Want your child to Swim like a fish and embrace the water? Step One: Ditch the water wings.

6 Reasons to Ditch the Wings

1. They can easily pop, deflate and/or slide off (sun lotion) – leaving your child at risk of drowning.
2. Toddlers are able to pull them off within seconds, often without being noticed immediately.
3. They offer a false sense of security.  Adopt the sink or swim approach.  Kids should never falsely think they are “swimming” when they’re not.
4. They hinder learning how to swim.  Water wings keep the child vertical (ideally). However, this is completely unnatural and makes learning to float extra tricky. *Floating and swimming are horizontal positions.
5. They make maneuvering hard because of their positioning (high arm).  It’s super hard for a child to roll back over if they end up in a facedown position.
6. Nothing replaces swim lessons and proper instruction. Get your child enrolled in a certified program today.

What Else You Can Do

• Practice Touch Supervision in the Pool
• Practice Being Underwater – really important that they learn to get their face wet.  A  good trick is to put a toy on a step and have them retrieve it.
• Wear a Certified (well fitted) Life Jacket.

Most important – Put your babes in a swim program ASAP.

My guys went to a course through Baby Otter (Florida) called: Turn, Kick, Reach. It’s a 5 day program that teaches children from 9 months plus, how to save themselves if they fall into a Pool.  I cannot recommend it enough.

Tip

A company called Puddle Jumper puts out a really cute alternative to a standard life jacket. The product is U.S. Coast Guard approved.

Note – this product still keeps them in a vertical position and hinders the swim process but at least it’s safe.

Puddle Jumper

Final Tip

If throwing a kids pool party, neighbourhood BBQ, etc. Basically any event where there are loads of distractions and water involved – Consider hiring a lifeguard.

Disclaimer:

I raised three boys on a Caribbean Island. Our house backed onto a pool and behind the pool lay the Atlantic Ocean. In summers, the boys spend much of their time on a Canadian lake. We’re also avid boaters. Water is a huge part of our lives and so learning to swim was paramount from the time they could crawl.

I was also a lifeguard long before having kids. It was back then that I realized the danger of water wings.

Parents – please ditch the water wings and have a safe happy summer.

Love,

Kate

x

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