How To Get Young Children To Love Swimming

I am talking in this post about instilling confidence in your newborn babies through to toddlers and pre school children. Creating a love of water and making it an exciting and safe place to play. A great way of families having fun together that can include all ages of the family.

Here are the techniques that we have used with all 3 of our girls to turn them into infant swimmers from a very young age:

They will not be professional swimmers

This post is not talking about our little ones being proficient swimmers from a few months old. If you are looking for how to get your infant baby to be an underwater swimmer like those incredible videos you see online, then you are better going to a certified instructor officially qualified in getting babies to swim.

When can you take a baby swimming?

We received a variety of advice on this. Some people take their babies from newborn (after the belly button has fallen off) , other advise from after the first and second vaccination.

The general rule is that as long as the baby is not swallowing water, so being submerged (we’ll come to that later!) then they can go in a pool straightaway.

We waited until our girls had their second vaccinations (around 2-3 months of age) before going into a public pool and starting to dunk them.

Dunk your baby/toddler 3 times per swim session

Now, I realise this will be a bone of contention for some people. This really is one of the key reasons though why we believe our babies have become water babies.

We actually got told to do this by Millie’s first ever swim teacher.

Why is it important to let young children go under water?

• They will not dread getting their face wet.
• It creates confidence that if they go under, they know they will come back up. It really is crucial in eliminating a fear of the water.
• It teaches them not to panic which will help them think clearly and use basic skills if they ever accidentally go under water.

How to dunk your child

• Hold your child firmly and tightly so they feel confident you are in control.
• Tell your child what you are going to do – even from being a newborn.
• Do it as soon as you tell them.
• Make it quick – one quick dunk then straight onto something else.
• Do it right at the start of your swim session, then again twice during.
• Praise them well with a huge smile and a ‘Yay!’ – They will learn to expect it but all adore the praise.

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How did our children get on with dunking?

While swimming is an incredibly important essential life skill and a great physical activity for keeping mind and body fit, it was so important that we made our trips to the pool a positive experience and had a good time. I can’t say all of the girls totally loved being dunked (Millie did but she’s part fish) but they definitely didn’t absolutely hate it and after only a few weeks it became absolutely normal to them. To the point that they started dipping their own faces in the water voluntarily.

Start off in the Main Pool

These are often colder than the baby pool, which are designed to be warm-water pools – If you want to add playtime in the baby pool to your session, do this at the end. Once you have had your little swimmer in a toasty warm water, it is very difficult to get them to transfer to a colder pool and have fun!

How often should you take an infant swimming?

At least twice per week. I know! It feels like loads but it really makes the difference in building fundamental swim skills in young babies and children. Taking them just once per week leaves such a big gap between sessions that they can forget the water confidence they have built up. If once per week is all you can commit to though, that’s so much better than not at all, so go for it!

Should I be enrolling small children in infant aquatics sessions or private lessons?

I’d say probably not if you can commit to taking them yourself. All of our girls could enrol in swim lessons from the age of 3 years of age which is the earliest our local pool started from.

Until then we took them twice per week. We went as a family on a Monday evening – this was a time when the swimming pool was busy and our girls were mesmerised by the noise and watching other children/ their sisters having fun in the water. All 3 girls then went again on Thursday mornings with their Dad for a quieter swim. A completely different experience to the madness of family time on Monday evenings but a chance to experiment with jumping in off the edge of the pool and working on great techniques and efficient swim stroke as they got that little bit older. (Plus, they loved the attention of the ladies doing Aquafit!)

Entering the pool safely

At this point I need to mention teaching your infant to enter the pool safely as well. As soon as they are able to understand, talk to them about easing themselves in from the side backwards and feet first, slowly and calmly. This post is definitely about developing a love of the water and a lifelong relationship with the fun you can have in it, but there is no getting away from the importance of teaching safety first. Do it right and they will love the feeling of being able to enter the water safely, knowing you are there to greet them. (We used to ask a swim instructor or lifeguard to stand with our girls poolside while we got in so they could practice this when they were old enough).

