Customer Reviews

O'Neill Reactor Toddler Spring (Navy/Crip, 1)

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[Edit 6/15/2011 - Upgraded rating from a four star to a five star. We now put a rashguard on him under the wetsuit and this pads out the chest area a bit more which makes him much warmer. We use this wetsuit in this way every day now.]

I bought this 2mm neoprene wetsuit for my 17m old son who loves to be taken swimming. We've used this wet suit under three conditions: Ocean Surf wading (low 60s, worked excellent), Splash pad (low 60s, worked excellent), and Pool (mid 80s, worked very well (no rashguard worn under)) and Pool (mid 70s, with rashguard under, worked excellent). We bought the Pacific Sunburst color, it's very cute.

Background: My son (who apparently is part fish) loves to spend a lot of time in the water, generally he will want to spend up to 20mins in at once, even if the water is in the low 60s. He normally will only come out once his lips start turning blue and he's shivering quite a bit. So I decided to buy him a wetsuit for this summer season. We plan on mainly using it for pool use this summer, but it's also just seen a week of heavy use in SoCal at the Pacific Ocean where the temps have been low-ish 60s this last week.

Product Function: The ideal wetsuit fits quite tightly in order to keep the swimmer warm. If there's an area of looseness, then new, colder water is constantly swishing in at that point and the swimmer gets cold in that area. This O'Neill shorty (i.e. short sleeved on arms and legs) spring suit is made of 2mm neoprene which is a decent thickness of neoprene for slightly chilly waters like pools and the Pacific. There are 'hybrid' suits that include lycra sections for freedom of movement, but these don't keep the swimmer quite as warm. Thermoprene, which I've never personally worn (and likewise neither has my son), is supposed to be a class better than neoprene, but it's a different price point. For our use, SoCal Pacific beaches, Splash Pad, and Pools, I'm happy I chose 2mm neoprene for my son. As a note, neoprene also provides an extra amount of buoyancy, so for the learning-to-swim toddler it should give a little bit of extra lift (not enough to float) to give your adult arms a tiny help.

O'Neill's Child Wetsuit Sizing Chart: I thought I'd provide O'Neill's sizing chart for the toddler/child sizes. It took some digging to find it, I'll post how to navigate O'Neill's site to this product's discussion forum for those who want to see the full Youth sizes (Size 8-16), and/or the equivalent Metric sizing.

Note: If your child wears a swim diaper, take waist measurements with diaper ON.
Size 1 (Toddler): Height: 2'10.5" - 3'2.5"; Weight: 25-30lbs; Chest: 19"-21"; Waist: 18"-20"
Size 2 (Toddler) : Height: 3'2.5" - 3'6.5"; Weight: 30-35lbs; Chest: 20"-22"; Waist: 19"-21"
Size 3 (Toddler) : Height: 3'6.5" - 3'10.5"; Weight: 35-40lbs; Chest: 21"-23"; Waist: 20"-22"
Size 4 (Child): Height: 3'10.5" - 4'1.5"; Weight: 40-55lbs; Chest: 23"-25"; Waist: 20"-22" (NB: Not a typo, waist is supposedly the same as Size 3)
[NB: Size 5 doesn't exist in this product, it jumps to Size 6]
Size 6 (Child): Height: 4'1.5" - 4'45"; Weight: 50-65lbs; Chest: 24.5"-26.5"; Waist: 21"-23"

The fit: For wetsuit fit, you're supposed to pay special attention to the waist and chest sizing. Height and weight are offered more as guidelines. As I mentioned above, take waist measurements with swim diaper on. We bought my 27lb, 35" (2'11" tall) (I include his full dimensions below) son the Size 1, which is the smallest size available. He's a slim fit: Tall, with only moderate weight. We found the suit fit excellent on the waist and on the legs. The chest area has a lot of space on him, however. The effect of this is that my son is kept very warm for wading into the ocean, and running out onto the splash pad, but not so warm when we take him swimming in a pool, because he's constantly getting cold water entering at the chest area. It still wasn't bad in the mid-80s pool, but he did get quite chilly in about 20mins, it definitely still helped. The next time I put him in the pool, I might try putting a rashguard shirt on him as well to try to pad out the chest area, I'll update if that seems to help. [Edit 6/15/2011: We've been using the rashguard underneath, and it really helps pad out his chest area to keep him warm. I'd say pool use excellent now. We love this wetsuit, my son brings it over to us when he wants to go swimming...] It strikes me that most children would be larger in the waist than they would be in the chest area, especially in the lowest sizes. But all in all, I'd say that Size 1 (25-30lbs) runs a bit large: If your child is only about 25lbs, I would think this suit would be a bit too loose on them, and hence, not as warm as you would like it, but depending on the water temperatures it still might be better than nothing....

