swimming with 21 month old ds (GDD,low muscle tone) - any recommendations/advice

[hazeyjane]

I take ds swimming 2 or 3 times a week. His physio and SALT said that it is a great exercise for him to help improve his overall tone. His main problem tonewise is with his swallow, which we are hoping to improve in order to avoid him having a gastrostomy (he aspirates because of his poor swallow), but his SALT said that improving tone overall should help this.

At the moment I hold ds in the water (he hates sitting in a swimfloat seat), sit him on the edge and splash him in and try to hold him horizontal and kick his legs for him (this is really difficult! but he doesn't kick them himself). He doesn't seem to naturally splash about like my dds would have done, he just sort of hangs there.

Now we love going and I want it really to be about us just enjoying doing something together, but I wondered if there were ways we could get more out of it - any recommendations of products (are float suits any good?) or resources out there that we could try and access or just advice from anyone who has done swimming with their dcs?

Hazey, I will ask DS4's school teacher on Monday. They have a hydrotherapy pool, and he is phobic about indoor pools so it will interesting to see how he manages, as I suspect he will struggle with whole floating concept!

hazeyjane - must admit that I opted for swimming lessons. I took all of mine from age 5/6 months. DS1 dyspraxia, hypermobile and SPD and DS3 swallowing disorder.
DS1 took over 8 years to swim 25 metres (in a style of his own), DS3 cleared the pool several times with reflux issues - but both have managed well.
Our lessons didn't allow for little ones to be on their own until 3 years. It also was more about water confidence, and learning the skills of getting in and out the pool safely, getting splashed without issue - and eventually putting their faces in and not taking gulps of air in at the same time
I always put myself by the edge, just in case I needed to use the gulley bit for getting rid of anything unwanted iykwim.

Dd2 used bog standard arm bands, tbh. These days she's in a mainstream swimming class, but is still struggling to get it together at 8. Her tone meant that she was unable to hold any of the float type things adequately, and couldn't grip the edge of the pool wall, so we had to look for a pool that had an old fashioned rail at the water line so that she was safe for swimming lessons.

Oh, there is a really cool float thingy that dd1 uses at school (she has low tone and hypermobility), he might be a too little for it at the moment but might work for him when he's a bit older, will see if i can find a link.

We use a loaty vest for dd2 (hypermobile, ASD and low tone) but she has outgrown it now so not sure what we will use this year.

Hi hazeyjane, DH takes DD (just turned 2 with Downs) swimming and he swears by the float noodles that our local pool supplies FOC for parents to use.

We're also about to start weekly hydrotherapy at the hospital, so I'll let you know if they have any good techniques.

HTH

this is what dd1 uses at school, might be good for some of you with older dc's with low tone (probably 3+).

my ds with CP (22 months corrected) likes the float noodle things. he also likes it if I float on my back and he rests his head on my shoulder.

Also have you got a pool nearby with a jacuzzi bit? My Ds loves the bubbles and throws his toys in and out. If you have one of those that helps break it up a bit, as do slides (sitting on my lap).

My private physio came tot eh pool with us once and helped show me some ideas, which was great

thankyou so much for all the suggestions.

i am seeing ds's physio and ot next week, so will ask for their advice as well.

can i ask what you did with the noodle? i have seen them wrapped around children's chests, but couldn't work out how to do that with ds.

If he's on his back, lay him on top of the noodle with it tucked under his arms and he can clamp his arms down over it (they sometimes cross in front if they are long enough), or vice versa if he is leaning forwards and on his tummy in the water. Just tuck them under his arms.

Dd2 wasn't great with a noodle until about 4 tbh. Her tone was all over the place and so would suddenly shoot her arms up or out and the noodle would dislodge. Once they get the hang of having them tucked under their armpits and clamped there, they are great though. It's more successful than holding anything for dd2 anyway.

ds3 has used float suits for years, they are great as his limbs are free to move however he wants then to IYSWIM, unlike armbands. We found these best.

Your physio and ot will hopefully give you a program based on your DSs weak areas, eg trunk/neck. We had a good exercise for this from brainwave, but it is almost impossible to explain! Brainwave gave us a pool programme too.

After 3 lovely years of weekly hydropool (lovely and warm!) sessions they are going to give us 6 weeks of tailored lessons then we have to go to local pools

Really gutted as will miss the other mums and LOs and the bath temp water. Still guess we've been lucky really.

We also found this useful http://www.funswimshop.co.uk/swim-trainer-baby-swim-ring-2152-p.asp here

here

ds2 went to hydro sessions with me in the pool with him from around the same age.
He used a combination really noodles, standard floats &big flat float pads that we laid him on & gradually got him used to less & less support by pulling a bit more of him in to the water.
We also had loads of little toys, balls, rubber ducks, fish etc in the water to encourage him to reach, or getting him to splash them by kicking his legs.