and a couple of her friends were able to splash around in the shallow water while I gave Sadie the chance to try our her new “ride”.

She was very intrigued, comfortable, and happy to cruise around for the first few minutes until a spontaneous jumping water stream splashed her on the side of her face. Then the party was over. 🙂 Hadley loved pulling her around, and Sadie loves just about anything that Hadley wants to do with her. That was an unexpected perk of this float; Hadley could be involved with her!

This baby float is designed for children ages 9-24 months and is the first step of three in SwimWays‘s “Swim Steps” devices.

Another fun little FYI: Did you know that the third Saturday in May is National Learn to Swim Day? SwimWays started National Learn to Swim Day in 2012 and is dedicated to water safety and teaching children and adults the life-saving importance of learning to swim. This is a brand I can 100% get behind! I have spent so much time pouring over their website and learning about their products designed to teach children to swim, and I’m so grateful that there’s a company who offers these options.

Many SwimWays products, specifically this Baby Spring Float, are available to purchase in-store and online from Target.

If you’d like to be caught up, I shared the story and important take-aways from Hadley’s near-drowning accident here.

Let’s chat!

1. What safety flotation device do you/will you use this summer to ensure that your children are safe around a swimming pool?

2. How old was your child/children when he/she learned to swim completely by themselves?

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