Gear Review: Sun Protection Zone Hoodie Long Sleeve Suit

One fateful day I was wandering through Costco when lo and behold a vendor had a bunch of rash guards and swim covers for kids and adults.

Before I begin this review, yes. I bought my daughter a boy rash guard. They didn't have any pink ones in the size and style I wanted. Go ahead. Judge me.

These things are made by a company called Sun Protection Zone. It was just what our daughter needed for our upcoming kayak trip. I wanted to share it with you because I feel it has a few features that I put this product above the rest.

(FYI: I bought their smallest size, size 2, which I assume is synonymous with 2T)

1. The Hoodie

"Someone call CPS. I'm really a girl."

 

Be still my beating heart. What is it about hoodies that makes an outfit a zillion times cuter?

Okay, cuteness is the real reason the hoodie sold me BUT if you have a child who refuses to wear hats it's a nice feature. It doesn't have to be strapped under the chin (which is what I find bothers my daughter the most) and is lightweight. It protects their head neck and ears all at once!

3. Long Sleeves

This feature is great if you're going to be out on the lake or river all day. Nothing fries your poor scandinavian skin faster than reflected light off the water. There are a lot of one piece rash guards out there for kids that have 3/4 sleeves and not so many with full length sleeves. Sure, you could always slap some sunscreen on, but if you're anything like me it's all too easy to forget.

Rachel was 11 months when she wore this suit*. It was a little loose and the arms were really long, but the elastic made it so it was never sliding over her wrists. I'm actually glad it's such a large size because I know it will last us for at least another year.

*my daughter has always been on the average to small side. Think 20-45 percentile in height.


2. Crotch Snaps (A blessing! A blessing from the Lord!)

I'm not sure why this feature isn't advertised on the website because it is soooo handy. It was actually the deciding factor in on whether I would spend the money on this product or not. (The snaps only come in the smallest size,size 2.)

Let me tell you about these snaps. They saved my butt.

So we were driving up to the lake and I turned to Eli, my husband, and say "We need to make sure we change Rachel's diaper before we leave the dock." We arrived at the lake, loaded up all our gear, lathered on the sunscreen and made sure we had everything since we were boating to our campsite and wouldn't return until the next morning.

It wasn't until we were in our kayaks, too far from the dock to turn around, with no place to park our 'yaks on shore, that Rachel started to freak out. At first I just thought she was upset about having to wear a PFD, so I frantically shoved some chocolate covered raisins in her mouth. That worked for like 2 minutes and then she started to scream. Then it came to me...

Crap on a stick, we forgot to change her diaper.

Obviously not a photo of the said diaper nightmare.

Desperately I wedged my boat between some boulders while Eli did his best to keep the wind from blowing me around. You can image how much space I didn't have on the bed of my one person kayak to change a poopy diaper. What if I had had to take her entire suit off to change her diaper? It would have been a double nightmare. But as it was, it was only a single nightmare. Those snaps saved me I tell you!

Kayaking with Infants Tip of the Day: 

Change your kid's diaper. Change it before you do anything else.

Well, there you have it. I highly recommend getting a SPZ one-piece suit for your infant if you're going on any kind of lake or river trip with them. It really served us well.