Infant life jackets

[chris75h]

A buddy of mine was telling me the other day that Missouri does not have a law about infants wearing life vests. I had never heard that and I was wondering if any other state has this law. I have always heard that anyone under 13 in Oklahoma has to wear one while the boat is underway.

I am just curious more than anything since I am on my way to having our first.

 

[AJRanger]

Re: Infant life jackets

We have a similar law in Oregon.

Seriously though, put your kids in a life jacket and make them wear it. They may whine and complain, but they are much less likely to drown.

My suggestion is once they are big enough, pony up for one of those nifty auto-inflate vests. They aren't uncomfortable and don't restrict you when you are fighting a big fish. I wear mine in the boat and even wear it when I am wading rivers while fly fishing.

Your kid's life is worth the investment.

 

[EddiePetty]

Re: Infant life jackets

I can only speak to waters under the jurisdiction of the USCG in Virginia (Atlantic Ocean, Chesapeake Bay , tidal rivers and Lake Smith Mountain).
Yes, even infants must wear an approved PFD when making way. Only exception is if the infant is below deck, the vessel is moored or at anchor.
Virginia has tried several times to enact a state law for inland waters but has failed to date.
Infant PFD's are avail on-line, at BPS, WalMart and a host of others, even here @ iBoats!!!

http://www.iboats.com/Kent-Yellow-B...1619759--**********.291342268--view_id.670697​

 

[sewerrat]

Re: Infant life jackets

I can only speak to waters under the jurisdiction of the USCG in Virginia (Atlantic Ocean, Chesapeake Bay , tidal rivers and Lake Smith Mountain).
Yes, even infants must wear an approved PFD when making way. Only exception is if the infant is below deck, the vessel is moored or at anchor.
Virginia has tried several times to enact a state law for inland waters but has failed to date.
Infant PFD's are avail on-line, at BPS, WalMart and a host of others, even here @ iBoats!!!

http://www.iboats.com/Kent-Yellow-B...1619759--**********.291342268--view_id.670697​

WI and VA are the only 2 states that don't require it on inland lakes. Federal waters it is required (Lake Michigan, Winnebago chain, etc by me)

In MO it looks like 7 is the magic age
Children under 7 years of age must wear a USCG?approved PFD at all times while on board any vessel, unless the child is confined in a totally enclosed area of the vessel such as the cabin area of a houseboat or day-cruiser.
http://www.boat-ed.com/mo/handbook/pfds.htm

 

[mbgaski]

Re: Infant life jackets

In SC it looks like we're pretty lax. Kinds under 12 have to wear PFD's but only on boats under 16' in length.

Law aside though, common sense says make the kids wear the life jacket at all times. As said, they likely won't like it, but it's much safer. Make sure you get one that fits well and it'll make them more likely to wear it without complaining.

 

[RobbyA]

Re: Infant life jackets

Here in Texas it under 13, but my kids think the law states you have to wear one until your 18. What they don't know won't hurt them.....

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Infant life jackets

at least in ND, all children 10 and younger must wear a type 1-3 if the vessel is under 27 ft. (no mention of cabin, so a 27 ft pontoon means no life jacket) Type V inflatables don't count for that age group, no matter what.

 

[88phantom]

Re: Infant life jackets

Stearns makes a Type V swim floatie that is acceptable for use as a type III only when worn. It is much less restrictive for children 2-6 or so than a type III. It has to say USCG approved and have the types printed right on it so look carefully. I have been inspected by Oklahoma Highway (Lake) Patrol and passed with these units on my kids. Of course no tubing or skiing with these though.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Infant life jackets

A buddy of mine was telling me the other day that Missouri does not have a law about infants wearing life vests. I had never heard that and I was wondering if any other state has this law. I have always heard that anyone under 13 in Oklahoma has to wear one while the boat is underway.

I am just curious more than anything since I am on my way to having our first.

I'm pretty sure that under 13 is a Federal law now. If not, it's a guideline that nearly every state follows (like seatbelts in cars). I'm on Lake of The Ozarks and I'm pretty sure it is the law here.

Even if it's not, though. Would you even ever consider taking an infant out without an Infant PFD?

I won't even get in to taking an infant out on the the water to begin with...

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Infant life jackets

Here in Texas it under 13, but my kids think the law states you have to wear one until your 18. What they don't know won't hurt them.....

In the Texas boat or the Missouri boat, Ninja Law applies.
Everyone where's a jacket.

My boat=my rules

 

[chris75h]

Re: Infant life jackets

It is interesting how different the laws are. Our conversation was on his child and children under 1 year old. I know there are life vests for them because another friend of ours always has her kid in the vest when we go out but he was insistent that there was no law against it. I had just never heard of this and I didnt understand his arguement against it.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: Infant life jackets

as a side note
ALWAYS TEST the life jacket in a pool BEFORE boating.
my son fell overboard,wearing his PFD, when he was about 5.
PFD floated him perfectly,legs up and face down.
at least a body could have been recovered.
luckily we were at anchor tearing up some perch and we simply jumped into 5' of water and retrived him.
but that was that PFD's last trip anywhere.TEST the PFD for performance BEFORE placing it on a body of water with a child.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Infant life jackets

I'm pretty sure that under 13 is a Federal law now. If not, it's a guideline that nearly every state follows (like seatbelts in cars). I'm on Lake of The Ozarks and I'm pretty sure it is the law here.

If it is a federal law, it is only enforced by federal authorities. (coasties...) LOTS of states do not use 13 as their age limit, and local authorities couldn't care less about the federal law, only the state statute.

Seatbelts aren't a federal law either, and seatbelt laws vary wildly. Some states are not primary enforcement states, they can't pull you over for not wearing a seatbelt, even though it is the law. Some states require passengers in the back seat to have belts, some don't. The only reason the federal government was able to push seatbelts through was because of blackmail, threatening to withhold federal highway dollars. (Same goes for speed limits)

(missouri law is that anyone UNDER 7 must have a pfd on at all times..., page 9 in this pdf)
http://www.boat-ed.com/mo/mo_specific_images/pdfs/MO_handbook_its_the_law.pdf

 

[Mike Robinson]

Re: Infant life jackets

I'm pretty sure that under 13 is a Federal law now. If not, it's a guideline that nearly every state follows (like seatbelts in cars). I'm on Lake of The Ozarks and I'm pretty sure it is the law here.

Even if it's not, though. Would you even ever consider taking an infant out without an Infant PFD?

I won't even get in to taking an infant out on the the water to begin with...

In Canada there are no approved PFDs for infants under 20 lbs. Here is a quote from Transport Canada's web site;

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafety/debs-obs-equipment-lifejackets-few_words-1179.htm

" There are no PFDs for children under 20 lbs. A number of factors have precluded the development of commercially viable devices for infants. These include low demand as well as a number of physical factors such as the instability in the upright position of their particular anatomy in its early stages of development, the weakness of their neck muscles frequently causing their head to tilt forward coupled with their tendency to revert to the fetal position which have a combined effect of causing them to go face down in the water. Counteracting this tendency by increasing the buoyancy of the device, mostly at the front, to cause them to roll to the face up position then puts them at an angle with the vertical where they loose sight of the horizon, a position in which they feel insecure and uncomfortable and will often cause them to frenetically attempt to get out of.

We recommend that you wait until your child reaches 20 lbs. before you go boating. "