for water confidence, safety & fun
Going on holiday? Read these tips:
Keep swimming! Even if you're just playing and enjoying the water, it's a fantastic way of keeping water a familiar environment, ready to come back to us at Tiny Swimmers.
Practice the things you have learned in the lessons so far: it might be blowing bubbles, getting sinkers, pushing and gliding off the wall, games or just swimming.
Buoyancy aids - We use 'noodles' and teddy bear floats at Tiny Swimmers, which are great tools when learning to swim. If you are juggling several children at once in the pool then there are some amazing floatation devices on the market: float suits and jackets with floats inserted into the costume for younger children, baby floats or seats and even shark fins (worn on the back from the age of 3-6).
We don't recommend armbands for learning to swim as they do not hold children in the correct position to swim, they get in the way and give a false impression of how buoyant your arms really are.
In the pool …
Always Be Alert!
Never leave your child unsupervised in a pool even if you think they are fantastic swimmers or they are using buoyancy aids. Remember you can’t hear a child in difficulty.
Don't dive into shallow areas, always check the pool depth as this can be a major cause of head and spinal injuries.
Do keep safe! We've included a link below from the Royal Society for the prevention of Accidents, which has everything you need to know about keeping yourselves and your children safe when swimming.
On the beach .....
You'll have been having great fun watching your baby swim under water in your classes, but please be aware that babies under 12 months old should not be submerged in sea water. The kidneys of babies are not developed enough to cope with the salt content and it can lead to severe illness.
Make sure you stick to beaches designated safe for swimming, with a lifeguard and get to know local beach flags and what they mean. In the UK: the safest place to swim is between the red and yellow flags.