The first few lessons will be about your child and instructor getting to know each other. Don’t expect too much progress in the first week, it takes time for your child to trust a new person in the water.
Your child will be submerged so they can learn breath control, and they start learning to swim. It is perfectly safe for children to be submerged and we keep a close eye on them to make sure they adapt well to this. We also start working on their back float and, depending on how the lesson goes, we may even start rotating your child which is how they will learn to get onto their back to float unassisted.
All skills are learned through repetition so we give your child a lot of practice by breaking a skill down into one or two parts and practicing that. This is one of the reasons children get skilled so quickly. Once you little one has got used to the water and learned to trust their instructor (and you) in the water after the first few lessons, they will start to feel right at home and even start enjoying their swimming lessons. From their on out, each lesson will lead your child to water safety.
A Note on Tears
Unfortunately most children cry during the lessons, sometimes only for the first few lessons, sometimes through the whole program. Either way, they still get skilled. All our students love swimming and are happy to stay and play after lessons – sometimes to the point where moms and dads have to pretend they really are going home and will leave their child behind if they don’t get out the pool!
It is important to remember that babies have no language ability so crying is their main means of communication – they do it throughout the day for various reasons. Older children have often learned that they get a response when they cry. Their crying is usually for mom or dad’s benefit because it is often a parent who does something to stop them crying as soon as possible. But unfortunately for them, that doesn’t work in the pool. I find it helpful to think of it as “just noise”. Crying is not a reason to give up on your child’s lessons! Please trust the process and trust your instructor, we have been trained in child psychology and know how to deal with children – strong-willed, defiant or placid, we have worked with them all.
When Stacy did her training in Orlando, Florida, she met a mom who had found her first born son at the bottom of their backyard pool. That mom said the only thing that kept her going at the time was being 5 months pregnant with their second son. She told Stacy that when she heard him crying in his lessons, she would have given anything to be able to hear her first child cry again. That really puts it into perspective for us. It is no fun having little ones cry or yell through their lessons but it is better than the alternative.
We love children and love to give them the gift of swimming. We will do our best to make lessons a fun and pleasurable time for your child and your family.
Infant Aquatics, Perth drowning prevention prepares your child if the unexpected was to happen! Our aquatic survival swim lessons are about survival first.
Learn more about Infant Aquatics℠ Perth Survival Swim
