Best Kids Wetsuits On The Market

A list of the 5 best kids wetsuits to protect your child when in water.

Buying your child solid kids wetsuits goes a long way not only in ensuring their safety and taking the inevitable precaution when surfing, swimming, or paddle boarding but also for your child feeling comfortable and truly loving and appreciating any water sport.

The wetsuits for kids are especially important because adults can withstand lower temperatures as their body is more resistant. Still, children need the wetsuit’s warmth and insulation that keep the body temperature levels at an optimal range, no matter the water or the weather.

Kids wetsuits nowadays can be found in multiple models and styles as well as thicknesses both for girls and boys, so you have the freedom to choose the right one for the expected water conditions.

Why are wetsuits for kids needed, anyway?

To understand why your child and everyone who surfs or paddles or does any other water sport needs a wetsuit, I will take you back to read why and how wetsuits were invented.

If you went and read that article, you will have a much better understanding as to how wetsuits, including kids wetsuits, work. To summarize, for the sake of being practical and in case you haven’t had the chance to read the article I linked, here is an overview of how wetsuits work.

You see, when it comes to water and staying at a comfortable range of temperature, insulation is everything!

So, when we think of the second law of thermodynamics, it tells us that heat flows from warmer objects to colder ones and not vice versa. For instance, when the air temperature outside is 10°C, and your body is at 36°C, your body’s heat will travel towards to colder air, which will result in you feeling cold rapidly.

The same rule applies when you are in cold water.

Now, back to insulation and how it can save your child from freezing and catching a cold. Namely, insulation is trapping warm air between layers of materials. We do this when we put a few layers of clothing on us, or we do it with neoprene – a popular material used for wetsuits.

Neoprene, what?

Neoprene is a must-have in a wetsuit today. Without digging too deep into the chemistry of it, you should know that neoprene in kids wetsuits is a carbon-based organic chemical-filled nitrogen gas bubbles inside. It is made of repeating building blocks called monomers, which trap heat more efficiently than any other material, even rubbers.

What to look for when buying kids wetsuits?

Apart from the model and sizing that you pick, look for these layers most typically found in a wetsuit:

• A layer of nylon or other soft fabric will stop the neoprene from rubbing and chafing onto your body. It would be even better if you get your child a separate rash vest that will provide some extra insulation and keep the neoprene away for a more comfortable feeling.
  
  
• A thin layer of a heat-reflecting material such as titanium, copper, silver, magnesium, or aluminum. These will bring back the heat as it leaves the body towards the colder water.
  
  
• A thick layer of neoprene contains bubbles of nitrogen which trap warm air and prevent it from leaving into the water. As I said before, this is one of the essential segments of a wetsuit.
  
  
• A durable outer finishing that repels water and is abrasion-resistant.

How do Kids Wetsuits work?

First off, it traps the body’s warmth and does not allow it to leave so easily through the neoprene and the heat-reflecting materials. The thickness of the wetsuits will determine whether that kids wetsuits can protect your child from cold waters. So the thicker the suit is, the colder the water can be.

For more on the warmth and temperature of wetsuits, check out this wetsuit temperature guide.

The second benefit of a child wetsuit is the buoyancy it adds in the water. There are air bubbles built in that keep you warm but also keep you afloat on the surface easily, which helps in the protection and safety of your child when in water.

Lastly, kids wetsuits will give your child higher hydrodynamics due to its S.C.S. or Super Composite Skin coating. This coating is added to repel water from the surface of the suit allowing your child to be lighter and faster in the water.

Sizing and Putting Kids Wetsuits on

In order to teach your child how to correctly put their wetsuit on, you should also inform yourself on the matter. By learning how to put kids wetsuits on, they will be able to preserve it for a longer time because plenty of damage can be done to a wetsuit by not putting it on properly.

However, getting the sizing right also plays a vital role in putting the wetsuit on as it should be. So, before moving onto the list with the 5 best kids wetsuits, let’s briefly talk about sizing and wearing a wetsuit.

The two most important references in the sizing of a child wetsuit are the height and the weight of the child.

Then you have the chest dimensions, which also need to be fitted correctly so that the wetsuit doesn’t press your child or fits loosely too much. If you get the chest size wrong, your child might have a tough time getting into the wetsuit, or it could feel significantly constricting in the arms, which will not be ideal for paddling or any other activity in the water.

