Building Kids Confidence in the Water

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One of the things I am most proud of with our daughters is that we have taught them to be confident in the water from a very young age. Erin is now nearly 6, and is able to swim unaided thanks to the support and persistence of Nanny and Grandad! She loves nothing more than jumping, diving and moving through the water (as well as pretending to be a mermaid) #lifegoals Neve is only 2, but already she has learned some key safety messages and enjoys splashing and playing in the pool.

Teaching your children to be both safe and comfortable in the water is a huge life skill, and not only something that will help keep them safe, but provides a fun and entertaining source of exercise as they grow up. Swimming is also great for stamina and a strong physical workout, meaning that children often eat and sleep better after a session at the pool.

We used a variety of different swimming and bouyancy aids to help the girls as they went through their journey of learning to swim. From those first initial splashes in the water as a baby, through to the process of learning key strokes and gaining the confidence to swim unaided, Simply Swim offer a huge variety of accessories and swimming aids for every stage of your child’s swimming journey.

Baby Swimming Aids

For those very early swimming experiences, the most important thing is to make sure your baby is warm and protected in the water. Little ones can get very cold VERY quickly, and therefore it is recommended to keep your swimming sessions to a fairly short duration unless you want tears. The last thing you want to do is scare them off or make them associated the pool with unhappy feelings. We found that around 30 minutes was probably enough, which can be tricky when you have an older child who wants to stay in until their fingers go wrinkly!!

Baby wraps and wet suits are ideal for keeping your baby as warm as possible without restricting their movements, and with a supporting hold from Mum or Dad, the baby can be rocked backwards and forwards in the water to get used to the feeling of the water against their limbs. Both girls always used to love being lifted up and down into the water, and combining with a bit of a sing song and some happy expression is sure to put a smile on their faces!

At the baby and toddler stages, swim nappies are also an absolute MUST, as the last thing you want is for them to have an accident in the water. Many baby swim suits come with integrated swim nappies, which whilst a little more challenging to get on and off (think wrestling a tiger) are great for peace of mind.

Toddler Stages

In the toddler stages, introducing some kind of buoyancy is helpful, giving your child the freedom to start trying to master some of the motions required to enable them to move through the water, whilst offering physical support so they don’t feel like they are going to sink. Inflatable arm bands, swim rings or a float suit are ideal, and many float suits and rings come with the ability to gradually reduce the amount of buoyancy contained as the child become more confident in the water and masters the strokes and movements.

For practicing kicking techniques, woggles and kick boards are a fab tool and the girls have both found these to be really good fun. Using a wrapped woggle for support or holding the kick board out in front of them, encouraging toddlers to kick their feet and paddle under the water is a great first step towards perfecting the strokes.

Child Stages

When your child is a little older and has mastered some of the key movements, playing games is a really fun way of building on their swimming technique, encouraging children to reach and grab for things in the water, stimulate the swim strokes and get used to splashing around and treading water.

Once more confident, you can even use toys like dive sticks and disks which can be thrown down into the water, where the child would need to go under water to retrieve them. Playing games is a great way for the whole family to get involved whilst improving your child’s swimming technique in the process.

In addition to family support, I would also personally recommend taking your child to structured swimming classes, especially when they are a little bit older or have started school. In the meantime however, there are lots of things you can do as above that will introduce swimming as a fun, safe and enjoyable experience for the whole family.

To check out the full range of kids swimming accessories and aids at Simply Swim Learn to Swim

When did your little ones learn how to swim?