Tubing Safety

We always made the kids wear life jackets, regardless of swimming skills. We went fast, but not too fast for older kids. For DD, she was in a tube with a parent or teenager when she was 2 and it was just above slack line speed. We didn't take her over bumps or get air.

Now, if you mean floating down a river, I'd make them wear life jackets then, too.

Life jackets for all. It's a question of the speed of the water and what they hit their heads on if they tip over. Are you talking about a lazy float down a stream or a fast-moving and wide river? Big difference.

Are you talking about getting on a tube towed behind a boat? Then a lot has to do with the speed of the boat, skill of the driver, and whether someone else is in charge of watching the kid being towed. And they need hand signals to indicate if they need to stop.

We went on an RV trip that included a campground with a creek for tubing. There was a siren that sounded periodically when the dam was opened upstream to release more water, so it was a head's up to tubers. What we did was tie a rope around our 2 tubes, connecting our son to the adult tuber. He floated about 12-15 feet away so he had the feeling of freedom, but we still had a connection. Sometimes tubing areas have people posted downstream to "catch" any wayward tubers. The thing that was the most challenging was navigating the extremely slippery rocks to get out of the creek. Water shoes with a decent tread were helpful.

My kids were doing that at two with an adult on the tube. They'd had swim lessons but of course were far from strong swimmers. That's what the life jacket is for.

Seriously, at 5 & 7 it would be a shame not to let them. If you have certified life jackets that fit properly they will not just "fall off", that's the point. Trust me, there would be some lawsuits if life preservers just fell off of children!

Have the driver go slowly and have them wear the jackets the ENTIRE time they are in or near the water, not just when you're out on the lake. You have a FAR greater risk of being in a serious car accident than them drowning under the circumstances you describe.

Totally depends upon the location and the amount of supervision. Five is pretty young not to have a dedicated adult in charge of that one child alone.

Even assuming no wildlife (alligators, snakes, bees in dead trees on the river bank), there are always dangers of standing up in shallow water and getting a foot stuck in the rocks. Even for adults. It doesn't take much moving water to push you down. Drowning can happen. But even if not, broken ankles, scrapes and scratches, etc are also risks of bad choices in moving water where there are rocks.

Pretty much everyone should be wearing a life jacket, although most older kids and adults who can swim may choose not to do so. At your kids ages, and especially their level of swimming skills (or lack thereof), they need life jackets and close supervision at all times.

I've floated in tubes in lakes, streams, and rivers, even rafted and kayaked in white water. Water can be dangerous, despite how relaxing and fun it can be. And if you are a few feet away from someone who needs you in the water, it can be too far to be 5 feet away. Hence, I'd only feel comfortable with one-on-one supervision for the kids.

When we took our kids (2 kids) we both went (husband and I) along with a larger group of extended family. We switched off letting the youngest float with us in our tube and staying very close by the older one, never letting him get very far ahead/behind the "free" adult. Even beyond your reach, you need an adult with "free" eyes to watch for them and give them instructions and warnings, and to keep them from doing things they may not remember are dangerous (standing up on rocks in the bottom of the creek/river, when it's relatively shallow, for example).

I wouldn't not go. But I would be prepared to NOT be relaxed much, and to have a one-to-one supervision ratio for my kids. So you and husband. Or another "dedicated" adult that isn't also watching all of your friend's kiddos. You mention hers are swimmers, but not their ages. Unless they are old enough to babysit yours, then they need their mom to be eyes on them.
:)

I hope you have fun and don't forget the sunscreen, bug spray, and water bottles.

We've done lots of river tubing from the age of 7 and it was pretty safe. I'm a strong swimmer and I watched them closely.

Just go and bring life jackets and judge it from there. ETA - re your SWH - The life jackets won't fall off if they are the right size and you secure them properly. I would certainly let a 5 and 7 year old tube behind a boat with life jackets. The driver of the boat just needs to go relatively slowly for younger kids. And make sure you are tubing somewhere where another boat isn't going to run over them. There are often a lot of speed demons out boating.

What is the water like where you will be tubing? Is it a mild float? We have taken our kids tubing on a mild river twice...our youngest was 3.5 and 4.5 those summers. We had her wear a life jacket, and we all stuck together. My husband actually tied our tubes together by the handles. But we were on a super calm river with no real rapids...a few little bumps where the water sped up which the kids loved. Our kids had a BLAST both times...laughing and smiling the entire time we were floating. I think if it is easy water and your kids wear life vests and stay in their tubes they will be fine. I would ask your friend what the water is like...how fast is it, are there rapids, how easy is it to stick together, etc. The river we were on was very mild and it felt very safe. I would definitely take our kids tubing again. They were just talking about it yesterday and how awesome it was!