One of the two scenarios are possible when you don’t get your kids wetsuits sizing right:

1. If you get a poorly-fitted wetsuit and it is too small, your child will find his/her movement restricted, and they will not be as comfortable as they should be. In this case, your child won’t be able to wear anything below the wetsuit, and here you can see why I recommend wearing undergarments (read my article “What to Wear Under a Wetsuit “), then a suit too small will start rubbing against the skin and chafing. Plus, when putting on a wetsuit that’s too tight, a lot of stress is placed on the internal seams causing them to leak and break down faster and thin out the neoprene.
   
   
2. On the other hand, if your kid’s wetsuit is too big, then it will be easy for them when putting it on, but the whole water leakage system won’t work correctly. Instead of letting a little bit of water inside and not flushing it out in order to warm them up, it will continuously be flushing out the warm water and letting new cold water in. That would be as if your child isn’t wearing any suit at all.

Note that a wetsuit loosens after a few times of wearing it, so keep that in mind when buying wetsuits for kids so that you don’t buy one that is too loose.

Kids Wetsuits: The 5 Best Wetsuits for Kids

O’Neill Youth Reactor 2

When looking for a kids wetsuit with O’Neill Youth Reactor 2, look no further. They already lead the market with their wetsuits of all kinds, but the Youth Reactor 2 now comes updated and is one of the best-selling kids wetsuits.

This wetsuit comes with flatlock seams, high stretch neoprene, solid knee padding, and back zip for easy on and off. Also of note are the “seamless paddle zones,” which allow for the maximum mobility while swimming and paddling.

However, I have done further research and listed all its benefits below so that you can have a quick overview of why the O’Neill Youth Reactor 2 is one of the top 5 choices when it comes to kids wetsuits.

With that said, let’s run a quick overview of what this suit offers.

As a part of its latest update, the Reactor 2 now comes with new colors and fresh models. However, it’s not only the exterior that they recently upgraded. Namely, the Reactor 2 now comes with the pairing of Ultraflex Neoprene, Fluidfoam, and a double seal neck, which is adjustable to create an even better fit and feel when wearing this kids wetsuit.

It is available in 3/2mm thickness and a shortly 2/2mm. With full and spring suit models, the O’Neill Youth Reactor 2 is an excellent option for beginner’s level surfing, diving, paddle sports, and other aquatic activities.

S. Zhou, a verified customer, says:

“I bought this for my 11-year-old niece who dives with me. She is a size ten kid with a normal build, and the size ten is what I ordered. It fit her great. The arm and leg lengths were right on, and the only initial complaint was that the neck was a little snug.

After 3 hours in the pool and four dives in the ocean, she had zero problems and never mentioned the neck snugness. I probably just did the zipper flap too tight the first time and made sure not to do that during our dives in the ocean. She really likes this wet suit!”

O’Neill Toddler Reactor-2 Spring Wetsuit

This 2mm back-zip short sleeve kids wetsuit is another solid one by O’Neill you can count on.

Namely, a spring suit always guarantees more flexibility and freedom of movement. With its high-quality materials, it offers U.P.F. 50+ Ultraviolet Protection with cleanly designed graphics and minimal seam placement for rash prevention.

I personally think this child wetsuit is fantastic for a one-day trip to the beach or a lake where the child would be in constant activity in the water and out in the open because of the Ultraviolet Protection and the neoprene that keeps your child safe from harmful sun rays.

With that, let’s run a quick overview of what this suit offers.

K.A.E., a verified customer, says:

“Followed the size chart that I found online, and the size 2 fit my 3-year-old daughter perfectly (38 inches, 30lbs)… it’s tight enough around the legs and arms to keep her warm, with just a little room in the crotch to grow.

She’s a slim little one and has been hovering between 27-30lbs for about a year, so I’m not too worried about her growing out of this too quickly. If your little one, however, is her size but gaining weight at a faster pace, you might want to go up to a size 3. Just be careful not to size up too much. …a loose wetsuit won’t keep you warm :)”

O’Neill Toddler Reactor 2mm

This back-zip shorty kids wetsuit is another model in the O’Neill toddler section for in-between seasons. The smart mix of neoprene with the rest of the high-quality materials are cleverly layered so that your child gets high performance and freedom of movement but is also protected from the elements.

With that, let’s run a quick ov