Encourage Your Child to Swim

Encourage Your Child to Swim -

Straightaway I have to say that the title of this document is misleading. You can't "teach" your child to swim, only encourage. Only when the child has reached a degree of proficiency will teaching be possible. A child can learn to swim, but can't be taught.

Each child will start to swim in its own time, according to its temperament, even siblings. The time taken for a child to learn to swim doesn't have much bearing on how good a swimmer the child will become. Some children begin to swim very quickly but lose interest. For others, learning to swim is hard, but having once started never lose their fascination with the activity.

Every child should be encouraged to swim. Apart from the obvious aspect of being safe around water, becoming a competent swimmer opens the door to many water sports and aquatic interests.

A child can learn to swim at any age. On television I've seen babies only a few weeks old swimming and by all accounts they don't need to learn; they swim naturally. But I can't comment further on that; my experience has been with children of 3 years of age and above. My wife and I have got hundreds of children swimming safely and with confidence and as a general rule younger children learn to swim more easily.

An important requirement for learning to swim, whatever the age, is a pleasant environment. Water cleanliness, temperature and depth all matter, particularly for younger children. An indoor public pool is usually ideal but don't be surprised if some children, particularly small children, may be unhappy on first going on to the poolside. Now and again a child would be very unhappy, maybe weeping, and the parent would be embarassed for their child. I used to ask them to kneel down at the child's eye level and to take note of how vast and alien the place looks to their child. If the place was noisy, even worse.

A similar situation can occur when a child is first introduced to a large sheet of water such as a lake or the sea. But children are very resilient and will soon begin to enjoy themselves, once the initial fears have been overcome.

Equally important is that the child should feel safe, and to this end buoyancy aids are needed. For small children I recommend a blow-up rubber ring or a pair of arm-bands. The rubber ring must fit loosely around the child, under the armpits. If the ring is too small and fits tightly around the waist, the child may turn upside down and be unable to right herself and could drown. Even if righted immediately it would be a traumatic experience for the child.

Armbands should be pushed up under the armpits and preferably grip the arm. Armbands come in several sizes; choose the best fit. It's best if the armband is put on and inflated in position.

There are various other buoyancy aids on the market. After fitting, you must ensure that the child will float in an upright position, head above water. Some time ago a parent fitted her child with a device consisting of a canvas belt with pockets, into which plastic foam blocks could be slotted. It looked fine but when the child entered the water it turned her upside down. Suddenly I noticed a pair of legs flapping about above the water. I was able to rescue the child quickly, but her confidence took a hammering.

Children are all different in so many ways and the challenge is in harnessing their natural qualities. Some are impetuous and have to be constantly monitored to ensure their safety. Others are timid and need lots of reassurance; they can't be hurried. Whereas a bigger child might be happy with chilly conditions a small child may feel the cold and want to leave the water. Getting a child to swim is a very rewarding experience and gifts the child a lifetime of healthy exercise and enjoyment. But slow and sure is the way to go; patience is often the teacher's best asset.

On another page I show how to start your child swimming.