What is a wetsuit?
A wetsuit is a protective garment used for watersports such as baby swimming or surfing. The wetsuits shown on our site are made from a material called neoprene and this provides limited thermal protection for activities in water, but protects the wearer in warm water from sun exposure. Our micro neoprene tops work for those children and adults that wish to wear a top with shorts only. A cheap wetsuit can result in a poor fit and a cold child. We prefer body fitting wetsuits for babies, such as the Konfidence Baby Warma Wetsuit, and not the cheaper versions with arms and legs as often these have a poor fit and allows water to 'sloosh' around the wetsuit.
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Wetsuits can help to preserve body heat by trapping a layer of water against the skin; this water is consequently warmed by body heat and acts as an insulator
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Water conducts heat away from the body approximately 25x more efficiently than air, so an unprotected individual can feel chilly even in warm water on a warm day
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A wetsuit must have a snug fit to work efficiently. We cannot stress enough that too loose a fit will allow water to escape from between the garment and the body, taking the body's heat with it
It is for this reason that it is a false economy to purchase a larger wetsuit hoping your child will grow into it - it will not keep your child warm if it is too loose and cooler water is allowed to slosh between skin and wetsuit.
Neither will wearing a cotton swimming costume or a sun protection sunsuit underneath work. Just imagine how chilly you start to feel if you stand out of water wearing a wet top, this is the same feeling if worn underneath a wetsuit).
A wetsuit that is too tight will impede your child's natural arms and legs movement.
We've seen the impact that a poorly fitted wetsuit has on your child so please only use a wetsuit that fits.
Children are much happier and settle in quicker if they are warm.
To summarise
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Wetsuit material is often referred to as neoprene
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Neoprene products must have a snug fit to work efficiently (some swim schools will check that the sizing is correct so please ask them too) but not so tight that legs and arms cannot move freely
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Please try on all items upon receipt of your order to ensure a good fit (and to ensure a replacement is organised before you require it), we recommend that you do not wait until the day you are using the items for the first time
Please order by weight and size of your child, and not necessarily by age. Please call www.konfidence.co.uk to place an order or for more information. We can help too if you are not sure what to purchase (i.e. what should your must wear for a specific pool with Baba Seahorse, and what is nice to have).
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The 'double nappy system'
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It is becoming mandatory in many swimming pool environments that all babies/young toddlers wear a disposable swim nappy underneath their reusable swim nappy. This means the disposable (eg Huggies Little Swimmers) is worn next to baby's skin and the reusable swim nappy is worn on top as the outer layer. Huggies have launched (June 2008) a new extra small size for babies under 16lbs. Avoiding leaks are important as the swimming pool may have to close down should any soilage leak into the pool due to the risk of infection. As the safety and hygiene of all our customers is important to us, we shall refuse entry to any of our pools should we spot any parent not following the double nappy system. Our Pool Helpers can help you with a disposable or a reusable swim nappy to borrow for that lesson. Please order directly with www.konfidence.co.uk. We can offer you guidance regarding baby's wetsuit and baby's swim nappy. |
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