Toddler hates swimming/going in pool

[mummyclarke1987]

Hi all. I want to share this with you hoping that someone manage to overcome it. My daughter is almost 2. She hates going to the pool/sea, unless she's literally strapped on me. I tried with a float ring/armbands and she hates them. We did chapter one of baby swimming when she was 6 months and she loved it. After that I couldn't continue, as I went back to work and we have no weekend classes in my area. My family is from Greece so we swim a lot there and I just don't want her to miss out. I know she's too little to draw the conclusion that she's terrified of water but I just wanted to see if anyone has dealt with this successfully! Thanks in advance and I hope everyone is having a great day!

Like you I did baby swimming with DS1, but as he got bigger it was clear he wasn't really enjoying it, so I decided to save my money!

When he was about 4 he started swimming lessons locally, which he enjoyed, especially after one remedial session with me learning to jump in!

Roll forward and he's now 10, and it was hard to keep him out of the sea this summer ... in Scotland!

So, even if your daughter doesn't love it now, don't worry - there's every chance she will (especially in lovely warm Greek waters, with the rest of the family to play with). Hope that helps x

Mine went through a stage of fear of water around this age. We were taking him to regular baby swimming lessons since he was tiny and one day he just hated it. So don't worry it's because it's from lack of exposure. It's been about a year - we stopped the lessons as they were just stressful and pointless and have tried trips to the pool periodically and he's just started to enjoy it again in his own time.

DD1 used to hate the pool so we never did baby swimming like seemingly all of our friends with babies the same age. Our first holiday abroad (aged 3) she started to love jumping in the pool and splashing about and hasn't looked back since! So I wouldn't worry too much, I'm sure she'll get back into it especially if you take her to Greece.

Thanks girlies! That puts my mind at rest! I might try a smaller pool too. My gym has only a massive one, so haven't taken her to a kid's one yet.

In that case might it be temperature-related? Pools for actually exercising in are cooler than pools for kids. But if she still seems to hate it, don't give up hope for the future