Preparing Toddlers for Swimming Lessons
Tips for Helping Toddlers Become Comfortable with the Water
Dec 4, 2008
Toddlers typically have an easier time adjusting to water because they have no preconceived notions or fears, and it is highly suggested to start children swimming as early as possible. Parents should be prepared to enter the water with their child, not just act as a secondary lifeguard, as this will help children learn trust and security in the pool.
Parents should also be armed with toys or games, especially for more timid children who act reluctant to get into the water. Toys and games can encourage children to join and participate in water fun.
Water in Their Ears
One of the basic skills in swimming is learning to float on the back. Although this is an essential skill for survival and comfort in the water, many kids find this is one of the most difficult to master for several reasons.
First, it is necessary to lay flat and straight, putting faith in the surface of the water that it will hold up a body much like a boat floating on a lake. Children who are afraid will automatically try to sit up, causing them to sink further and faster.
Try practicing back floating in the bathtub with only a few inches of water. This will help the child to know that there is something solid right underneath her. Place one hand on the small of her back and tell her to push her belly towards the ceiling.
Back floating also requires that a child hold her head back far enough that water goes into the ears. This is also a difficult task for some children. If she doesn’t like having water in her ears, she will again, try to sit up.
Encourage the child to put her ears in the water one at a time and make different noises under water. Try this in the tub and make tapping noises under water and above. Use spoons or toys to make different noises by tapping them together or on the bottom of the bathtub.
Water on Their Faces
Because holding your breath is a learned skill, some kids find it difficult, and frightening, to put their faces in the water. For more reluctant children, just getting splashed in the face can cause a crying fit or temper tantrum.
In a swimming lesson setting, at a public pool, with other students, getting splashed comes as part of the class, sometimes by accident, and sometimes by other more rambunctious children.
To help your child be prepared for water in the face, encourage her to try putting her face in the bathtub at the beginning of bath time. This helps her practice holding her breath as well as eliminates the stinging eye syndrome of chlorine water. Encourage your toddler to splash in the bath tub as well, getting water on herface by slapping her hands on the surface of the water.
Choosing the Right Swimming Lessons
When enrolling a toddler into swimming lessons, the parent should have some basic idea of what their child can do and how comfortable he is in the water. Tell the instructors or person enrolling him what the child can do, but try not to over exaggerate. Everyone wants their child to look like a star but in swimming it is dangerous to put your child into a class that’s too high of a level. Red Cross certified water safety instructors have specific criteria that a child must know to reach a given level.
If you do not know what your child can do, request that an instructor give your child a five minute assessment to determine placement. A parent can also request a list of the criteria to meet each level.
Finally, encourage your kids to have fun, but remind him to listen to the instructors. Being in the water is about having fun and it is also about being safe.
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