It is very important that children get used to swimming in the pool from a young age and that they lose their fear of water. For this, parents have to teach their children to swim at an early age.
The submerged bath is generally controllable for adults, but with children, it is another story. For some kids, the fear of water can be paralyzing. In other cases, the lack of strength or technique can lead to a scare. Teaching how to swim can be challenging for any parent.
In practice, children who learn to move in water acquire useful knowledge for life with lifeguard training. Likewise, they can enjoy swimming in the pool or on the beach without any problem. Therefore, below we will see some tips to help our little ones to carry out this activity.
Coming into contact with water
The preparation of children for swimming begins very early. In fact, parents are always advised to do their best to encourage a taste for water in children. This will be central to avoid the fear of the submerged bath.
Therefore, it is essential that we prevent children from going through traumatic episodes in spas or swimming pools. The first entries must be safe, in the company of parents; You will always have to go progressively and with games, studying the child's reactions.
In reality, children are born with a willingness to dive; however, this ability is lost after six months in contact with the outside world. For this reason, it is good to subject them to controlled submerged baths from the first months. In this way, your contact with water will be something more natural.
We start from a simple level
As he gets older, we must place the little one in pools where he can touch the ground with his feet. Between the first and second years, he must be in controlled aquatic environments. Parents will be able to continue assisting him, although it will be time to let him loosen up a bit.
Fortunately, almost all pools have a special space for children. The use of floats will give them both security and confidence. Water toys will also increase the child's interest in this environment; at this level, they must master the environment and feel motivated.
When a child has the strength to stand up and run, they can progressively initiate swimming. Of course, keep in mind that if the little one loses control or swallows the water, teaching how to swim later could become more complicated.
Teaching to swim: first learnings
These guidelines would be the most recommended for our children to begin their contact with swimming:
Make bubbles underwater: we can encourage this at a very young age. The idea is that the child exercises breathing underwater without swallowing it. We will ask the little one to breathe in and then expel it into the submerged bath, without putting their nose in.
Immerse the head: once the child knows how to take in the air and blow the bubbles, we will invite him to immerse his head. The idea is to teach him to always hold the air, although at some point he could swallow some of the vital liquid. When you see that you are not drowning, you will feel that you are in control.
Move your legs: when all the above learning has been completed, it is time to raise the difficulty. To do this, we could be on a low level of the pool, but where it does not easily touch the ground. While we hold it, we will ask the child to move his feet trying to move.
The beginning of independence
After some assisted practices with the legs and even with the hands, it is time to teach him to submerge and move his legs. In principle, we will hold the little one by the trunk so that the little one experiences a feeling of security. We always hope that the child takes a liking to this practice.
After these practices, it is quite likely that the same little one will ask to do it alone. Of course, we must authorize it, but maintaining active surveillance; In principle, we only have to release it for a few seconds.
We can also encourage flapping with our arms. From here on, most children continue their learning by themselves and also by seeing their parents. We must remember that the basis of everything is to avoid any traumatic episode for our son. At a later stage, the right thing to do is to take him to swimming lessons.
Teaching to swim is giving a lesson that must be taught with patience, wisdom, and care. The main enemy of our children is fear and little physical strength; As long as it is fun and there are no scares, there will be progress. Finally, we must never stop instilling in our children respect for their limits and the power of water.
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