Summer Product Review: Swimways Baby Spring Float

A little over a year ago I became a Mother to a beautiful, healthy baby boy. Last year he was much too small and fragile to swim and enjoy the summer-time Florida weather, this year however he is older and will enjoy the summer-time activities. A month or so ago I began to look at baby pools and toys and came across the Swimways Baby Spring Float. From the looks of the product through the description on the package it seemed like the product was convenient and dependable. Last week my son was finally able to use this new device, here are a few things that I liked and a few things that I disliked about the product.

My Likes

The Swimways Baby Spring Float is by far the simplest inflatable toy on the market. It took me less than thirty seconds to inflate the toy. My son after a few minutes of adjusting loved being free of my hold. He thoroughly enjoyed kicking and projecting himself around the pool. The Swimways Baby Spring Float is bigger in size than it appears to be on the package. I would say from front to back it is nearly 3 feet long and close to 2 feet wide. Although the size is much bigger than expected I don't think that my son minded the extra bulk at all. I liked the fact that the baby seat was made of mesh which in my opinion would be more comfortable than plastic. I also liked that their was only two small compartments to fill with air which allowed water to be closer to my son. He enjoyed being able to splash in the water that laid between the two air filled compartments.

My Dislikes

Although it only took about thirty seconds to inflate the toy it took about a minute to get my son into it. Because of it's bulkiness, getting my child into the toy was difficult. After I attempted to get him in the toy myself I enlisted another individual to help me. After he was in the toy I found that it took some time for him to get used to balancing in it. He probably fell into the water 2 to 3 times before figuring out how far he could lean without submerging his head. This wasn't that big of a surprise, I knew full well that I was not to leave him unattended in the toy, it did come as a surprise that his face could be fully submerged underwater. This is both a positive and negative feature. Though it allowed him to be close to the water unlike bulkier, plastic, inflatable toys, it didn't have the stability of the bulkier floats. After we were done swimming it took some twisting and maneuvering to get him out of it, much like getting him into it initially. One of the reasons I had bought the toy is its ability to be folded down, fitting into a small carrying case. Deflation of the device was very time-consuming so I ended up throwing it in my trunk still full of air. I just didn't have the time to deflate and fold it into it's package. I would say that was the most disappointing part of the product because it was one of the main reasons I bought it.

In my opinion, even though the dislikes paragraph is a bit longer than the likes paragraph I would still recommend buying the product. Seeing the joy on my sons face as he splashed and kicked his little feet was priceless. I don't think he would have gotten the same enjoyment out of a bulkier plastic float. So if you are thinking about purchasing the product, I would definitely do it. Just don't think that it's as convenient for you as the package may imply, but your toddler will love it and that is what's really important.