I read a bunch of reviews when shopping for a float for my 19 month old and this one seemed to fit the bill. He doesn't swim yet and has tubes in his ears, so he can't get water in his ears. This float keeps him above water ( the water is at chest level), I can put his toys and sippy cup on the rings, he can get himself around, can't climb out of it and he's happy. it's easy to just throw the float in the car, no need to deflate. The only drawback is that it's a bit tricky to get my son in and out of the float, but I don't know how that could be fixed. I definitely reccommend this float.