Bath Time, Swim Time: Build Your Child's Water Confidence

Did you know that babies can start learning to swim at 3 months, but can be taught water skills even earlier? There’s no better way to introduce your child to water than in a bathtub at home. It is not only a comfortable and secure setting for your child, but also a controlled environment for parents. By filling up the bathtub, you can promote water comfort and introduce different exercises that will make your child more comfortable in the water, leading to a lifetime of water confidence and a joy of swimming and water play.

During this current period of quarantine due to covid-19, you may have a pool at home or in your residential living complex and are considering using your newfound free time (or lack thereof) to teach your child to swim. Though instructors may be unable to come to your home due to social distancing, that doesn't mean you can't start the basics of swim safety yourself. The bathtub is a perfect place to start, too, if you don't have access to a pool, and makes bathtime just a little bit more fun. Because we all need some new activities to keep our kids occuppied right now, right? :)

Here are 4 bath time activities that will help your baby on their path to learning to swim!

1. Practice getting baby’s face wet

There are many adults who are afraid of submerging their heads fully under water, so it’s hard to blame a toddler for being apprehensive. That’s why it’s important to get your child comfortable with water on their face ASAP. You can do this by first wetting different parts of their face. Move on to a slow trickle of water over your baby’s face and down the back of the head.

2. Teach unassisted floating in the tub

Bath time is a great and safe way to teach baby how to float! Start by laying your child on their back and holding them in floating position while helping them relax. The best place to hold them while they are on their back is with you sitting behind them at their head, and holding them underneath their arms.

3. Teach bubble blowing

Blowing bubbles teaches children how to clear their nasal passages when they don’t have any free hands to plug their nose. One way to do this is to blow ping pong balls across the surface of the water. You can teach bubble blowing by making funny noises while blowing. Not only is this fun for your toddler, it also prepares them for skills they’ll need in formal swimming lessons later on.

4. Use bath toys or household items that they can interact with in the tub.

Not only do bath toys help your little one develop their motor skills, but this kind of play time in the bath allows them to use their limbs more freely in the water.

So if your baby is already a fish in a bowl, maybe it’s time to introduce your little fish to the pool!

Remember: Swimming is an essential life skill! It’s important to ingrain these habits into children at a young age, so when they’re older, water safety becomes second nature. After all, the #1 way to prevent drowning is to learn how to swim!

The post contains contributed content by Aquamobile.

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