Should I use armbands/floats to teach DD to swim?

[SuperAmoo]

My DD1 is four in a month and we've started going swimming alot at a place that has a teaching pool where you can touch the bottom throughout. I would like to teach her to swim without swimming aids because I think she would become dependent on them. She has been doing really well - has stopped clinging to my neck for dear life and is eager to start swimming but I don't know how to get her to the next level. My friend thinks I'm 'doing it wrong' - she has her two kids in the big pool where they can't touch the bottom wearing armbands and using floats but my feeling is that this isn't teaching them anything about swimming. Also anyone got any tips on helping DD to go under water - I'm finding it hard to explain to her how to blow air slowly out her nose.

I have always done it like your friend, DD has floats, and can now swim 5m (not pretty) without them and usually has 2/1 on the rest of the time. DS has a costume with floats in and armbands which is working great at the moment but we will be moving him up to floats as soon as he is big enough. DD has swimming lessons and all the children use the floats. We have never had access to a pool where they can touch the floor so that has not been an issue. DDis nearly 4 and DS is 18 months. Have you thought about some private lessons just to get you started in the right direction? Good luck with the swimming.

Ds is 4 and has been having lessons at the local authority pool for about 6 months. He started off wearing 4 'floaties' on each arm (like thin armbands made of foam IYSWIM) and has gradually had them removed until he's now just down to one on each arm. This week the teacher tried him with no armbands at all while swimming on his back (his best 'stroke') and he managed to swim a little bit before sinking.
It actually didn't bother him that he'd sunk and the teacher was there to help him, give him lots of praise and put the floaties back on. She had said she will try him a little bit each week with none at all until he gets the hang of it

Kids all vary in how they learn - I think the thing to do is a mixture - the armbands give them the independence to enjoy being in the water on their own, and they can learn to kick etc, but without armbands will give them the confidence to go under the water and know they will come back up again.

I think the main thing is that it should be fun, and don't worry about making it too structured - just enjoy being in the water!

I was told that armbands hinder the child using their arms to swim properly. I bought a swim vest with floats in it but you could gradually reduce the amount of floats inside it. I thought that was a good idea.

The main thing I think is the ensure they have no fear of the watter.

My dd is 3 and has had both types of lessons, she iniatallly was in a deep pool with a noodle float and a belt and sometimes rings on her arms now she is in a teaching pool and wears hat and googles to encourage going under water but is only given floats for specific tasks (to practice leg work etc)

Tbh both techniques although diff do eventually get the same results imo

However every swimming teacher i know has been not keen on blow up arm bands as they restrict movement, prefering rings/belts/jackets

wrt blowing, i think that does 'click' eventuallt, dd hated jumping in but now is happy to as she has figured out how to shut eyes and mouth for a min, she however assures me she learnt how to from watching the episode where Humpf went to the swimming pool (makes me glad i pay ££££ for lessons as i cant take her )

with the ds's they just naturally swam.. but DD was a lot harder work to teach.

we used the back floats ( think it was zoggs)
the more confident she got we then removed a section of float. also a used and still use a little air filled ball about the size of your hand ( the 99p garage/asda type ones) so she could blow the ball along in front of her as she 'swam'.

now just use a spagetti or a hand held float if she's getting tired.

I may be wrong about this, but I get the impression that many small kids just aren't buoyant enough, with their relatively large heads, to swim without some extra flotation.

Hi Superamoo, my 5yr old DD has been having one to one lessons for about a year now. She has never had arm bands. The teachers say they restrict the movement of the arms and make it hard to do the stroke correctly.

We started off with "biscuits" which are circles with holes which you put right up on the childs shoulders (you can get them on line). This keeps them afloat but they can still move their arms freely. We also used a foam tube which was put just a bit under their arms so they have the support to stay up in the water (you don't have to use both at the same time). Gradually you can start to remove them.

The trouble is little ones don't have very strong tummy muscles so struggle to keep themselves up on the surface of the water before they sink down in the middle. This comes as they get older but can be upsetting for them when they go under unexpectedly.

Also unless you are very strong technical swimmer I would advise lessons. I am amazed at how the professionals teach swimming versus Mum and Dad trying. Even at my DD age they work on hand positions, face in the water when doing the strokes and swimming underwater. I am proud to say she is a confident swimmer who can do front crawl, breast stroke and back stroke way better than me!

Hope this helps. But no matter what go and enjoy playing in the water.

SuperAmoo, I teach children to "blow bubbles on the water". And fwiw we use armbands - but never for the whole lesson, just whilst they get in and realise that they like splashing in the water - then we ditch them and use floats for a bit, whilst we work on leg kick and body position. I teach in a pool where the children can stand up - placed depending on their height so that the water comes to about shoulder level.
Your dd is exactly the same age as mine - at this age it is far more about confidence in the water and bobbing about happily than learning technically correct swimming, they would pick that up later. I would also recommend joining a local swimming club - but I would wouldn't i

Arm bands are ok when they're little but hard to gradually deflate without them falling off. When totally inflated they make it difficult to paddle the arms properly.

Use a woggle/noodle (like the things you use in aqua fit classes)the child lies on it with it under their arms/across the tummy and arms and legs are free to kick & paddle.

You can use them for swimming on their back and for playing too.

Either them or the foam discs - you get six 3 for each arm and can take them off as the child improves. We called them magic muscles. Buy online at Swimshop.

I've always taught blowing bubbles through their mouth first- lips in water pretend you're blowing out candles on birthday cake.

Don't put too much pressure on the face under thing but maybe Father xmas could bring some sinker toys?

Thanks everyone! All your posts are really interesting. I didn't mean to sound like I'm against swimming aids by the way - it was more that I object to being told I'm 'doing it wrong' by my friend! Having said that I'm not really a fan of armbands so it was really interesting to hear there are so many different options when it comes to buoyancy aids. I am definitely going to look into it some more - what I don't want is for my DD to have a big fright and then refuse to get in the pool or for her to get disheartened because she just can't stay afloat. I didn't learn to swim until I was 18 and I was deeply traumatised by swimming 'lessons' at school so I just really want to get her off to a good start. I totally agree that it should be about having fun.