When will infants (under the age of 1) be required to wear a lifejacket?
The legislation is unclear as to whether infants under 1 year are required to wear a lifejacket but this will be clarified in the near future. Given this situation NSW Maritime does not currently require that an infant under 1 year must wear a lifejacket but we are advising you to please give very careful consideration to waiting until the baby is older before taking them boating. While lifejackets are available for infants (for example the Plastimo Typhoon http://www.yachtandboat.com.au/shop/item/typhoon-baby-pfd-1 ), some infants are too small for any lifejacket. Babies up to 1 year of age can be too small for a lifejacket to be effective due to variation in body mass and the proportional weight of a baby’s head may cause it to tilt face first into the water if they are too small to be properly supported by the lifejacket. For a lifejacket to be effective it must be worn, fit snugly and securely and not allow the child’s head to slip through the neck hole, generally by incorporating
