Little swimmers

Since Doll & Winn we’re babies we have always taken them swimming from around 10 weeks old! One of my priorities in life is making sure the girls can swim, Doll goes swimming everyday (when lee is home) and  3-4 times a week (when lee is away), Winn on the other hand goes 1 to 2 times a week (purely because Winn is struggling with weight gain at the moment I don’t want to over exert her).

The first reason is safety, we live in an area with lots of canals and beaches around. Equipping the girls with the knowledge and skills of how to get them selves in and out of the pool could potentially be life  saving. (In my opinion taking them from an early age gets them used to the water so there is no fear).

The second reason is it’s really good exercise ( and the girls sleep so well after it too - I get all my jobs done after swimming) but it’s a great way of exercising every part of the body and it’s fun! 

Also swimming and getting in an out of the pool is really good for their dexterity Doll is really good at climbing (I believe it comes from swimming and using her upper body strength). 

Another great reason for children learning to swim at an early age. If you go on sun holiday more than likely your hotel will have a pool and the sea of course and your children can just go in an out as they please rather than them being scared or you worrying about them in the water, ( it’s just one less thing to worry about on holiday - if you have ever travelled with children you will know the less to worry about the better). 

So the girls have one swimming lesson a week then the rest of the time we take them. I find that the swimming lessons are so useful, because we can work on what we have learnt in the lesson throughout the week. Sometimes Doll isn’t in the mood but we go anyway because (She just has to get on with it because it’s an important learning curve).

Doll & Winn don’t wear any floatation devices although sometimes Doll has a shark finn (which by the way is amazing defo worth a buy). They don’t wear armbands because there not very helpful when learning to swim as they haven’t got full movement of their arms. I’ve also found woggles (pool noodles) are great & fun as you can use them to help children swim independently but also I can use them in all kinds of ways. I use them to get Winnie on her back swimming. (A side note loads of children hate swimming on their backs as the water goes in their ears an they feel disoriented but it’s just a case of preserving).

I also think playing games in the pool are a boss way of getting their confidence up whether that’s playing with a ball or playing “slippery fish” ( a game my dad played with us basically just throwing them all round the pool and under the water - I know it sounds weird but it was loads of fun). 

Letting the child jump in an go under the water before grabbing them is also a way of them understanding how the water works - they will come back up (I’m not encouraging you to let them skink just a few seconds.

Doll also likes make her way around the pool by holding on the the side we call it “spiderman” - because the action is like spiderman but this is also a safety mechanism if they were to fall in they could “spiderman to a place where they could get themselves out (like stairs) - if they are unable to lift themselves out using their arms. 

All in all we think swimming is great and I have just wrote this blog to encourage other parents to take their kids swimming as it is such an important life skill (well we reckon it is anyway).