to take a toddler swimming on my own?

[ardenjones]

He's 21 months. Would be just me and him on my day off work. Too stressful? Any useful hacks?

Don’t use arm bands. They put the body in the wrong position (upright) to learn to swim. You need to get your ds to lie as flat as possible in the water. Tummy floating. Back floating completely relaxed. Little babies naturally “swim” underwater and hold their breath when submerged from about 6 months.

You’ll be fine.

Take a dressing gown for you too that you Don’t mind getting wet.

Then when you get out the pool, strip him off and wrap in him a towel whilst you strip off and stick a dressing gown on. Then focus on him.

Most pools have a play pen. Stick him in it with a snack and a drink whilst you get dressed.

Holding him is fine. I have puddle jumpers for my two as I found it easier when I took them but holding is fine

Under normal circumstances I’d say go for it but check your pool’s guidance as many aren’t particularly child friendly at the moment. My 4yo is desperate to get back into the pool but I don’t think it’ll be feasible for a little while longer given some of the restrictions. Our pool has given up with swimming lessons until September and it seems a bit of a pain tbh.

If you’re going to do it regularly a towel poncho was a game changer for me.

You'll have a great time OP. I've changed around depending on my kids ages whether I've wrapped them in a towel and given them a snack whilst I've got dressed, or quickly wrapped myself in a towel (I have an amazing holiday towel thing with poppers so it stays up whilst I dressed the baby), got them dressed and then myself. Also depends on how tired/grumpy child is. Snacks are your friend. I also found a waterproof changing mat really helpful to stand on/to lie them on. And don't wear "proper" clothes,- joggers, loose dress in the summer, flip flops, onesie for the baby or similar. Have fun!

Just remember a snack and quick easy clothes for both of you!

I always just took a loose dress that I didn't need a bra for and as I had girls ,dresses and cardigans for them. Give the snack whilst you get dressed.

I csnt swim and I've always taken my 2 DDs alone. You'll be fine. Have fun 😀

Jealous that your local pool is opening for kids swimming

Take snacks to keep him busy while you get yourself dry and changed

What do you think single parents do?

I used to take a toddler and a baby and we managed. The stressful part was always getting dressed after. Take snacks as they are hungry after swimming and it keeps them busy while you get changed.

@PumpkinP I am a single, lone parent.

Definitely take snacks/ drink for after as PP have said. DD would happily sit munching on a banana in her towel whilst I got changed - noone wants a hangry toddler 😁

I managed it on my own when my children were younger, say 5 and 3. Youngest has asd and is a handful to say the least! But I'm a single mum. It will be absolutely fine OP.

You'll be fine. They will love the water! I used to take my newborn and three year old swimming by myself. Changing is a bit of a juggling act but worth it because they loved being in the water and developed water confidence very quickly.

I would definitely use armbands. It will give you peace of mind if nothing else, in case he wriggles out of your arms. You’re probably not going to be teaching him to swim properly at first, just boosting his water confidence and yours, so the arm bands won’t get in the way, they’ll just ensure he’s buoyant if he falls in!

So sorry to jump on with my own question but ive never taken my 12 month old swimming before and i really want to now our pool is opening!

What do you do about showering when you get out of the pool or do you not bother and just get both of you dried and dressed? And does she need just a swimming nappy, or a costume too to go over the top?

rainbowcakes Most baby swim schools recommend/ insist upon double nappies. Have a look at happy nappy. It’s worth doing as I’ve had plenty of times when the swim nappies have leaked but the outer layer has stopped poo leakages. Generally you want to get out as quick as possible as babies always get tired out really quickly and are hungry. I miss swimming with my youngest who was 12m when lockdown happened. Towel ponchos are good for them (and for you).

It’s fine, I used to take baby DS on my own every week to lessons before lockdown.

Where are you that pools are open? I'm desperate to take DD again but even the open lidos are only allowing adults atm.

Just allow twice as much time to get changed.and all than you think you might ever need, and have fun.

Hope you have a lovely time op!

Snacks definitely, I've 3 and my youngest who is 3 has autism loves swimming, but is awful in the changing rooms due to sensory issues, I use snacks to distract as otherwise he tries to slide under the cubicle doors, so he gets dressed 1st and then i will dress once he's distracted!

@rainbowcakes

So sorry to jump on with my own question but ive never taken my 12 month old swimming before and i really want to now our pool is opening!

What do you do about showering when you get out of the pool or do you not bother and just get both of you dried and dressed? And does she need just a swimming nappy, or a costume too to go over the top?

I've always showered as both DC had mild eczema so would always get quite dry skin if we didn't wash off the chlorine ASAP. Give the toddler a quick shower / hair wash and then get them to sit on the floor (mine were happy sitting under the spray of the shower - thought it was great fun!) whilst you quickly shower off. I always got them to sit so I didn't have to worry about them slipping. I didn't bother washing my hair until I got home as it's long and takes ages.

My tip would be to put him in his buggy. When I was taking my son before lockdown I would bring him into the family changing room in his buggy. I'd quickly get ready and then take him out of the buggy and get him ready.

After swimming I'd get him sorted first, put him in his buggy with a drink/snack, and then get dressed myself.

Brings snacks, wrap him in a towel after swimming (or towel poncho thing), give him the snack whilst you get dressed. I would just wear bra, knickers and a jersey dress, slide my feet into flip flops, done. Then I was dressed and could deal with my child.

Also, I know you said you are a lone parent so not sure how much help you have but why don't you sign yourself up for swimming lessons? My Mum was a rubbish swimmer, panicked if she ever swam deeper than being able to put her feet down. So we all had swimming lessons as children. She had adult swim lessons at 60 years old and turned into a fish! Got confidence and swam loads after that.