Going Underwater with an Infant

Video Transcript

"Hi, I’m Samantha with Sharks and Minnows Swim School and I want to talk to you a little bit about getting your child comfortable in the water. The first thing that you want to do when you’re getting your child comfortable and teaching your child to swim is make sure that they know how to hold their breath. So what we’re going to do first is talk a little about cueing. You want to make sure that your child knows what’s going to happen and is able to close their mouth and hold their breath. So the first thing that you can do is you can use the cue 1, 2, 3 and sprinkle water over your child’s face. Like this, ready 1, 2, 3, very good, blow it out, good girl. You can either use verbal cues, as well as visual cues. So after you say 1, 2, 3, show them how to hold their breath. You can use your hand to pour the water or you can use a cup or a ball like we have here. You want to get enough water on the child’s face so that they know what’s going to happen. Ready, 1, 2, 3, good girl. You want to praise every effort that your child makes. As soon as you’re confident that they’re taking the cue in holding their breath, now we can actually start having them go underwater. What we’re going to do is a slow submerging, you want to hold your child about arms length away from you. You’re going to give them the cue and bring them under in a slow U shape motion. Like this, ready, 1, 2, 3, you can take a big step back and then bring them right up to your shoulder. Very good, blow it out and that’s how you get your child comfortable going underwater."