Learning independence in the water is crucial to increasing chances of survival if your child were ever to fall in the pool. Make sure to read & work on the 3 skills outlined in my post "3 Effective At Home Strategies to Prepare Your Child For Swimming Lessons," before trying to encourage a child to be independent in the water.
Learning to be independent in the water does NOT mean that your baby is going to be alone in the water. You need to be with them in the pool or bathtub supervising at all times AND staying within grabbing distance always.
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Learning To Grab Stuff
Learning to grab stuff is going to be one of the most important ways for your baby or child to be safer and more independent in the water. Start by having them grab onto a pool ring or stick and pull themselves up. You can pick up some pool rings right on Amazon.
Hold the pool ring above them and have them grab it and pull themselves into a standing position. This can be done from a laying down or a seated position if they do not like to be on their back. Then lower them back down while they support themselves with their grip on the ring and repeat!
This will improve their grip, motor function, and overall strength. You can begin doing this when they are as young as 3-6 months old! This is typically when babies begin to start grabbing things.
The next thing you want them to start grabbing is the side of the tub or pool! Have them stand and use the side of the tub for support. Babies can start standing with support as early as 3-4 months old.
For older babies at around 8-12 months you can begin to teach them to climb out of the pool or tub. Learning something as simple as how to get out of the pool can be a life saving skill that you can develop right at home before they begin their swimming lessons.
Learning To Sit Up & Stand
This one might seem kind of silly, but kids are very wobbly. It's like they can feel the spinning of the earth at all times or something. Being able to sit and stand on their own in the tub or on the shallow steps of the pool is a great way to begin encouraging your child to be more independent in the water.
Being able to sit or stand in the tub or on the pool steps also gives them a chance to explore and find out what happens when they put their face in. Make sure to monitor them and not let them drink the water.
Also, before letting them do any kind of exploring on their own, make sure they have made substantial progress in the first step of swim prep. They will be more prepared if they do wobble their way to putting their face in because they'll already be conditioned to hold their breath!
They may not hold their breath the first time since they are exploring on their own and not being cued into doing it, but this is part of the learning process. After doing it a couple of times, they will learn AND start to be more cautious.
Learning To Crawl Around In Shallow Water
Learning to be on their belly in shallow water is another great way to encourage independence in the water. Doing so also preps them nicely to swim, since you have to be in a laying down position when you swim rather than in a standing position.
Being on their belly and crawling around in the water is a great way for them to explore. If you are at the pool, they can crawl around on the top step to explore and play. At home they can be on their belly crawling and playing in the tub.
If you are at the pool and they explore their way off the top step and they are already conditioned to holding their breath let them go under for a brief second before quickly guiding them back to the top step. Only do this or allow this to happen if they already know how to hold their breath.
By allowing them to discover the danger of exploring too far is how they will discover the reality of water. This is one of the greatest, most controlled and safest ways to allow them to discover their limits in the water. It also teaches them the difference between the tub at home and an actual body of water.
Why Is This important?
Learning to be independent in the water increases your child's chance of survival if they were ever to fall in the pool. If they have experience moving around on their own while in the water they will be less clueless and better prepared.
By allowing babies to explore and be exposed to water, they will also learn to have a greater respect for water. This means they will be much less likely to put themselves in a dangerous situation. If they do not learn their limits and boundaries in a controlled environment (with you or an instructor present), they will not know the dangers that pools and other large bodies of water posses.
Taking your baby to the pool from a young age is vital to them learning to have respect for the water; without learning to fear the water. I recommend going to the pool with your baby at least once a week. Work on the swim prep skills when you are there and when they are ready, work on allowing them to be more independent in the water!
Written by Cat V.
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