3 year old,swimming advice

pkvader

Hi,I joined the leisure centre in my local hotel a couple of months back,mainly to take my 3 year old son and get him used to water.
We've been going twice a week for the last two months,it took him 5/6 visits before he started to get a bit confident.Hes only just turned 3 ,basically I want to get him swimming lessons in a year or two,what should I be doing with him between now and then to make things as easy as possible for when the time comes to get lessons?.
I'm not an experienced swimmer at all,so I'm a bit clueless,he wears arm bands ,at a certain point in the coming months /year should I stop putting arm bands on him?,is there anything basic that I should be doing now that will be to his benefit in the future?.I'd appreciate any advice.
Thanks.

AngryHippie

pkvader wrote: »

Hi,I joined the leisure centre in my local hotel a couple of months back,mainly to take my 3 year old son and get him used to water.
We've been going twice a week for the last two months,it took him 5/6 visits before he started to get a bit confident.Hes only just turned 3 ,basically I want to get him swimming lessons in a year or two,what should I be doing with him between now and then to make things as easy as possible for when the time comes to get lessons?.
I'm not an experienced swimmer at all,so I'm a bit clueless,he wears arm bands ,at a certain point in the coming months /year should I stop putting arm bands on him?,is there anything basic that I should be doing now that will be to his benefit in the future?.I'd appreciate any advice.
Thanks.

Try and get him in the habit of kicking his legs to move around and getting his face wet and face in the water. After that, it's basically about confidence.

When he goes for lessons, it will be taught in this order (Approx)
Body Position - Lying flat, face up, face down
Leg Kicks - starting with freestyle legs, pointed toes straight knees

Then they will proceed to teach arms, breathing, timing etc.

Being comfortable and confident in the water is half the battle. Work on that, and make sure he has fun and enjoys it.
Lessons can be a bit daunting, (Noise, crowds, splashes etc.) so if you can get him used to that environment, then it would probably be of benefit.

Zuz

pkvader wrote: »

Hi,I joined the leisure centre in my local hotel a couple of months back,mainly to take my 3 year old son and get him used to water.
We've been going twice a week for the last two months,it took him 5/6 visits before he started to get a bit confident.Hes only just turned 3 ,basically I want to get him swimming lessons in a year or two,what should I be doing with him between now and then to make things as easy as possible for when the time comes to get lessons?.
I'm not an experienced swimmer at all,so I'm a bit clueless,he wears arm bands ,at a certain point in the coming months /year should I stop putting arm bands on him?,is there anything basic that I should be doing now that will be to his benefit in the future?.I'd appreciate any advice.
Thanks.

Hey,

If he just turned 3, you can already book him for his swimming session with school available now for toddler / kid's under 4 years of age.
Where are you from??

And as said, do a basic things - kicking, blowing bubbles, body position, floats introductions, different toys to get his attention and get him to do stuff he doesn't like in water. Mainly lots of fun, songs, and lots of praise and cuddles. He needs to know he did something good every time he does it. You need to be proud about every small thing he does because we might thing in normal stuff for us. But toddler might find it really difficult to even simply blow bubbles in pool

hope that helps a little bit.

If you wanna have better chat feel free to ask ;-)

pkvader

Thanks for the advice,I'm basically doing what you are saying,I'm going to wait until he's at least 4 before I get lessons,so I've plenty of time to work on him.

Zuz

From a swim ireland email: We also have a special invitation for under 4’s and a parent to attend a FREE Adult and Child Class on Sunday 4th October 2015 at the National Aquatic Centre Dublin;

During this class there will be 14 qualified teachers available to give you tips and information for bringing you’re under 4’s to the pool.



There are 4 time slots available:

8:00am to 8:30am

8:30am to 9:00am

9:00am to 9:30am

9:30am to 10:00am



To register reply to this email. Places are limited, book quickly to take part in this amazing opportunity.