Wetsuits keep us warm in cold water, without them, a whole range of water sports and activities would not exist or would be really limited. Adults are usually keen to keep warm. We want to have a good wetsuit in which we feel warm and comfortable. But children are a bit different. Many times they get so tangled in what they are doing they pay no attention to the fact that they are cold. They might even insist that they are not when their lips are blue and they are trembling all over. Just so they could stay in the water for a while longer. This is why it’s really important to get some good wetsuits for children to keep them warm.
Wetsuits can be used with all sorts for water activities, they are worn by canoeists, windsurfers, divers, surfers… and others involved in water sports. If you want a more in depth look in how wetsuits work check our ultimate wetsuit guide. Generally I suggest that you get the best (means expensive) wetsuit that you can buy. You will be using it for a long time and a good wetsuit makes cold water activities so much more enjoyable. But for children, people usually go for cheap wetsuits. The problem is that children grow fast, so their wetsuit soon won’t fit any more. This is why buying a really expensive wetsuit is maybe not the best idea.
If you are planning to buy wetsuits for your children, the two important things that you need to know are the types of wetsuits available and how to get the fit right. Given below are the important details you need to know about buying the wetsuits for children.
The Types of Wetsuit Styles for Kids
There are mainly two types of wetsuit styles that are available for children:
Spring Suits
A spring suit is a wetsuit that comes with short legs and arms, which will only cover above the knees and above the elbows. These only come in about two to three-millimeter thicknesses. These wetsuits are supposed to be worn in the climates where the air is hot or warm, and the water is a bit cooler. They also work good when the days are windy.
Full suits
A full suit is a wetsuit that offers full coverage of your body. The thickness of these suits usually ranges between two millimeters to five millimeters. There is no reason to buy such a thick wetsuit for children unless they are in a really cold place. A thicker wetsuit means that it is more challenging for the children to wear it. Just about two millimeters of thickness should be enough, in most cases. Thicker wetsuits make it harder for the children to move. Obviously this depends on the temperatures, but generally we don’t put children in really cold environments. Wetsuits are usually used when children are playing in the sea in summer for a really long time etc… Of course, if your child surfs with you in the winter, you would for sure get him a really good full suit. For more info on what wetsuit thickness do you need for what water temperature check here.
Ways to Ensure That the Wetsuit Fits
Before we talked about kids growing really fast. With regular clothes we sometimes buy them a little big bigger, so the grow into them and can use them for a longer time. But a wetsuit is not really an item that your child can grow into. The whole point of wearing a wetsuit is that it needs to fit perfectly! No loose ankles, arms, or neck and also as little empty space inside the wetsuit as possible. With kids this last one is hard to achieve as they can be really skinny sometimes, but still, this is what you should aim for.
Why is this important? The wetsuit which is too big will not keep you warm! Cold water will constantly get inside or even flow right through it cooling you down and make wearing a wetsuit almost meaningless. So make sure that the wetsuit fits! This is why wetsuits might be a tricky item to get online because you need to get the size exactly right. All the wetsuit brands have size charts that tell you the measurements for each wetsuit size. If you are buying a new wetsuit start by measuring your kid and then try to find which size would fit best. Again, do not go a size up or down when choosing the wetsuits for your child. If you are buying from a store, make sure your child tries the wetsuit on before you buy it.