My son's dimensions, we bought him a Size 1:
Height: 35" (2'11"); Weight: 27lbs.
Waist/hips: 19.5" in swim diaper
Chest: Around 19.5

Playability: The wetsuit claims to have a material in the upper torso that enables better upper body motion. My son definitely can get around in the suit. After his Splash Pad play, he kept it on and ran over and played for a long time on the playground equipment, he seemed to have a full range of movement in it. No chafing at all, the seams are totally flat, so it doesn't aggravate. At the beach, he crawled around for about 0.5 hour each day, playing in the sand and chasing seagulls. It's rated as a UPF50+ in terms of sun protection. It dries quickly, not only in the desert sun, but also at the Ocean. We've managed to dress him in this suit while it was wet as well, it's not too hard to pull on him.

Zipper: The suit has a rear zipper, so your child won't be able to get into or out of the suit by themselves, which can be good and bad, I would guess, depending on the age of the child. There is a pull on the end of the zipper to make it easier to zip up and down. The zipper is a high quality YKK zipper, so you don't have to worry about the teeth getting jammed.

Care: Just in case a person is new to wetsuits, just thought I'd mention the care is simple: Rinse in clear water after use, hang to dry. No washing machine, and absolutely no dryer. In terms of drying, don't let it just hang out in the sun too much (i.e. just lying out by the pool for most of every day), it'll start to degrade the material. Keep it flat as much as possible, i.e. don't ball it up for storage or travel. Don't store it folded, ie. folded in a drawer, instead hang it on a plastic hanger.

Overall, I'm very happy with the Size 1, at a starting weight of 27lbs, my son should be able to wear it all summer. I'm happy that I chose 2mm neoprene, it works even when the Pacific is chilly, and at the Splash Pad, equally chilly. It's very playable, my son is great with wearing it, and it really helps keep him warm while he's playing in the ocean, pool, and splash pad. It's not perfect for the pool due to the space at the chest area, but with a rashguard underneath, it's an amazing help.

I searched high and low for a wetsuit for my three year old daughter. We go to Canada every summer and the water is always "refreshing". Mid-sixties. This shorty made all the difference for her to be more comfortable in the water for longer periods of time. Very comfortable in and out of the water. She couldn't wait to put it on each and every time. The fit was right on. Great quality. A little extra room in the crotch area which is perfect to get us a few more months of wear while in the south where we can ski certainly well into the fall. My daughter measures 39" in height, three years old and was about 21 inches from neck to crotch. We got her a size 3. I would buy another.

I can't recommend this model suit highly enough - my daughter has been wearing them happily for a year. They're spendy, but I put a high priority on her learning to swim. To ensure that she is warm enough to enjoy lessons, this expense is worth it to me.

NOTE: I don't recommend it for a super-skinny kid - the suit must be snug to work properly. Buying "room to grow" in a wetsuit will backfire by letting too much water circulate while swimming. This style has room for a little toddler-chub. Best to order two sizes and return one so you can be sure of a good fit.

Great suit that helps keep my children warm as long as it has a snug fit. It also provides some UV protection. If you are applying sunscreen lotion on the arms and legs of you child, be careful as not to get sunscreen lotion on the suit, it will discolor any area on the suit with sunscreen lotion on it.
The suit is also great for playing on the beach, as it helps prevent sand from entering into the swimwear.

It was exactly what we were looking for and wanted. It keeps our daughters warm when they're in the water and the bright colors make it easier for us to keep track of them out in a crowd. We loved it so much that we bought the next size up for when our girls out grow their current size.