Did Floaties give your child a false sense of water security and swim ability?

[Anonymous]

Lose the floatie. I've been in places where children have jumped in pools forgetting they didn't have a floatie on and were at risk. The same is true in the ocean - when you think you're in shallow water and large waves come in suddenly. It's important for all children and adults to be comfortable in a pool, lake, or ocean if they can no longer touch the ground.

[Anonymous]

Op here. I may have been unclear, the floaters in my thought were to help get him properly floating to get a feel for his positioning. To feel what it’s like to actually try real strokes. He isn’t floating yet. I believe it’s the holding breath to stay up that’s causing it. When he’s on the noodle he is floating but to get the feeling for longer. I assumed these were better. But also cautious that he may assume he can float without them. With his lack of fear, that part scared me and his interest in the deep end.

We moved from group lessons to 1:1 lessons as he has a very high energy level and as mentioned, wants to try his own swim strokes/positions that are not the ones being taught. So there’s trying to align him to actual swimming not necessarily the creative interpretation.

I was thinking floaters would give his instructor and/or I the chance to have him floating longer than on the noodle and work on the breath control.

With the inhaling/breathing - he can take a deep breath but he lets the breath out before we goes under. Then he goes under and she will say did you inhale the water and say “cough cough”, he sometimes will sputter a cough then dive right back under but the breath holding and letting it out and these sputters make us believe he’s not holding the breath. Take the bobs for instance - he inhales, full mouth protrudes out, then he will let that air out so fast then dip under and he’s back up and blows out nose then dips again. It happens so fast that we aren’t sure but suspecting he is but he also has no reaction like we do to inhaling water where you need a moment to collect yourself and cough for longer. There’s the occasional sputter but the same inhale lets it go in that exact moment then dips.

[Anonymous]

Tobihhhs the weekend

[Anonymous]

Try this. Used it for my daughter. More resembles how you would swim and you can remove some to adjust the level of buoyancy needed as they improve.

https://www.amazon.com/Swim-Float-Kids-Back-Belt/dp/B06XPDLCYG/ref=asc_df_B06XPDLCYG/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=692875362841&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13973036510164751629&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007769&hvtargid=pla-2281435181938&psc=1&mcid=a9b8922ea3de3a6594e2a30b60404f3b&hvocijid=13973036510164751629-B06XPDLCYG-&hvexpln=73&gad_source=1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I may have been unclear, the floaters in my thought were to help get him properly floating to get a feel for his positioning. To feel what it’s like to actually try real strokes. He isn’t floating yet. I believe it’s the holding breath to stay up that’s causing it. When he’s on the noodle he is floating but to get the feeling for longer. I assumed these were better. But also cautious that he may assume he can float without them. With his lack of fear, that part scared me and his interest in the deep end.

We moved from group lessons to 1:1 lessons as he has a very high energy level and as mentioned, wants to try his own swim strokes/positions that are not the ones being taught. So there’s trying to align him to actual swimming not necessarily the creative interpretation.

I was thinking floaters would give his instructor and/or I the chance to have him floating longer than on the noodle and work on the breath control.

With the inhaling/breathing - he can take a deep breath but he lets the breath out before we goes under. Then he goes under and she will say did you inhale the water and say “cough cough”, he sometimes will sputter a cough then dive right back under but the breath holding and letting it out and these sputters make us believe he’s not holding the breath. Take the bobs for instance - he inhales, full mouth protrudes out, then he will let that air out so fast then dip under and he’s back up and blows out nose then dips again. It happens so fast that we aren’t sure but suspecting he is but he also has no reaction like we do to inhaling water where you need a moment to collect yourself and cough for longer. There’s the occasional sputter but the same inhale lets it go in that exact moment then dips.

I posted earlier and maintain that using a float device is not recommended, you are going to prolong his growth and learning opportunity here. I have been a swimmer all my life, my kids are year-round swimmers and I have taught lessons. You can work on breath work without the float, have patience and keep up with the lessons. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I enjoy the floatie for my DD 3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I may have been unclear, the floaters in my thought were to help get him properly floating to get a feel for his positioning. To feel what it’s like to actually try real strokes. He isn’t floating yet. I believe it’s the holding breath to stay up that’s causing it. When he’s on the noodle he is floating but to get the feeling for longer. I assumed these were better. But also cautious that he may assume he can float without them. With his lack of fear, that part scared me and his interest in the deep end.

