should I start using armbands ?

[fredly]

I've been taking dd, now almost 14mths, swimming very regularly. She's always been pretty confident in the water, not scared of splashing, and now even jumps in my arms when sitting on the edge of the pool. I've never bothered with armbands as I didn't see the point since I was not going to let go of her. But now I would like her to get used to not being stuck to mummy, or daddy, the whole time she's in the water. It's getting a bit boring for the 2 of us and I feel we can't do much more. So do you think armbands would help her gain independence and eventually swim by herself ?

Yes, I do.

yes or one of those back floats that tie around the middle.

Wouldn't go with armbands at all as they interfere with paddling. If you want to go with an inflatable of some sort, the jackets/suits are better.

aaahhh, jacket, hadn't thought of that... Thanks

My DS was older than 14 months when we tried this, but we used a woggle (long sort of foamy tube) which goes under the child's armpits and supports them. Their arms are free to paddle. The swimming teacher recommended it, but I think DS was about 18months? Not as confident as your DD though (still isn't at 4!!!)

Apparently the jackets are best as it leaves their arms free to move unlike armbands which do restrict them. Both mine have used the jacket and got on well.

Have fun.

do you know a website I can get the jacket from ? i've got a jojomamanbebe catalogue here that sells them but they start at 2 years.

we used float suits for both dds and they are both fantastic swimmers

armbands dont help them to get in the right position

no float suit and a woggle is possibly even better - dd2 was using a woggle from 18 months but she had seen lots of other children using them

float suit

I've never seen a jacket for a child as young as yr dd (which is a bit poor, really).
We had one for ds1 which says age 3-5 on it but I'm sure he wore it at 2.5 or so. It really gave him the confidence he needed.
Our pool has special arm discs which you can have up to 4 of on each arm and take them off as the child gains confidence, that's what they use for swimming lessons, much better than blow-up armbands which I agree restrict movement.

oh yes a float suit like Enid says is good as well