Games to play in the water

• Drop a toy to the bottom of the pool and pick it up with your toes. There is something about picking something up with your feet that really makes a child laugh. As they get older they will start to want to dive down and collect the toy themselves with adult supervision – Hurray, you have done your job and built up those water survival skills!
• Throw a toy and rush to get it, holding your child tightly – they will laugh their heads off as you swish down the pool to retrieve it. (This is a better game when the pool is quieter).
• Swish your child up the pool on their back – being on their back is part of basic water safety skills as if you fall into a body of water, you are told to float on your back. Important that they recognise how to get onto their back and what it feels like.

What to take to the pool

• Swim nappies – Non negotiable I’m afraid. I know they aren’t leakproof but I cannot cope when I see babies and toddlers without them.
• Easy to pick up toys – See game above about picking up with your toes. Remember, if you are on your own with your bab, you won’t be able to dive down to collect whatever has dropped to the bottom of the pool.
• Multiple towels – You can never have too many and one will always drop on the floor. Plus an extra one for your baby/little one to sit on.
• Snacks for while you are getting dressed – Quavers were so often a life saver (which seems criminal when you’ve just given your little one a shower and they smell so lovely!)

Should my baby or child be wearing flotation devices?

No, No, No!

We’ve all seen the children that step out of the changing rooms looking like they have come off a space ship. They can barely walk, they have that many life jackets, arm bands and rubber rings on. The general rule of thumb is that children will have to unlearn to use these flotation devices so try not to become dependent on them in the first place. They can often provide a false sense of security with the child feeling they are safer than they actually are and developing a fear of water when they are removed.

When Violet was 5, she started infant swim lessons at a new (to us ) pool. Their system was to put rings around the children’s arms which reduced the stronger they got at swimming. By this point, Violet had already been swimming for over a year at another pool, gaining confidence every week. These rings around her arm totally knocked her confidence – She started worrying about not being able to swim and even panicking about going to one of her friend’s swim parties. We withdrew her from those lessons and sent her elsewhere that encouraged no flotation devices and she flew (well swam!)

Of course, this does mean that with no armbands and the like, you are committing to holding onto your child completely when you go for a swim. We did use a long float thing though for them to cling onto (Otherwise known as a noodle/woggle?) Depending on the child’s age, they could hold onto these and kick their legs at arm’s reach of us for short distances.

Expert tip: Invest in your own pool noodle – large public pools often have them that you can borrow but are renowned for having chunks already bitten out of them!

Should my toddler wear swim shoes?

There’s no denying that swim shoes help little ones grip on the pool floor better but important skill for pool safety is how to walk around the side of the pool safely. The best way of learning this is by holding your little one’s hand, and walking slowly around. Talk to them about why we never run at a swimming pool.

How long should each swim session be?

At a very early age, we found that the babies were find for around 20 minutes in the pool. (Obviously formal swimming lessons will dictate how long each session should be.) After 20 minutes, our babies started to get pink cheeks and really tired. Everyone who has taken a baby swimming will know that getting an overtired baby dry and changed when you are freezing and soaking wet yourself, is not a joy!

Older children will be able to tell you when they have had enough and start to get cold. Beware, the more fun you make swimming, the longer you will be in there!

When our babies were really small, we were incredibly lucky that we knew the staff well at our local pool. They offered to look after the baby when it was changed after the 20 minutes (or even before taking her swimming) so we could give the older children attention and some fun in the pool.

Can bath time help build water confidence?

Are you using bath time as a means of fun for play and splashing around? If yes, then definitely, all water based activities help. I do know people who are very strict about bathtime being for getting clean and starting the bedtime routine to enable sleep though. That’s completely fine but you need to distinguish between fun in water and calming down for bedtime.

And finally …

These are just the tips that we found worked for us with the girls. The most important thing is to learn to be safe and have fun. Swimming is a hugely important part of our family life – absolutely everything we have done for holidays and weekends has revolved around water in some way since the girls were born. If learning to swim is just another chore and seen as task to tick off, then that will rub off on your children. Often, we may have been exhausted after work and really not felt like going, but plastered a smile on our faces and trekked to the pool. It was all worth it 20 years down the line, watching our eldest compete at the World Championships!