Larry, I think you're missing an important point: People who take small
children on the water are advocating the most effective PFD ever used - the
live, thinking, caring, responding, type AAA; an adult wearing a suitable
PFD with just the child's wellbeing in mind. This type provides a level of
safety no manufactured piece of cloth and floatation can ever begin to
emulate.

You won't find any of these on the shelf of any PFD store, nor will you find
CG specs for manufacturers to follow. What you can find, if you look and
listen, are experienced parents who have been taking their babies on the
water for years and have developed very safe methods for protecting the
lives of their offspring in most any life-threatening situation. This takes
the general form of having an adult wearing a PFD in constant proximity to
the child, with the child's welfare his sole responsibility in the event of
a problem.

Padeen