Home > Choose Toddler Clothes > Swimwear

Childrens Swimwear - How to Choose Swimwear for Toddlers

Why is it important to get the right swimwear for our children. It’s important to get the right swimwear for our children because our world is seeing the effects of hotter weather.

We need to take responsibility for protecting our children from the effects of the sun’s more harmful rays. The UK alone has been seeing record temperatures of 37 degrees with regular late 40 degree temperatures being seen in other parts of the world.

Even on cloudy days, the effect of the sun on our children’s skin can still be damaging. Recent research suggests that the majority of adult skin damage currently seen actually took place when we were children playing outside in the summer.

Advice on how to protect children when they are in the sun can be found in this guide and at Safe Campaign Web site. Research suggests that we need to ensure our children wear UV protective clothing and a sun factor of 40 or more if we are to help prevent the occurrence of skin damage in later life.

Many of us who are now parents or grandparents may have grown up during the seventies and eighties when it was de rigeur to frazzle ourselves in olive oil or sun oil lying in the sun with limited or no protection at all. This is not the way forward for our children.

UV Protective Clothing and Swimwear

There are many companies now providing UV protective swimwear and sun hats for young children and toddlers. It is not recommended that babies under 12 months old should feel the effects of the sun on their skin. When investigating UV protection swimwear clothing it is vital to understand what it does. Ideally, you are looking for information from the swimwear brand that states the swimwear comes with a 40+ or 50+ sun blocking effect and is approved by an official body as UV protection clothing.

The scalp is just as vulnerable to the effects of the sun if not more so, because it is usually covered by the hair. The sun does strike at the crown first directly at right angles. Short or sparse hair (in the case of some babies and toddlers) leaves the scalp unprotected.

Try and encourage children from a young age to get used to wearing sun hats. And let them choose their own – if Thomas the Tank Engine, Bear in the Big Blue House or Noddy could work alongside some of the top UV protection clothing companies to produce a sun hat or branded UV protection swimwear for children that would be a fantastic thing.

If your child won’t wear a hat then you need to use a lotion on the scalp with an SPF of at least 30 or 40.

UV Protection Swimwear companies

Lion in the Sun is one of a number of swimwear companies specifically concerned with making sure children have sun protection when playing and enjoying themselves outdoors whether in the swimming pool, paddling pool or in the park.

Lion in the Sun offers one piece and two piece swimsuits made of fast-drying UV protective material for children aged from 2 to 12. But Lion in the Sun stresses that even though its sun protection clothing is being worn, children still need to have sun cream applied.

The Lion in the Sun swimwear set is designed to fit all body shapes and is unisex. The UV swimwear set offers the same protection as a 50+ sunblock, and blocks more than 97 per cent of the sun's harmful rays. Made from Australian Dupont Lycra, the suit is lightweight and comfortable to wear, wet or dry. It is approved to AS/NZS 4399:1996 for UV protection clothing.

Zoggs, Platypus Australia and Koolsun all offer sun protection swimwear for toddlers and children.

Platypus Australia produces UV protective swimwear and sun protection childrenswear including matching beachwear. Platypus produces surf inspired ranges for children from 2 to 8 years old and youths from 10 to 14 years old.

Platypus Australia's clothing ensures the wearer maximum sun protection, blocking out at least 97.5 per cent of harmful ultraviolet radiation. This meets the strict criteria of both the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) and the British Standard for ultraviolet radiation.

Platypus swimwear has been designed for children who just have to be active. The clothing is extremely comfortable, durable but it still retains a stylish look and offers more sun protection than many other swimwear ranges.

Koolsun swimwear is designed by parents for parents of babies and children. Koolsun uses polycotton and polyester for its swimwear designs.

Polyester is a man-made fabric, which results in a garment, which is extremely light and comfortable to wear, with excellent quick drying and chlorine resistant properties.

Polycotton is a more natural fabric and feels more like the t-shirts that you put on your children. This is ideal for infant or sensitive skins, but takes a little longer to dry than polyester.

Both fabrics achieve the same SPF of 50+ and fit in the same way. Neither of the fabrics are hot to wear, and it is purely down to parental preference which fabric is chosen.

Polycotton is used in Koolsun’s baby wetties swimwear range because it feels it is more pleasant for the infant if they are not put in totally synthetic fabrics.

Koolsun made a decision to stop using nylon lycra as it is thought to be too hot and clammy to wear.

Zoggs is passionate about safe swimming so launched some of the first UV protection swimming suits as standard in 1992 and launched in Europe in 1994. Zoggs swimwear for toddlers and children tends to come with a UV protection factor of 50.

Zoggs produces a great range of swimwear and swimming accessories including swimsuits, swimming goggles, kickboards and armbands. Originally started in Australia and with roots firmly embedded there, Zoggs products can be found all around the world.

Zoggs uses CR25 fabric, a particular kind of fabric to make toddler and children’s swimwear that they really believe offers the highest available protection.

Performance CR25 fabric is the latest in high performance chlorine resistant swimwear fabrics. The all-way stretch and recovery wrap knitted fabric ensures both comfort and fit while offering up to two times longer life than conventional swimwear in chlorinated water.

CR25 offers UPF50+ sun protection rating resists bagging and fading and has a low water absorbency – therefore the swimwear will dry quickly.

To find out more about where you can buy baby, toddler and children’s clothes online then visit our Where To Buy Baby and Toddler Clothes section to find out which shops stock different brands and all you need to know about delivery timescales, postage and packaging, and returns policy.

If you want to know more about the different toddler and baby clothes brands that are available then have a look at our comprehensive Toddler and Baby Clothes Brand section.