Toddler Life Vest with Head Protection

[tjrowbot]

Michigan law states that any child under 6 must have a type1 or type2 life vest with head protection (collar). I can't find many that look comfortable for my 3 and 2 year old. We have nice hyperlite neoprene vests without the collar, but don't even want to mess with the marine patrol. I can only find <30 pounds with the collar. Any assistance is appreciated

[MIskiboat]

Look for cheap nylon ones. Likely basspro or a garage sale.
They are way better fit than the neoprene ones. The neo ones with the neck thing look terrible.
We tried everything. You want to buy the nice neo ones but the fit isn’t good, it pushes up on bottom of their heads.

[JohnnyB]

Funny, I was going to suggest the opposite...we always found the neo ones to fit better and be more comfortable. My advice, try several fir best fit, don't skimp on $s....their first experiences on the boat are important ones.

Used a not so good fitting hand me down for our 1st and it was a bad experience for all. Had an awesome fitting neo for our younger and worth every penny.

Good luck in your search....post pictures

John

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

[MIskiboat]

^^^. Yeah that’s funny. We still have basically new neo ones in basement and then have the faded cheap ones readily available for use.....
It’s all about fit. Try them all, ignore price tag or perception and go with what they like.
Good problems to have!

[sp00ky]

The nylon ones worked well for us. They grow so fast whatever you buy will still look new when they grow out of it.

[197 TT]

Our kids and their friends had these and they were comfortable:

https://mustangsurvival.com/collections/kids-pfds

[chrislandy]

We used the Jobe kids pfd with the collar until they hit 6/7ish. Can't find them on the jobe US site anymore but there are similar around. they used to be around $30

Comfortable, keeps them in the right orientation when they fall off

and most importantly... the collar doubled up as a pillow when they had a kip in the boat on a long day on the water

[tjrowbot]

Our kids and their friends had these and they were comfortable:

https://mustangsurvival.com/collections/kids-pfds

Thanks 197. I saw those when I was searching around. I think we are just going to hit AWS and the marinas when we get closer to needing them, but keep our eyes open.

[tjrowbot]

We used the Jobe kids pfd with the collar until they hit 6/7ish. Can't find them on the jobe US site anymore but there are similar around. they used to be around $30

Comfortable, keeps them in the right orientation when they fall off

and most importantly... the collar doubled up as a pillow when they had a kip in the boat on a long day on the water

That is really funny about the pillow, our youngest loves to nap on the pontoon.