Daughter Is Not Afraid of the Water

This may sound really mean and a bit cruel, but it works. Sometimes with the strong willed kids you have to be tough too. Show her what happens if she's in there alone, let her go and be next to her. I think that will remind her to stay with you. It accidentally happened to my niece, someone was right near her to grab her, but now she is more cautious and still loves to swim.

she might still be to young to understand at that age but have you tried maybe putting her in swim lessions? that might help with wanting to be so independant in the water.

M.

Something that may or may not have been mentioned...
This is heartbreaking to watch, but also encouraging....

I never did this, there isn't a location close to me. But I have a family member who told me about it after she did it with her kids and she LOVED it. It seems like an awesome skill, and if you are really concerned, you could equip your daughter with the skills to save herself if she ever gets in a pickle. Good Luck!

check out this link of a video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0mUPr68x2U&feature=re...

and the website for the technique is: http://www.infantswim.com/home.html

A.,
We are going through the same thing with our 18 month old. It's crazy how they already have the "instincts" to know how to swim, by that I mean kicking of the feet and moving of the arms. But it's also very scary as well. We let our daughter play on her belly while we are holding her or let her go on her back while we are holding her. She may squirm and try to get away at some points, but we just hold on tight to her. We started her out in a blow up boat and she loved it at first, then I gave her a taste of freedom so she doesn't want anything to do with that. I would just suggest always using the swim jacket or a floatie bathing suit so that way she has some freedom but you don't have to worry about her sinking or in the event she squirms enough out of your or your husbands arms, she won't get a mouthful of water. Good luck, we are working with the same issue. :)

my other thought other than swim lessons is make sure anytime she is near the water you have a life jacket on her. I used to have to do that with my youngest son because he has no fear of the water as well, he still int afraid but now he is 7 and he knows when he needs the life jacket on, and he can swim.

I understand your concern. Get her into a parent/baby swim class! Some kids just take to the water like fish, even at this age. My nephew LOVED the water and was swimming VERY early. Run with it! It's an important skill to have in life!

The flip side of this problem is my husband who is an adult who doesn't know how to swim...and he grew up by the ocean! As our orthopaedic doctor mentioned, when seeing our son for a sports injury, swimming is the only sport that can save your life.

I know you're worried with her being so young. But swimming is a wonderful sport that will serve her well in her long life ahead of her. Most communities that have pools have baby classes.

My DD was the same way. I recommend getting her some swim lessons right away. Check with the red cross, they have them for babies even younger than her. It is never too young to teach water safety also. Use a firm voice and buzz words. "danger"- "ouch" that they understand. My kids were also always taught never to cry for Help unless they really needed it, no jokes about water safety here.
the only other thing you can possibly do is to never never take your eyes off of her.

Hi A.,
I have 4 children and an inground swimming pool since birth of the all. They are 11, 14, 17, 19. 1st thing: Make sure she is not around a pool without a life jacket. Make this as important as going outside without any clothes on. Then take her in the pool and let her learn to swim with the life jacket. If she has no fear, she will learn easily. Tell her to kick her feet. Encourage the words of swim. Teach her that the jacket holds her up. At some point, You may have to let her see what happens when you take the jacket off with you right beside her. Let her learn to swim with it on by herself first. Tell her to close her mouth and not to breath the water in her nose. Every time you put it on, tell her that it will hold her up so she doesn't breath the water.
When she masters this, buy a life jacket that you can take out some of the floating pieces as she learns. It holds her up less and less as you take them out. She will eventually learn to swim on her own. That is your goal!!!! My oldest son learned by 2 1/2 and my others were 3 or 4. Never unattended and gates and house doors locked at all times. Even when they learned.
Good luck!

Take her to swim lessons!! If she loves the water that much it's better to be safe than sorry. If she learns how to swim and something should happen to get her into the deeper end of a pool then she would know what to do. My sister's neighborhood actually had an instructor come to a neighbor's pool and do the lessons there with the kids. They did this for several years until the kids all got too old to want to continue lessons.

I don't think you have to "teach" her that she is unable to swim. Some that age can swim, at least for a little stretch. She is not going to be unsupervised around water for a very long time. If you're fearful in the deep water try a shallower depth for a while, letting her go a little bit. If she chokes a little on the water, she'll learn fast she's not ready, or she'll try harder to master it. As she ages, you'll teach her little by little about water safety.
If she's wearing a swim jacket, she will be able to do plenty at that age; obviously be close by.

A couple of things:
1. Don't use all the "stuff" because it can make her (and you) think that she is safe and brave.
2. Like everyone else, get her into swim lessons if you can! Certified instructors can guide her and you, plus they teach about safety.
3. Maybe let her go once or twice.

I've been an aquatics director for years, and now I go to families at their homes to teach them swimming in the summer. I've definitely seen kids like your daughter, and I think it is amazing and great that she is so excited about it. With proper lessons/safety, you could have the next Jenny Thompson on your hands! I'm a big fan of having kids feel comfortable, know safety rules etc and I don't believe in floats at all...although I know it's really hard to be in a pool all the time trying to hold on to a child who wants to get away. So I'd say use the floats minimally but try to work a little with her too...once you get her into a class, you'll pick up on some of the instruction methods so you can practice at home.

