Swimming advice, please! Flotation device for inexperienced 15 m.o.....

[BabyValentine]

Hi there,

DD has only been swimming a few times (loved it). We borrowed a floaty swim seat thing from friends last time but think she might've outgrown this now.

Wondering about arm bands, float suits or seats. Any advice?

TIA

One thing I was wondering about the float suits - will she be held upright in the water? Or more horizontal? In which case, won't her face be in the water...sorry, a bit clueless

This wasn't a random subject choice BTW; I thought I'd catch regular swimming holidayers here. But perhaps I should ask on another thread too...

Float suits won't hold her upright, so you have to be right there with her all the time (but at that age you would be anyway). She will soon learn to use her arms & legs to keep herself upright though. The advantage is that it gives more freedom of arm movement.

Arm bands are relatively inexpensive and do the job fine. They work quite well at keeping the body the right way up and tots learn to get around in the water quickly. Disadvantages are some restriction of arm motion (not really too bad, but hard to do say proper front crawl arms, which I doubt you'd be wanting to try in any case at that age) and some tots really hate them. You would need to get the correct size (small!) for a 15month old.

Seats hold the tot securely upright but massively restict arm movement. I wouldn't recommend this in your position - she's already used one & got used to the water and probably wants to start using her arms to propel herself about.

Ds has a speedo float suit that we've had since he was 15 months. If he is upright, it keeps him bobbing around like that, and equally gives enough boyancy to help him swim happily.

For littlies, I don't think arm bands give enought floatation in the right place, or are secure enough. DS hates them too.

We used a Zoggs Bobbin. My dd2 was perfectly happy swimming with one of these and it put her in a good swimming position. She was swimming without it by the time she was three. Highly recommended

I would second arm bands. We bought an expensive float waistcoat thing for ds1 and it is ok but he is better with armbands, can swim independantly with them whereas with the waistcoat you have to hold him still as it doesnt hold him in as good as a position in the water.

You don't need a float, disc arm bands are fine at that age, that's what they used when my 2 were babies for swimming lessons.

disc armbands

These are expensive but you can get them cheaper if search and they will last a long time. You take one off at a time as they get more confident.

disc armbands aren't functionally any better than normal ones though. They are easier to get on and off and to use at reduced bouyancy which is why they're often used for lessons. Arguably they look nicer and may feel nicer too (but that's subjective).

But if you want to save money there's nothing wrong with blow up ones. For reduced bouyancy don't blow them up all the way.

I would like to add that we didn't have to support dd2 in her Zoggs Bobbin. She could swim about independently in it. We kept an eye on her of course, but there was no need to hold her. 'Twas fab.

To be honest I agree snorkle, I used blow up ones as well, only used the disc ones in the lessons. The float suits jackets are just a waste and totally unecessary.

whatever you use, it's a really good idea to not use it for a short time each session. Obviously you then need to be giving the 100% of your attention & most likely some support too. You can pull them through the water and try some supported/unsupported floats (star, mushroom etc). Getting used to the feel of being in the water without float aids is very beneficial.

DS had a float suit from when he was about 1yo, I think. He absolutely loved it - it gave him so much confidence to be able to jump in from the side by himself, doggy paddle with us at a small distance etc. Arm bands really got it the way when he was smaller - left his arms at right angles - although you might be able to get a better style that wouldn't do that. We got the suit second hand from ebay, and it's still in great condition, so I don't feel it was a waste of money.

Swimming belt example here plus arm bands, puts them into a nice swimming position and as they get better you slowly deflate and remove arm bands, all my kids used this from about 2.

Whatever you go with, really not a seat, these are for very young kids who are going to be in the water for a short time, because it keeps them half in half out of the water and they get cold very quickly.

started all mine with a rubber ring and arm bands, then went to just arm bands then just gradually reduced the air in them.

They were all swimming well by 4, without aids.

Think the rubber ring gives a bit more stability when there little.