Swimming Week - Part 3

I hope you have found the posts on swimming useful this week.  If you haven't seen them yet then here is my post on swimming lessons and my first set of tips for taking your child swimming.  I have also come across this great post from Time Waits for no mum about changing room etiquette, it's worth a read to bring a smile to your face. Swimming is a great skill for your child to learn but particularly for young children the most important thing to do is to have fun!  Below are some things that you can do with them in the pool to learn to have fun and also build up their skills in the water.  But I would also recommend to also introduce water safety when you take them swimming such as how to get in and out of the pool nicely as whilst they enjoy the water it's important for them to respect it to.

• When you go swimming get in first, ideally from the side by sitting down putting two hands to one side, turning around and sliding in then get your child to repeat.  It's important that they learn to get in like this every time as they may be entering shallow water and if they just jump straight in they could hurt themselves.
• Blow bubbles!  This is great to encourage them to get their mouths into the water and blow out rather than swallow the water.  My daughter doesn't always do as I ask (surprising for a 2 year old?!!) so won't blow bubbles unless Mummy has a turn first! So we take it in turns then see who can blow the noisiest / quietest bubbles.
• As I mentioned in my previous post pretending to wash your face in the water is a great way to start getting wet and getting water up to the face.  Your child may again want to take this in turn.
• Sing....! Our favourite songs in the water are:
• Grand old Duke of York... When they're up lift them up and when they're down... Well you know! You can start by just bringing them down or if you're feeling brave let go at the top! My daughter loves this! She has her armbands on and so doesn't go far under the water (I don't just drop her don't worry!) and we start every lesson off with this song.
• Humpty Dumpy... On the first line sit them on the wall and then when he "has a great fall" let them fall forward.  When they're a bit older they can be encouraged to fall forward and then swim forward to you but to begin with they can just fall forward into your arms.  Encourage splashing and smile and giggle lots about getting wet as it all helps to build their confidence.  
• Ring a Roses... You can sing this one quietly to them but when they all fall down it's a good one to give a dunk or even just put mouths in the water and blow bubbles.
• Row Row your boat..... is a good one in the water.  You can hold hands and row row pulling each other together and away.
• Other things to try in the water:
• Taking a small floating ball with you as there are so many things you can try; pushing with your nose, pushing with your hands, holding with your hands, splashing / moving it with your feet
• Splash!! Before you get in you can sit on the side and splash your feet then in the water you can encourage splashing.  With young children they often simply don't know what it means to "kick your legs" so you need to think about the language you use and showing them what you mean.  So splashing your feet before you get in gives an idea of how to do it in the water.  You can try saying things like splash your feet or I'll come and tickle them!
• Jumping in! This is a great way to build confidence but it's really important to teach them safety as well.  Start with toes over the edge and don't let them jump until you tell them they can go.  You can start by taking hands, then them jumping to you and you holding, then letting them "hide" under the water when they jump in.  This all adds to the fun of the pool.
• Jumping in is also a great way to get them to get their faces wet but if you're feeling brave then you can dunk them under the water.  A good way to do this is to blow on their faces then take them gently under.  If you blow of their faces every time this get them to learn to close their mouths.  They may not react well but they will get used to it, when they come up smile and give kisses and reassurance.
• If you have a woggle (see here) then you can do all sorts of fun things with it.  You can tie it in a knot to make a motorbike (you'll have two handles) and can blow bubbles to make the engine noise, ride on a horse (sit with it between the legs), sit on a swing.  They're great versatile floats.
• If you use armbands it's also good to have some time at the end of a session without them so they learn how different their bodies feel without them.  Armbands are my preferred aide but it is a personal choice.  With armbands you can also take out a little bit of air as they get stronger.

My next post will be about swimming with two children! I hope you've enjoyed swimming week, I'd love to hear your comments.

What to buy for swimming...

