Getting Through Your Child’s Swimming Lesson With Your Sanity Intact

Taking your child to a swimming lesson should be a pleasant experience that you and your child can enjoy together. Often, though, the experience can become stressful (getting passed meltdowns is doable!). Here are a few tips that will help you and your child both to have a good time at the swimming lesson.

1. Make Sure Things are Familiar

If your child is going to a community pool for his or her first lesson, take them there a few times beforehand, just for playtime. Make arrangements to introduce the child to the swim instructor. If the child is in familiar surroundings, among familiar people, the first lesson is likely to be far less overwhelming. It’s not realistic to take a child to a new place, relate to new people, and be ready to learn new things all at the same time. If possible, you might arrange for the child to watch a lesson in progress before actually participating.

2. Be Prepared

Make sure that you’re organized. Pack a bag that contains everything your child could possibly need. You should include swimwear, a swim cap, goggles, a towel, dry clothes for later, and maybe a snack. If your child isn’t fully toilet-trained, then for the sake of their comfort and out of consideration for others who might be using the pool, you should also take along swim diapers and make sure that the child has used the toilet before leaving the house. If the child isn’t used to swim paraphernalia like goggles, do a practice run or two at home. On the day of the lesson, get there early, so that you’re relaxed and feeling positive. Your child is likely to take their cue from your behavior, so if you’re stressed out and nervous, they will be as well.

3. Know When to Cancel

Don’t take a child who is ill to a swimming lesson. It won’t be productive – you’re not at the top of your game when you’re feeling unwell, and neither are they. If you’ve booked a swimming lesson and have to cancel, try to give as much notice as possible, especially if your child is getting private lessons. The instructor may want to use the time to fit in another child.

4. Remember, Safety is Everyone’s Responsibility

Remember that even though it’s the instructor’s job to look after your child during the lesson, you still have to make sure that the child understands the basic rules of poolside safety. Be sure that they don’t run in the pool area – walking only to and from the pool. Explain to your child that the wet areas can be very slippery, and that there are often any number of things that they could trip over. You don’t want to end having both of you stressing over an injury that could have been prevented.

5. Feel Free to Observe

It’s okay to watch while your child has his or her swimming lesson, but resist the temptation to interfere. Swim instructors know what they’re doing, and aren’t going to let any harm come to your little one.

Follow these suggestions, and you’ll get through your child’s swimming lesson with your sanity no more in question than it usually is!