Learning to Swim

Living in Florida with pools, ponds, and beaches, we wanted to make sure our sons knew how to swim and be safe around water.  When I was pregnant with our second son, I figured it was time for the first, at almost 16 months, to learn how to swim.   First, I  made sure he was comfortable with water besides when in the bath tub.  We did this with various sizes of children's pools over time.

 
Once he reached his comfort zone, we advanced to a real in-the-ground pool.

The technique I used to teach the basic safety moves for accidentally falling into a pool had several steps. I would get each son comfort in the water by slowly moving him around with support under his belly.

Then, I would slowly move him back and forth from me to a friend.

After that seemed to be okay with him, I would hold him facing me and blow gently in his face so he would take a breath of air.  Then, I would gently pull him down under the water and up to me.

Once he grasped the concept of taking a breath of air before going under water, I would turn him around and lift his bottom so he went to the side wall of the pool.  I would make sure he grabbed the side before I removed my hand.  This went on until he could go under and get himself to the side.  The purpose of this was so he would know to get air and shut his mouth and be able to get to the side or find something to hold on to if he ever fell into a pool. He slowly learned to dog paddle and to swim underwater.  Each enjoyed swimming underwater on top of Dad, and jumping off the side to me.

After dog and pool sitting for friends, it appeared all three loved the water.

Using that as our guideline, we put in an above-the-ground pool and built a deck, walkway, and stairs so we could safely use it.  We did put up railings, but did not enclose underneath since it was such a cool place for our dog to lay on those hot days.

We stopped at a lot of water parks on our way to visit relatives in the summer, so it was a handy skill for them to have.  Our oldest was on the high school swim team, the youngest taught paddle boarding and was a white water rafting guide, and the middle just enjoys swimming, so knowing how to swim has been a life-long pleasure for all three. To have that respect for water without the fear was accomplished by taking time to teach them what they needed to know. My method worked for us and we have used it with others successful.  Try it out!