You may have bought your child ‘floaties’ for their arms and back to make them feel more comfortable in the water and to put your mind at rest knowing that they will be safe. However I am about to share with you the 3 big reasons why floaties are actually stunting your child’s ability to be able to thrive and survive in the water.
1. Floaties can give your child a false sense of security. If they ever end up in the water by accident, chances are they will not be wearing any floatation aids and will find themselves in trouble. Learning to swim to their abilities (without floaties) means that if they ever end up in a body of water outside of structured swimming lessons, they will have the best chance of survival!
2. Arm floats or ‘water wings’ keep your child in a vertical position. You may think this is a good thing because it keeps their head out of the water and allows them to see more clearly, however it also brings about a ‘bicycle kick’ under the water. This bad habit can take years of structured swimming lessons to overcome and will stunt your child’s ability to learn to swim as they will not be able to gain the power from their kicks necessary to be able to come up for a breath.
3. Floaties can also make you too comfortable while your child is in water. You may feel that the floaties are keeping them safe and that you do not need to be actively watching them. I hope you do not think this is the case. Floatation aids should only be used as an extra precaution when there are multiple children under your supervision or you are unable to be in the water with your child.
I hope this post will help you make the right call when it comes to ‘floaties’ on your next trip to the pool or beach.
If you want to find out how to fast-track your child’s swimming and survival skills, give me a call on 0478001225 or email me at dean@homeswimminglessons.com.au