We moved from group lessons to 1:1 lessons as he has a very high energy level and as mentioned, wants to try his own swim strokes/positions that are not the ones being taught. So there’s trying to align him to actual swimming not necessarily the creative interpretation.

I was thinking floaters would give his instructor and/or I the chance to have him floating longer than on the noodle and work on the breath control.

With the inhaling/breathing - he can take a deep breath but he lets the breath out before we goes under. Then he goes under and she will say did you inhale the water and say “cough cough”, he sometimes will sputter a cough then dive right back under but the breath holding and letting it out and these sputters make us believe he’s not holding the breath. Take the bobs for instance - he inhales, full mouth protrudes out, then he will let that air out so fast then dip under and he’s back up and blows out nose then dips again. It happens so fast that we aren’t sure but suspecting he is but he also has no reaction like we do to inhaling water where you need a moment to collect yourself and cough for longer. There’s the occasional sputter but the same inhale lets it go in that exact moment then dips.

The floaties don’t put him in the right position to learn strokes. They are designed to hold a body vertical and he needs to be horizontal. Fins and a kickboard are more useful for helping with floatitoon while learning strokes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try this. Used it for my daughter. More resembles how you would swim and you can remove some to adjust the level of buoyancy needed as they improve.

https://www.amazon.com/Swim-Float-Kids-Back-Belt/dp/B06XPDLCYG/ref=asc_df_B06XPDLCYG/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=692875362841&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13973036510164751629&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007769&hvtargid=pla-
2281435181938&psc=1&mcid=a9b8922ea3de3a6594e2a30b60404f3b&hvocijid=13973036510164751629-B06XPDLCYG-&hvexpln=73&gad_source=1

This one is in the right position to learn strokes.

[Anonymous]

I’m pro-puddle jumper but he’s 6 and in swim lessons. He’s past puddle jumper age.

[Anonymous]

It’s completely fine that he’s inventing his own strokes, if they are movements that will keep him afloat. He doesn’t need to be an Olympic swimmer. He just needs to be able to save himself.

[Anonymous]

Floaties are for fun, not for teaching how to float. It sounds like you’re trying to work on too much at once. He needs to work on those bobs until his inhale/exhale is automatic.

At six, assuming no significant speech or other delay, he should be able to communicate with you. You just need to slow down and give him a chance to think only about his breathing. The rest of the time, let him have fun in the water imo.

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thank you PPs. Yes, the hyperactivity has been the challenge. He will tell the instructor he has it and to let go which she complies with and he will not have the breath or skill needed to try the stroke he is attempting which is usually anything that has come to his mind. She’s right there with him and grabs up, swoops him up but he struggles with the impulse to try it on his own. And he is not yet at the mastered skill of floating.The instructor insists on the variety of these activities with each lesson and we’ve moved to the 1:1 lessons from group lessons to help as well.

I will look at the back float belt that has been shared as well. It was just a one off thought that it could maybe provide some help in getting his body oriented or atleast familiar with how swimming should feel. That weightlessness I remember is what I needed to understand and be comfortable with when I learned how to swim.

I welcome any other tips as well. My goal with the lessons has been him learning to swim but also being safe with being in the water.

[Anonymous]

I think a six year old should be learning to swim without an assistive device.

Our DC used float suits — kind of all body life jackets — and they provided a great deal of water familiarity and fun until they outgrew them. But the look on their face the first time they jumped into the pool non-buoyancy enhanced proved that there’s a downside too.

If your DC isn’t ready to listen I think the solution is a more experienced instructor and/or a more gradual program. Teaching them to float is the first step in water survival.

[Anonymous]

Yep, I think he's past the point of using floaties.

I'd let the swim instructor continue working with him. Maybe in the fall/winter, you could put him in lessons again. It sounds like he's not too far off, just wants to do it his own way.

[Anonymous]

Your kid has attention issues (normal for 6). So it will take more lessons for things to sink in. Spend a lot of time at the pool with him with 1 parents in 4 ft of water and let him try all the things he wants to try. He will figure out floating and breathing.
Its all kid dependent. He may also benefit from another activity where he needs to learn to listen and follow specific body instructions like a martial art.