Before I begin with some tips, I should quickly explain that I am qualified to share swimming tips with you. I once watched a lady blow into her child's face and throw her underwater because she thought that if she could make her daughter suck air in really quickly she could get her to go under. That lady is not qualified to share swimming tips and it was clear to me when her child came up choking. Just no to that.
I was a certified water safety instructor, life guard, swim coach, and aquatics director. I have swam with hundreds of babies, children and adults. I have taught group lessons as large as 25 per class (4 year olds...yeah, be impressed), taught one on one adult and child lessons, and coached a few kiddos to state swim meets.While teaching swim lessons plays out in many different ways, I can safely say that I think I know what I am talking about.
So let's start with some tips and if you have questions, just ask and I can clarify.
1- Swimming starts at home. You can safely teach your child, even your 3 month old baby, how to hold their breath. I recommend that you use some sort of command like "Ready, Set, Go" "Child's Name, Ready, Go" or "1,2,3" and then start to pour water over their head (eventually their face). This is called conditioning, you are training your child that when you say those commands that they need to hold their breathe. This is really perfect for babies because it is their natural instinct, they lose it somewhere between 3-6 months and 18 months. Often times if I am swimming with an 18 month old or younger I will dunk them in the water and 9 times out of 10 they come up fine, no coughing or anything which lets me know that they held their breath. If you don't believe me, look at you tube videos of 6 month olds swimming, especially the Australian ones where this is practiced a lot. It's flipping awesome.
2- This goes hand in hand with # 1, teach them that it is okay to get their face wet. Make a big deal out of it when you dump water on their face or an even bigger deal if they are jumping into the pool. But for the love of donuts, please do not teach them that they need to wipe their eyes. Ugh, just no. I know as parents or caretakers, you can't handle it when water is all over your face. I can't either but trust me, you will never see me wipe my eyes in front of a child because they will pick it up. Your child needs to learn that it is okay to be wet. I once told a little boy that his eyes were made out of water and it was totally safe, a year later he reminds me that I was wrong about that. Oh well, guess who is going under the water now?
3- Blowing bubbles is a great thing to learn in the bathtub. Little ones will think it is hilarious especially if you are practicing for them. If they are over the age of 2 and you haven't done a lot of bubble blowing, you may have to use some toys to help them understand that it's not scary at all. I use ping pong balls and when you blow bubbles next to the ball, it will move. Another great idea is to start to teach them to blow those soap bubbles. You know what I mean....the ones where that darn wand is stuck in the bottom of the container. If your child can blow a bubble then they are understanding the idea of exhaling on purpose. If you have older kids, I always ask them to show me how they blow out their birthday candles and then we pretend the cake is under the water. Blowing bubbles helps them to learn how to exhale under water and will lead to rudimentary breathing for freestyle later on.
4- Goggles are a great tool and truthfully I love to use them when I teach, I have a whole bucket of swim goggles that I carry with me. I am okay with the goggles that cover the nose up but at some point you have to make sure the child can blow bubbles and is comfortable with just the goggles that cover just the eyes. If your child is going to learn proper free style (or you want them to) then they need to toss the nose goggles because it is hard to get the breathing pattern down. I recommend goggles that have plastic around the eyes. It creates a suction and then it is one less thing to worry about.
5- Flotation devices. There are a ton of different options of there. Life vests, full body suits, swimming arms, puddle jumpers, noodles. How do you choose? For me, I am not a fan of those bulky life vests or full body suits. I have two issues with these types of devices. The first is that it creates a false hope of security in the water for BOTH the child and the parent. They are not safe. I have seen dozens upon dozens of children flip over in these things and cannot get themselves back up. It is terrifying. My second problem with these types of flotation devices is that it forces the child to swim as if he or she is walking. It makes the child swim vertically instead of horizontally which keeps their head out of the water, creating improper alignment in their neck and back and does nothing to help them swim. You don't swim standing up, you swim horizontally. But listen, I understand, you have a few kiddos with you and you can't manage 3 kids without something on them, I get it, use the life vest just please keep an eye on them.
