To dunk or not to dunk?

[troublesmummy]

OK so, taking ds swimming for the first time today, and i'm just wondering whether to dunk him or to wait til he's been a couple of times, so he's used to it.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

Thanks

How old is he? I just wet my little ones' faces but don't dunk - but when DD started swimming lessons, they encourage them to dunk as soon as they get in the pool, but I personally wouldn't dunk a child who wasnt old enough to understand what I was doing.

19 weeks and 3 days

I never really dunked them right under really. THey used to stand on the side and I'd hold their hands as they jumped in and I might let them drop a bit further than I would normally so they went under a tiny bit or got a big splash in their face.

I never dunked ds1 under but took him regularly. He's now 4.5 and in his swimming lessons he's done his 25m and she now has him diving to the bottom to swim through a hoop!

when I saw the title of this I thought of......biscuits, and was going to suggest hobnobs a la Peter Kay........oops!

Me too Lucycat = was just about to post DUNK!

me too

i thought biscuits too. Spot the dieter !

If you're talking biscuits - DUNK! If you're talking ds - I wouldn't. I would get him used to it and build his confidence first. He might love being dunked, but if he doesn't it might put him off.

I wouldn't swim dunk either, you want them to trust you in the water and it may put him off for a long time if you dunk him, a better idea is to play splashing games, so that he isn't bothered by water on his face - you have to let him splash you too though!

Have a great time, how old is your ds?

19 weeks. He's not bothered by water on his face in the bath. I accidently got some right in his eyes once, and he just blinked a lot until it had gone. I was expecting all out screaming! Bless him.

Think i'll do it gradually. He might not like it at all. Its cold isn't it, unlike his bath

So excited

no I would def not dunk
what I did with dd (can't remember who recommended this) was to start by splashing a bit on her head and move on from that BUT ALWAYS with a warning so she knew what was coming i.e. "1, 2, 3 SPLASH!" and then start off very gently, gradually building up to get them used to having water on their face. if they don't like it at any stage then go back a stage.
hope that makes sense.

Also, there are a couple of boys in ds1's swim class that really do not like water on their faces and the teacher does not force them at any time to submerge - she says it's much more important for them to feel secure and confident in the water and that making them fearful can take a long time to correct.

Try a bit of splashing as suggested but back off if he doesn't like it. I think it could be quite frightening at 19 months to be dunked right under.

I do think that's right actually Gobbledigook, it is loads more imprtant to have fun in the water than to be always achieving something. confidence and fun, is the thing.