Consistent front-back swimsuit color makes kids easier to track in the pool

Richard's hack is one that would never become apparent unless you're in the situation:

I made the mistake last year of buying my son a set of swim trunks that are red on the front, but black on the back.  This makes him MUCH harder to find in a crowd, especially since every other piece of clothing he owns is color consistent front-to-back.

A brightly-colored swim shirt also helps make a kid spottable in a crowded pool, which is especially useful when you're keeping track of more than one kid.

Comments

[Jill in Atlanta]

Also,watch out for fake drawstrings on boys swim trunks! When the elastic goes, and especially for skinny boys, having a usable drawstring is vital.

[Betsy]

On a related color note, although I am not into cutsie stuff, on my latest long airplane trip with 2 boys 3.5 and almost 2, I dressed them in matching bright rugby shirts. It was great for a number of reasons - people could tell they were together so when one was 5 steps in front of me and the other 3 steps to the side, no one was worried. Two, it was cutsie and people do seem to like that. Three, it made spotting them very easy. The airports weren't crowded so I could let them run and could spot them quite easily.

I try to dress in odd bright solid colors if I know we are going to be somewhere crowded like the zoo. But I have never done the "matching" thing.

[lisa]

A friend of mine who has four kids always dresses his kids in matching orange or lime green when they're out in public--including at the pool. He even acknowledges that it's obnoxious, but it sure does make it easier to watch all the kids.

They even dress any extra kids they have with them (like a friend or cousin) in a matching sweatshirt or t-shirt. His wife is a savvy thrift-store shopper, so they always have extras.

[Amanda]

Nice tip! I wouldn't know though, we are never around a crowd so big that our daughter gets lost. Something nice about living in a small town:)

[Jennifer Lakin]

When my older boys were little they had a swim teacher who said to never buy them black or blue/aqua trunks. No colors that might blend with the bottom of a pool (think the lines on the bottom for the black) or the color of a lake.

So my kids always had red or orange or yellow or crazy print trunks. It definitely did make them easier to find with a quick look.

[Abel]

Another simple but useful tip. It didn't occur to me that this is quite handy when the pool is crowded. Great tip.

[Ann at mommysecrets]

I haven't ever dressed my kids in matching clothes, but when I added child #3 (making all children under age 5), I started dressing the older boys in matching colors. It makes it SOOOO much easier to keep track of them!

We also try to dress them in swimsuits of the same color, so I only have to watch for one color in the pool.

[JT]

I color-code my boys, too! The eldest has claimed orange as his favorite color, and the middle likes green. So Jake has three neon orange bathing suits, and Danny has neon green. Thanks to Target, they were inexpensive, and I can easily keep my eye on their little neon tushies at the pool.

[Saoirse]

My sister always wears the same color shirt as her kids have on in some way (she has a red shirt, toddler has his red hoodie on that day) so that way when she needs to find them, she is easily reminded of what color they are wearing.