This challenge happened a little ahead of the
Rookie Mom Challenge schedule, but it happened, so I'm recording it now (since I've been failing at doing so many of these). Munchkin was never a fan of the pool. He took swim lessons at eighteen months which he pretty much cried through. We went to the Bahama's last year, and he refused to enter the water areas, didn't want to get wet. We recently took both boys to visit their grandparents and tried to get Munchkin to go in the pool. He was still a no go, but Peanut (being only 4 months old) didn't have much of a choice when we took him in.
At first he was a little hesitant, but he very quickly warmed up. Turns out he loves to splash and kick. We were very careful to not dunk him or make it a traumatic experience and it seems to have worked out well for us. We have brought him to another pool since this trip, and he still loved being in the water.
And I loved being in the water with him. The pure joy on his face as he got to splash with me, and then his father was wonderful to see. I am very much looking forward to our next pool trip.
At 4 months, you totally should dunk him! He still has swimming reflexes from the womb, and it's a chance to teach him some skills before the very common fear stage sets in! (I say this as someone who trained with the Red Cross and taught swimming lessons for 15+ years).
ReplyDeleteTry counting to 3 and gently blowing in his face before you go under and come up. Blowing in his face reminds his body to hold his breath, and counting to 3 serves as an auditory cue so you can stop blowing on his face after a while. Also, I strongly discourage the use of water wings or life vests in the pool - you should always be within touch distance of your child when you are on the water and the flotation devices offer a false sense of security and often hold children in the wrong position, making it HARDER to learn to swim.
Thanks! This actually makes a lot of sense (and I've heard that blowing on the face thing before). Next time we go to my in-laws (which should be soon) I'll try this.
DeleteI wrote a whole post about toddlers swimming last year, if you are interested: http://lovetheludwigs.com/2012/08/07/swimming-tips-for-toddlers.html
ReplyDelete