Building Water Confidence in Your Child
What is water confidence? Water confidence is simply not being
afraid of the water. Of course we all need to be cautious and careful around any
body of water, even the bathtub, and we should teach our children water safety
but not fear. Swimming is just too important of a life skill and being
fearful of water will certainly hold a child back when learning to swim.
You will always hear me say, swimming lessons start in the bathtub!
From infant to child make sure bath time is fun! Because when your baby or
toddler sees a swimming pool or a "big bathtub" they may be hesitant
to get in if the "small bathtub" was not fun. The best way to build
water confidence in your child is to play, play, play in the tub!
There are three things you can work on in the
bathtub to help your child learn to swim and chances are you are probably
already doing some of them, but let's talk about how you can do them with
keeping in mind that you are also helping your child learn to swim.
Submerging Ears - From birth,
most babies love the warm water, even water gently squeezed on the top of their
heads is a natural and relaxing feeling for infants, (being careful to avoid
getting water in their eyes) after all, they spent 9 months like this! Bathing
my newborns was something I looked forward to and took extra time bathing them
and squeezing water on the top of their heads. As they got older, I would take a
few extra minutes while washing their hair and lay their head back in the tub
with their ears submerged but face comfortably out of the water. Some older
children are very sensitive to water in their ears while bathing or swimming. If
you will practice submerging ears from an early age, most children will not even
notice the "water in their ear feeling" while swimming or bathing.
#2 Submerging Nose - This is a skill you can start at about 18 months or
when you feel your child is ready and they can do it all by themself.
Never force a child to do this skill. They will do it when they are ready, but
always remind and encourage them how to do it. The way I like to teach a child
to put their face in the water is to start with the nose. Because the nose is
what most children are concerned about since water likes to go up our nose, and
let's face it, it hurts when it does. Many people teach children to blow
bubbles. I prefer teaching a child to "hum" over "blowing
bubbles.” Blowing bubbles out their mouth is okay so a child is not drinking
the water but it does not always protect the nose. If you will teach your child
to hum, they will keep their lips closed so they are not drinking the water and
if they can hear them self hum, then air is coming out of their nose and they
will not get water up their nose. The tub is the perfect place for a child to
learn the most important swimming skill which is breath control or humming! It
is also very cost effective to teach your own child this skill, as one whole
swim session can be trying to learn this one skill. Your child will definitely
have a head start in swimming if they can "hum" in the water before
they begin swim lessons.
#3 Submerging Eyes - This can be a difficult skill for children and even
some adults to learn. The sensation of water in our eyes can be hard to get use
to. This is why many people try to swim with their faces out of the water. You
cannot swim very far with your head out of the water without getting quickly
fatigued. I am a HUGE fan of goggles. As a swimming instructor, I strongly
encourage them! If I have a student who will not put their face in the water, I
will put a pair of goggles on them and usually after that, I can't get them to
keep their head above water! They would rather be under the water seeing their
brand new world. Learning how to use goggles in the tub works just as well as in
a swimming pool. I would let my older children at about age three take a pair of
goggles into the tub (make sure they are a good fitting pair of goggles (See the
topic of goggles for more details). It was a new tub toy and it was especially
great for washing hair! No shampoo in their eyes! Then, when you take your child
to the swimming pool you will be amazed at your child popping their head up and
down in and out of the water. Swimming strokes will then soon follow!
Finally - Take your child swimming often and play, play, play! Try to get
to the pool at least once a month. You will be surprised how much your child
will naturally pick up just by short playful and frequent trips to the pool. Not
to mention that swimming is a fun and healthy family activity! For more fun
swimming ideas and original games to play with your child, you can download the
E-Book "Teach Your Child to Swim!" Here.