It’s strange to talk about this in a tropical climate, but contrary to what people think, swimming warmers are needed here because people try to swim when the sun is not too hot to avoid getting severe sunburn or getting dark (yes it’s sadly still a Filipino/Asian thing, though I personally love getting a healthy tan that requires no sunbathing & I’m protected from dangerous rays).
But the practical aspect of this is that indeed with the crazy heat of the tropics, it’s really recommended to swim only before 10am or after 3pm to reduce the risk of skin cancer. Or you have many pools, like ours, that don’t get any direct sunlight. So it might be a warm 37C day, but the water is cold coz it doesn’t get warmed by the sun.
This is why I realized we need warmers to enjoy our time in the pool and be able to swim longer than 30mins without our lips turning blue. We’ve tried different warmers and these so far are the best and most affordable too.
BABY NEOPRENE SWIMSUIT WARMERS
For babies up to 24months they have warmers of different sizes in Mothercare. It’s really great at regulating their temperature in the pool especially since babies are sensitive to cold. This prevented DiploBaby from getting sick after swimming.
WHY WE AVOID FULL NEOPRENE WARMERS
DiploBaby wore this long after he had outgrown it because we couldn’t find a nice neoprene suit locally. First we tried this full neoprene suit from Decathlon. It’s super affordable but not for swimming because it chafes the arms and neck area because of the stiff neoprene.
Another brand we tried that also caused chafing was Speedo, which was super expensive, around P4,000 for one piece. Here you can see it’s full neoprene construction and after 1-2 hours in the pool the arms and neck area would be very red.
Full neoprene toddler warmers are not meant for toddlers that swim strokes & have long swimming sessions. DiploBaby usually swims for 1-2hours using breaststroke or freestyle. However I think it is okay for toddlers that do not swim by themselves yet and are mostly held or even suitable for short snorkeling sessions, without too much swimming arm movement. If that is what you plan then this is a suitable warmer:
For a baby that swims with arm motions – like DiploBaby who started swimming lessons at 2yo – we need a suit that has stretchy collar, arm and side panels. I did a lot of research and finally got really good ones at a great price! 2 pieces for the price of P4,000 or one Speedo.
LONG SLEEVE OR SHORT?
If you want to reduce the amount of sunblock that you are wearing because it can contain toxic ingredients that our skin can absorb or ingredients that can interact with elements and become harmful, and are also harmful to marine life and killing the reefs, then you can definitely opt for long sleeve warmers.
If you are using it for a pool that doesn’t have a lot of sunlight like ours, you can get a short sleeve warmer.
We got long sleeves for ourselves so that we can use it also to protect us from the sun when we are in the beach or snorkeling.
WARMER FOR TODDLERS
These Cressi Toddler Warmers for Toddlers & Kids are amazing. They have them for boys & girls, from 1-10years old. You can order them here:
We’ve had them since DiploBaby was a size Medium and now I’m about to order for him the XL size. Usually, I get 2 so that he has a 2nd one while the other is drying. We use it in our cold pool and when we are in the beach so he applies less sunblock and to moderate his temperature so he doesn’t get too cold in the water.
I use the size guide below and so far, it’s been pretty accurate. DiploBaby is turning 5 in August, and weighs almost 23kg. The large still fits him but if he has another growth spurt, I need the XL size ready so I’m ordering it on Amazon using Amazon Global Shipping for quick delivery through air freight. It usually ends up about Php2,000 per piece inclusive of door-to-door shipping, which is half the price of a Php 4,000 Speedo toddler neoprene suit locally.
The cost of 2pcs + shipping the the Philippines is the cost of 1 speedo kids warmer that we couldn’t use because the neoprene arms/collar were chafing DiploBaby bady. It was an expensive mistake and so we’ve been using Cressi ever since. Cressi is a well-known Italian Diving Brand.
He used to have the long sleeves too but the short sleeves is easier to put on our chunky booboo. This is how it looks. Should be okay though if your kid has a slimmer profile.
WARMERS FOR MOM & DAD
The pool is cold for us too so these are the neoprene warmers we use from Decathlon. We’ve also tried the short sleeves ones and they are quite good too!
For Men | Short sleeves
For Women | Short sleeves
Hope this helps you spend more time swimming and enjoying the water without fear of sun damage nor getting too cold!
Let me know in the comments if you have other questions!
All images not taken by me are are credited to their brands/owners.
WHERE TO BUY
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