Adoption Blog

My little cousin was taught to swim at 8 months. I was told that to get them to hold there breath, you count 1-2-3 and blow in their face. Then you put their face/head underwater, like scooping them towards you. Hope this helps!

Yes! I have taken a parent/baby swim class with each of my kids and that's what they always told me and it works! All my kids love the water and it's so much fun to be in it with them. Sounds like you are having so much fun, Mark! ~Mary~

My 15-month old daughter can swim 8-10 feet by herself now thanks to infant swim classes. She also jumps off the side and can pull herself out of the pool. I highly recommend leaving swimming lessons to the professionals, because it's one of those things that's difficult to teach your own child effectively, due to their innate fear and your normal responsiveness to that.

That said, to teach your daughter to hold her breath, lift her slightly up in the air while simultaneously saying "Bubbles!" then sail her under the water briefly (on her belly, in a normal swimming position, but head underwater). Practice this daily for a week or so, and she'll start closing her eyes and her mouth when you say "bubbles." As she improves, you can eliminate the physical and verbal cues, and she'll just know to hold her breath.

You can also play games that will show her how to blow bubbles in the water, like Ring Around the Rosy ("Splashes, splashes, we all blow bubbles!" instead of "We all fall down").

The Red Cross preschool swim program suggests that when teaching a very young child to swim, you shouldn't pull them underwater, but rather relax your support out from under them (like melting away) while using the verbal cues other commenters mentioned. I have had good luck with blowing in their face, especially with older toddlers (20-24months or so), as it helps them to understand the concept of blowing bubbles. You can even make it a game outside of the water so they get used to the idea of blowing in general.

The parent & child classes can be really helpful if you have a good instructor - try to get someone who has experience teaching that kind of class (not just classes for school-aged children, for example).

Just a thought - although it's important to be cautious (!), it's also important to teach children that water is not something to be afraid of, necessarily, just something that needs to be respected (like nature). Fear isn't helpful. Water is dangerous in very predictable ways, and as long as you are not taking unreasonable risks there is nothing to fear. :-) It's fun, enjoy it!

(feel free to email me if you have more questions, of course)

Thanks for all the responses! We appreciate it.

We've been to the pool several times since I posted this message. And today we had a GREAT time at the pool. Kaylee LOVES the water. She's a little fish.

But I am having some challenges getting Kaylee to go under the water. The 1-2-3 blow in her face doesn't really work for us. I created a little game when we first got her where I make a sound like a train. When I get to the choo-choo part, I blow in her face. She loves this and gets a big smile on her face when blow in her face. So now when we're in the pool and I go 1-2-3 and blow in her face, she just gets the big smile on her face. I love this little girl.... :-)

We will find another way. But for now, she just loves being in the water. I'll have to see if there are any swimming lesson classes available in our area.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions! Although I don't always respond directly to evey comment that comes in, I can promise you that Omi and I read each and every one. And we appreciate them all. And hey, one day little Kaylee girl will read them as well.

Thank you!!!

When I was a 6 month old (31 years ago!) the way they taught babies to swim wa by throwing them into the deep end of the pool. People say infant have no memories, but I DEFINITELY remember being thrown into the pool and then having my parents wrap a giant blanket around me. ARGH!