So this week on The Swan Project is all about swimming.  If you haven't seen them yet then you can check out my post about swimming lessons and my first set of tips for swimming with your child. Going swimming with your child is a great activity to do together.  In truth you don't need to buy a lot but here are a few things that I think are useful to get:

Konfidence Babywarma

Young children particularly those under 1 when they're not moving as much can get really cold in a swimming pool.  These babywarma suits are great for giving them a little bit of extra warmth and also have the added benefit that it makes them much easier to hold onto in the water so no chance of them slipping through your hands! They're normally £18.99 but are down to £14.99 at the moment and have some great designs (I love the spotty one).

Huggies Little Swimmers

You'll need a swim nappy rather than a normal nappy when you take your child swimming as a normal nappy with just absorb all the water and become huge!  I've tried own brand nappies but these are the best because the sides split when you're finished so you don't need to pull them down after (my daughter has chunky little thighs and trying to pull a wet swim nappy down after is hard work!!).

Konfidence Neo Nappy

When taking very young children some swimming pools / schools ask you to put them in a "happy nappy" which is an extra nappy (they have a disposable or reusable swim nappy underneath this).  It's designed to be fairly tight on the legs and tummy so that no "accidents" can escape the nappy as pools have to close if there is "No. 2" floating around!  These are currently reduced from £9.99 to £8.49.

Armbands

I maybe old school but armbands are my preferred choice for a floating aide.  I would probably start using around 12-15 months when they will start to want to be a bit more independent in the water.  My daughter tried the foam ring armbands but 3 each side didn't hold her above the water!! In the years I've been teaching swimming I've found armbands the best for body position and also for progressing on.  You can take a tiny amount of air out each time you go swimming so they get stronger and it becomes smaller steps to take them off rather than on or off.  If your child is close to swimming without armbands then you can switch to the smaller baby armbands and start taking the air out of them.  I also prefer the style shown here rather than the "roll up" armbands.  We tried with our daughter but they're not that easy to get on with little arms.
Zoggs have started doing George and Peppa Pig armbands which are great fun!  I think my daughter would want these as George is her favourite character!! They're £7.50 for the pair.

Hooded Towel

If your child can walk then I really recommend a hooded towel.  They're so easy to slip over their head and it really helps keep them warm and dry their hair a bit.  We asked for this Peppa Pig towel above for Christmas (actually we got two) and we use them for swimming and bath time.  It makes life so much easier, especially those bath times when my husband hasn't got home and I'm trying to dress the baby first - it means there is no towel slipping down leaving a cold toddler. This towel is £5.30 on Amazon currently.

Woggle
image source

Woggles are great in conjunction with armbands but also if you have some time at the end of your session without armbands woggles can be used in a variety of ways.  See tomorrow's post for idea's of what to do with a woggle.

Bath Squirters

Taking some bath squirters along for some extra fun and splash is a good idea!

Swimming Week - Part 2

As you will have read in my first post of "swimming week" I love swimming and my daughter is a true water baby.  But I have been a bit rubbish at taking my son swimming and only did it once in 7 months which I'm not proud of.  He enjoyed this first session when we went at 6 months (he's now 9 months) and loves his bath so when I took him a few weeks ago I wasn't expecting a negative reaction.  However he didn't like it and I think I underestimated the difference in him going into a small, warm bath to going into a big swimming pool. He wasn't happy the whole time we were in there.

I resolved after this to take him every week at least until I returned to work. I took him the following week after our disaster and there was proof that his memory is extending because as soon as we arrived on our second session he started crying in the changing rooms!! But we carried on and went into the pool, determined that we weren't getting out until I at least got a smile... And it worked!  We sang some songs, did some splashing and we even did a few underwater "swims" and he not only smiled but we got giggles too! Result! So I thought I would share a few top tips for taking your little ones swimming, please feel free to let me know of anymore!

