Paddling pool help - posting here for traffic!

[badger2005]

I have just got a paddling pool, and we have 4 hot children waiting.

I can't figure out how to inflate it. There are big sort of plug holes with two plugs, one with a cross on it. So I thought I could use a football pump on it. But the cross is plastic so the thing can't get in.

Help?!

I have 2 different paddling pools.

Number one has a normal valve that you squeeze while blowing into, like kids' armbands, and a screw cap for deflating.

Number two has a kind of double valve, if you imagine an armband valve inside a bigger armband valve? Open the smaller inner valve and that's the one you squeeze and blow. Open the larger outer valve and it's just a hole for deflating.

We inflate both using a home electric car tyre inflator, we bought an adapter from eBay that's like a cone shape. You push the cone into the squeezey valve and the cone holds the valve open while the inflators does the hard work!