Do you mean floating down a lazy river or being pulled by a speed boat? If it's pulled by a boat I'd let my kids ride on the boat but not the tube, not at that age.
And make sure they wear real life jackets, not just cheap arm floaties!

the tubes aren't the question, it's the water. if you're tubing down a lazy shallow creek with close wildflower-strewn banks, the risk is minimal. if you're tubing down a fast-moving river with boulders and white-water falls, not so much.
your post doesn't give any indication, so it's impossible to answer.
khairete
S.

I think the biggest thing is the mentality of the driver of the boat. My ex is not a bright light and almost killed our oldest when he fell off and got his ankle caught in the rope. That will pull you under life jacket and all. Dipshit was all I can't stop in the main channel. I had to run over idle the boat and take the keys. It was years before my kids would tube with him.

So I guess I am saying part of tubing safety is having a driver that isn't so stupid that he only remembered half the rules and not all of them. You have the dang orange flag up because you are towing humans and could stop in the main channel for emergencies. It is not a decoration that says I am cool and can pull skiers and tubers! Seriously that is what he thought, can't imagine why he is an ex.

The other thing is if the tow rope is too long do not tie it off in a way that if someone is dumped they can get tangled in it because that is how he got tangled in the first place. He couldn't find the tubing rope and tried to modify the skiing rope. Really they are different enough that I shouldn't have allowed the substitution.

Other than that the life jacket is really all you need. My kids were two when they started tubing but that was with a second adult out there and very slow speed in coves. High speed in the main channel was 8 and older. You don't really have to be a strong swimmer so much as have the knowledge of safety when there are boats around you. You can just float in the life jacket but if a boat doesn't see you you have to either get out of the way or know how to get their attention.

I just want to add I am a strong swimmer and I still wear a life jacket. When you get dumped and hit the water you do not know which way is up especially when you are in a lake that has less than clear water. A life jacket allows you to just let it do its thing and you pop up head first. No one is a good enough swimmer to ever skip the life jacket!

Per your what happened, the only life jackets that may fall off are those awful uncomfortable orange ones. A life jacket that is made for water sports, the kind you should have, will not fall off.

Could your kids swim at least the length of the pool without a lifejacket? Both of my kids were tubing at those ages, but we weren't whipping them over the wake or anything. Also, are your kids strong enough to hold on to the handles?

My suggestion is go with them the first time and see how they do. They also need to know the hand signals for faster, slower and stop. A good lifejacket goes without saying for anyone tubing or anything.

Have fun!

As long as their is an experienced adult behind the wheel of the boat, they will be fine & love it (driver will go slow, it's their first time & their still small)...& the life jackets do help quite a bit with that whole treading water Mom! ;)

Tubing is a blast for kids this age. I guess my son was about 5 when he first went out tubing and he wasn't the strongest swimmer. You don't want to have the generic orange over the shoulder life vests . The boat owner should have age appropriate jackets that have multiple adjustable snaps in the front and cover the entire chest and back area. Never in my many years of boating, tubing, wake boarding, etc. have ever heard or seen one those fall off. And I have wiped out hard, at high rates of speed, so many times I can't even count.

There's unpowered tubing - as in free floating inner tube - down a river - this includes lazy river things and white water rafting.

And then there's tubing - towing an inflated tube (they come in all shapes and sizes - behind a boat or other water vehicle with a motor (I've seen wet bikes tow small tubes (I wouldn't recommend it)) - at varying speeds, sometimes jumping wakes, in straight lines or in circles.
Which kind are you invited to?

Either way - everyone wears a life jacket - no matter what level swimmer they are.

Our son has always worn a life jacket while tubing and he started when he was 8 yrs old (this is behind our boat, not floating down a river).
I"VE always worn a life jacket while tubing and I always will no matter how old I get.
You also wear a jacket if you're water skiing, etc.
Being able to swim is irrelevant.
Accidents can happen, your head could be hit and you want something that can hold you up in the water if you're unconscious.
I think being with a friend is ok but I'd want to know how responsible the driver of the boat is - if they have another adult on the boat spotting the people on the tube (you really need the driver of the boat paying attention to driving the boat to avoid collisions and you need someone watching the kids - some people do this with a mirror but I don't think that's enough) - if the driver is inclined to just tow them or swing them around a lot (it looks like fun but I've injured my shoulders doing that and won't do that anymore!).
If it's a holiday weekend - there are drunk drivers driving boats, wet bikes, etc - everyone needs to pay attention and be careful.

I think your outing could be a lot of fun but go into it knowing what the hazards could be and be on top of safety measures and you'll have a great day on the water!

Additional:
When I say life jacket - I'm talking about a good life vest.
Some models for little kids have a strap that goes around under their legs so there's no way it can slip off over their heads.
They can do this safely.

I would want them to be able to at least tread water also. I think the most important thing is the driver of the boat and their experience - making sure there is no slack in rope etc, it can get tricky. When my kids started, we used a double tube and an adult went with them. If for some reason even though we were going slowish, the kid fell off, the adult bailed off too and swam over to them to wait for the boat to come back around.