Here is what I do recommend for flotation devices:
Puddle Jumpers These are great because it gives a lot of support on the tummy as well as the arms. However, children will have to learn that if the flip to their back, they have to put their feet down in order to stand vertically again. You will have to let them flip on their backs and figure this out. That will be tough for you as a parent. It is a scary thing to flip over on your back and not be able to flip the other direction, the child will most likely be screaming for you, obviously go over and make sure they are safe and if they are and are just screaming for you, tell them to put their feet down. They have to learn this skill in order to feel like they are in control of what happens in the water. It sucks, I watched it happen but the next time this little girl flipped on her back was able to put her feet down and she was okay, just need a little tough love from mom. Just trust me on that. The only thing I don't love about this device is that it doesn't really make your child swim or tire them out enough. The device is doing most of the work instead of your child and let's be honest, you brought your child to the pool in order to sleep at night right? So after maybe a summer in puddle jumper or noticing that your child can swim for hours (because they don't have to work!) while you yourself are beat, I would transition to this device. Foam Pad Trainer.
I love this foam pad trainer. It offers less support but it's still enough to keep their face above the water. The other neat thing about this is that it has removable pads on the stomach and back. Oh yeah, you know where that leads to. As soon as your child has figured it out with the 9 pads, you take one away and they work harder and then you do it again and again and then guess what, they are strong enough to swim on their own. It's pretty cool to watch this transition. They will HATE it when you take away a pad but they will get over it or at least that's what I tell some of the kids I swim with.
The other thing I love to use is a pool noodle, especially for older kids. It gives just enough support to make them feel like they are okay but still forces them to swim. The goal is that they would need no support and they could swim if they ever fell into a pool or a lake. So if your child is getting super comfortable with their flotation device, it is probably time to switch things up and remove it.
Gosh 5 was long... sorry about that.
6- If your child is stuck in their current swim pattern and all of the money and candy in the world won't get them under water (yeah that's right, I would bribe them), get them in some sort of formal swim lesson. Whether it is a friend who used to teach swimming, private lessons or group lessons, they just need something to get over that fear and someone to teach them how to be water safe. I know that many children will grow out of their fear of the water but a large number of kids don't and then they become adults who can't swim or aren't comfortable in the water.
Here are my tips on swim lessons:
Happy Swimming Friends!
- Find an instructor that connects well with your child. If you want a drill sergeant then find someone like that, if you want someone to just teach them how to be safe in the water, find someone like that. Your child has to learn how to trust someone in the water, a scary place for a lot of people so make sure they connect well.
- Don't judge the swim instructor on the first lesson. The first swim lesson is always awkward for both the teacher and the child. The child again is learning to trust someone in the water and the teacher is learning what works best for the child. Last summer the little boy I swim with did everything on a points system and he loved it when I said 100 points for kicks, 150 points for floats ect. A little girl I recently started to swim with did great with some short little breaks in between activities to check on her mermaid girls that she brought. Another little girl does really well when we talk about her bike. It just takes time for the teacher (me) to learn what is the best way to teach lessons.
- On that note, let the teacher teach. I know it is hard to watch your child say no or refuse to do something but trust me we are used to it, your angel is not the first child to scream they will never do back stroke and they won't be the last. If there are serious discipline issues or you have a pattern or making your child sit out if they don't listen, discuss that with the teacher and a good teacher will help support you as a parent. Also, feel free to leave the room while your child is getting lessons, sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't so discuss that with your instructor as well.
- Don't use swim lessons as the only time they get to the pool. Kids need to be at the pool so that they can just play and practice things that they learn. Some of the best swimming discoveries are during play time (that's why I have a play time with my lessons). It's just fun to show mom and dad what they've learned and not be "forced" to blow bubbles or kick. Really, take your kids swimming, it will pay off.
- Don't worry if your child isn't getting "it" as fast as the child next to him or you see that your friends 2 year old can do a perfect dive and swim across the pool. Swimming takes time and when someone is learning to swim, you are asking them to do something that is not natural for themselves so it is okay if it takes a summer or 2 before they learn how to swim. Just remember that swimming is supposed to be fun!!
Happy Swimming Friends!