Good luck! If you have other questions or want some techniques, let me know!

Sometimes all the 'equipment' gives a false sense of security and I have been told NOT to use swimmies- especially. If my kids were playing by our spring fed pond they had their life vest on but i generally didnt let them swim in them until they learned that in fact they could not swim. I would take them off and get in the water with her and help her learn to swim and see how/if she floats in addition to lessons.

I agree with the other posts, get swim lessons. You might also want to get her one of those small blow up wading pools. Keep it shallow and let her know she can go in there without being held but she must always be held in the big pool.

Take her for swim lessons if you really want, but she is 19 months old... why would she be in the pool by herself?
This is a safetey issue. Yes, I understand she probably screams and wiggles when she wants you to let go. Tell her NO and get out of the pool for awhile. Are you going to say "YES, OF COURSE!" the first stime she sees that matches make fire and wants to play with those?
If you want to experiement with "letting go", then go to the really shallow end and try it, with you right there and the swimmies firmly in place.

I would say go ahead and put a floatation device on her such as "wings" which blow up and go on the arms or one of those bathing suits with floatation pads in them and stay very close by but let her have her freedom in the water. I have a pool and both my children learned to swim this way, they could both swim by age 4 and it's a very important skill to learn!

Oh my gosh, its so funny because its like your talking about my daughter! My daughter is 2 , but i remember the first time i took her in a pool when we were on vacation, she wanted me to let go of her! She kept squirming trying to get away from me!She would get so mad that i wouldnt let her go! Then a few weeks ago we went to the beach and she was crazy! She kept running toward the water, then when she was in the water she would tell me to go! she is just fearless! Its scary for us though :)But im going to do what your going to do, i am going to put her in swim class. Good luck to you!

Yep! I had one of those, she is now 9 years old and swims well. In fact, when she was 2 and in group swim lessons, the instructor turned her back to assist a student and my daughter jumped in. Thankfully, the instructor had keen ears, turned around, and plucked her from the water. I kept her in swim lessons from then on. I figured that was the best safety measure I could take with her; teaching her to swim.

My suggestion is to have private swim lessons for her. The instructor will have full attention on your child. Additionally, instructors do not have the same link/fear with the child, like parents do. In that same vein, the instructors goal is to teach water safety and swim skills, so your child is in good hands. Your daughter will be able to excell to her full potential.

I have found the instructors at my local YMCA to be very competent and kind. Plus, most Y's have an indoor pool, making year round swim lessons a possibility.
Keep on Swimin',
M. P

I know this sounds awful... but have you let her try to "do it herself" and had her dunk herself-a tad longer than just in and out? (3 seconds rather than 1) My 16 month old is like this. No fear. She will jump off the side of the pool, get her head wet, get splashed without a problem. I was very afraid she would just jump in w/o me and so i did this. I was there the whole time -- and let her do it completely herself (she thought that mommy wasn't paying attention) and every since then she will not go near the water without making sure mommy is right there. I guess my point is that you dont' want to make her afraid but concious of what could happen.

Just a suggestion, i hope it helps

I have my 15 month old daughter in a "swim class" where they put their heads under water, blow bubbles, learn to kick, and hold themselves (alone) at the pool's edge. I highly recommend that you start early to give her the tools she needs in the future. Soon she will be able to swim and then there is no need to fear the pools/water!

Good luck!

My daughter was and is the same way. I would enroll your daughter in swim lessons. There is this really cool method to keep very young from drowning. I don't know anyone in the seacoast that does this but perhaps someone else does. Here is the link.
http://www.childdrowningprevention.com/index.html

get her into swim classes asap! I wouldn't teach her if I were you, let someone else do it..

Hello, If I were in your place i would take her immediately for swimming lessons. You of course should always be aware of her near water, but if she thinks she can swim, it might be safest to actually give her some of those skills just in case she comes in contact with water accidentally. The point is you have a better chance of actually teaching her to swim than convincing her that she cant. Good luck

I have the same situation with my daughter, I took her to swim lessons this winter - with the intention of teaching her some water safety because we too have a pool..... it seems to have back fired because now she is also comfortable with the water and makes me soooo nervous. I try to keep her in one of those water floatie things (we have a little boat that sings - got it at toys r us for $10).... she is content with it for a while but then also thinks she can do 1,2,3 jump and just swim off on her own. I am looking to get one of those full body bathing suits with the saftey ring inside (so that she floats) and see how that goes. I am having a hard time finding one that fits her (she needs a step 1 and everyone carries a step 2).
I guess my only advice is that at our kids' ages they either have a lot of fear OR NO FEAR AT ALL.... and it is a developmental milestone (so its completely age appropriate - not that that makes it any better) - the only real thing I think you can do is exactly what you have done.