• Make sure you take them at a good time of day. IE I usually take my son around 3pm because he's had his long nap so he shouldn't be tired and he has a bottle at 2pm so he won't be hungry. It's worth trying where possible to ensure that they are not near nap time and won't be hungry to ensure they'll be as comfortable as possible. 
• Stay calm! Think swan (project!!), you want to appear calm on the surface even if you're a ball of nerves underneath.  Your child will feed off your mood so calm and happy is the way forward
• Start by having a cuddle with your little one and having a jump around the pool.  If you get splashed at all embrace it! Giving lots of cuddles is reassuring for them in this alien environment and it will help them feel secure.
• You can wash their face to get wet, remember that you can do it too and smile whilst you do it!
• Sing!! Singing is a great way to calm them down especially if they have a favourite song.  It doesn't have to be loud, it can just be calmly sung in their ear so they can hear it and no one else! Singing is a great distraction for them and also gives them something familiar.
• You can move them around on their tummies with your hands under their shoulders and on their backs with their heads on your shoulder.  If your little one is teething then they may not like being on their back so don't force it if they don't like it just change positions.
• Swish them from side to side (vertically but horizontally will work too) as they will like the lightweight feeling and this is actually an amazing trick to calm them down and helped my little boy! I did some swishing with him (my hands under his shoulders, him on his tummy) and this is when he started to relax.
• Don't expect too much too soon, if they're not enjoying it then don't stay make yourselves stay in until they do smile as it may take a few short sessions before they relax and if you stay in too long they'll get cold which will make them even unhappier.
• Have fun!!  Swimming especially at this young age should be about having fun and enjoying yourselves in the water.  It may take a few sessions before they're really having fun in the water so don't force it and just go with the flow.  

Later in the week I will post some more ideas of what to do with your child in the swimming pool as well as what to buy for swimming and how to cope with two little ones in the swimming pool.

Swimming Week - Swimming lessons

Ok, confession time.  I love swimming and always have although, and here is the confession, my first love is actually synchronised swimming.  There's usually laughter at this point which always annoys me from people who have never tried it, it's hard!!  I am and always have been a water baby and this is something my husband and I really want to pass on to our children.  He swam whilst growing up too and we actually met through the university swimming team.  One of my earliest memories is crying on the side of the pool because my brother was having swimming lessons and I was too young to get in (remember in the '80's that lessons started at 5).

We started introducing water to our children like most people do through bathtime. Our daughter hated the first couple of baths but our son has always loved it, I will always wonder if this is because he was born in the water? I've talked about this book before but one of the reasons I love it is that it gives you prompts for bathtime on the appropriate weeks to splash them or put a bit of water over their head.  We did this and also let the children splash lots in the bath to get them used to water.  My second confession is that I'm actually a qualified swimming teacher but I never taught babies to swim before so when my NCT friends booked to do a water babies course I decided to join them. Now if you're a nervous swimmer, nervous about taking your child swimming or taking them under water then I really recommend doing this course.  It's not cheap but it is excellent value for money.  We only did the first course because I had to return to work part the way through the second term but the first course taught us a lot.  I would've taken my children under the water but this gave me the extra confidence to do so and gave some extra tips that I would have never known, such as if a baby is teething they usually don't like being on their back in the water.  I really valued the way they introduce water safety to the babies and how they explain to parents what they're doing and why.  I would really recommend the Water Babies course to parents.

Since I've been on maternity leave I have taken my daughter to local authority swimming lessons at our leisure centre.  I could have avoided these but it was a really cost efficient way to get her swimming and when I'm booked into a class I do attend every week.  From the beginning she was happy to be splashed and go underwater but she has just grown and grown in confidence every week.  She's happy to go jump in, go underwater and splash about.  The only thing these lessons don't have is giving mums confidence and tips to take their children under, some of them come out with dry hair which really frustrates me!!

The Swan Project will be dedicated to swimming all week and I will feature tips for swimming in the next two posts.  If you have any questions or comments then let me know!.