I guess there is no such thing as too young for the child, however some parents may be too young for the task     several years ago while ice fishing, I was aproached by a couple ski-ing and pulling sleds with gear. they were out for an overnighter. While we were chatting about conditions and such, I noticed an infant was tucked in blankets in one of the sleds, I also noticed everyone including the infant seemed very relaxed and happy  ...so guess it depends on what your conditioned to 

Yep- I have also used them to carry injured folks across portages-think bucket seat....multiple uses. 

Outstanding info all!  Thank you for the pointers.

I'm a transplant from So. California where I grew up (I left as soon as I could... can't stand the crowding, pollution, and politics!).  What surprised me is how few people in the midwest can swim well.  Out there, learning to swim before reaching kindergarden age seemed to be the norm.  While it was a desert with no good lakes to speak of, there was the beach.  I was body surfing and bobbing in waves as young as I can remember.  In grade school I was on swim teams.  Yet here in the midwest, it seems few youngsters learn to swim beyond a feeble head-up dog paddle.

Everyone on my trips wears a pfd whenever they are on the water.  I've had a canoe "turn turtle" a couple of times (overloaded and unstable, or hitting a submerged rock in wind/waves).  Even though I'm a strong swimmer, that's been enough to make a believer out of me.  Doubly so for any youth or kids in the group.

Other good uses for pfds:  pillows, seat cushions on hard rocks / logs, wind shells on cool days.  They are actually quite useful in the BW/Q beyond just keeping you upright in the water!

ws

PFD's are widely available. We also have the same rule, and Dad has to follow it too. Shoes always on too. We also run bug shirts so DEET is not necessary; not good for the we ones U know. Ah, the mickey pole!

Woodstripper, they make good PFD's for kids and/or you can modify them as well.  My wife and I did some of each.

Things to look for -
1 Make sure that they have a head flap or pad that helps keep their head out of the water ( this is mostly for infants ).      
2 Make sure that they will turn the kids face up if they go in the water.    3 Make sure that there is a grab strap near the head so that you can pluck them out of the water if needed. 
4 Make sure that there is a strap between the legs so that the PFD doesn't slip up over their head.
Some of our kids PFD's we added these things, some of them we got most of what we wanted right out of the box.

One of our rules for our kids until they were about 7 or 8, and could swim well on their own, was that when they were out of the tent they had their PFD on PERIOD. Then it is a lot less hassle trying to keep track of them and worrying if they are near the water or not. If you heard a splash, they were too close, but they learn fast that way. Wearing their PFD's full time also acted like body armour for the inevitable falls they took. We also allowed each of our kids to "fall out" of the canoe before they were 2 years old. You can only tell them so many times to quit leaning over the side so far. None of my kids fell out more than once. 

My wife was pregnant to some degree on a lot of our trips in those early years. 7 months was the farthest along she ever was. That was a 16 day trip with 20+ portages including the 950m out of Brent and the 1000m into Pond. We also swam the Brewer Rapids that year for fun.
I know - we are crazy - but man do we have so many great family memories from the Q, and all of our kids have turned out so far...no damage other than a craving for the wilderness each summer.
Gene M

Well. . .she probably doesn't remember much.   

I too brought a couple of my kids in at three years old. And now the PFD's are so much better. My oldest is now 27 and at three I got a picture of him with Dorothy up there on Knife Lake... That's twenty five years ago. Then a few years later I brought my young family up when my one daughter was three and my other daughter was two months away from being born. My kids still have memories of that trip over twenty years later... especially my second son who caught a five pound northern on his brothers mickey mouse fishing pole... He's quite the fisherman today. I just wonder if two months befor you were born is too young. 

There are PFD's that are toddler-size and they should wear them whenever they are near the water, as well as when they are in the canoe.  They get used to them quickly.  We never took our children to the canoe country when they were small, but we have a lake cottage, so we have had PFD's for the grandchildren since toddler age.

I think it is also a good idea to begin young to take a child into the water, just for the sake of comfort, so that they aren't terrified if they should fall in.  Floating around in the PFD is fun, and good practice just in case they should ever end up in the water by accident.

I took my kids as soon as I could... but two were already in their teens (hey!  I was in the Navy, and we didn't live anywhere near Lake Country).  But now I'm a new grandfather, and would like to take the wee one (and her mother would love to go as well!).

Practical question:  How does one ensure the safety of a toddler that doesn't swim yet?  Are there such things as pfd's for such small critters?