Teaching your baby to swim

I started teaching Maryam to swim at the age of 10 months old.
Let's share on what I have dug up so far from the teaching-baby-to-swim sites I've been researching on.

- when parents take kids to the pool, they normal allow the kids only in wading pools.
Well, if u decide to teach them to swim, dont. They need to learn in the adult pool, with the parents/parent. And do you know the big pool is better for babies since the water circulation is better, so its cleaner than the wading pool. This goes without saying actually, since you know the difference of the color of water in both.Heh.

- do not use float. Like I mention in my previous related entry, I was looking for the neck float at first before I found out there's no need for this.Float gave your child false sense of security, then they wouldnt know how to react in cases of emergencies (hold their breath etc etc)

-SUPER COMMON misconception - just throw them in the water, they will naturally swim.
Not true, well , unless the baby youre trying to teach is your pet fish!
I get sooo aggravated with this one cause when most people see us training maryam at the public pool they would say "orang putih campak je anak diorang dalam air ""the westerners simply throw their babies in the water"
oi.gila ke.these are babies, not fishes ye. Teach n train them first. I am sorry Im letting myself get emotional on this.So stupid. Campak je. Pfft.

- common mistakes people make when they see us with maryam in the adult pool is to bring their kids (3,4,5 years old) into the deep end, expecting them to be calm.
And comparing the kid to maryam "tengok baby tu, relax je,awak yang besar ni penakut"
Let me throw you, who cant swim to save your life, in the middle of the sea and see how you fare. Another pfft moment. poor kid will be screaming and kicking about trying to get out.

-some parent waits until laters to teach, since swimming for babies is not common here. But the older they get the harder it will be due to natural fear of water. for Maryam, swimming has made her a water buff. Or probably that's her natural character. Nonetheless, it makes bath time easy. She wont fret if you pour water down her face, or a few times, try to dip her face into the bath tub. in the west they start as early as 2 weeks after birth, using heated pools. I know my friends who bring their babies to the pool at four months old

-to get them comfortable in the water, make full use of the baby bathtub. Most people ditch the baby bathtub once their babies are able to stand (supported). Maryam still uses hers until now although its a bit small for now. We are planning to get a bigger plastic tub for her bath time. I feel babies learn a lot during bathtime. A water buff myself, bath time should be made longer and funner, and not "cepat la keluar, apa buat lagi dalam tu!" i enjoy bathing Maryam, Safya my niece and Ilyas my nephew together when we go back kampung.super fun!

- learn the right method and have faith! these are the most important if you,cheap like myself are going to teach them swimming. There's a command to use which is "*insert baby's name*, ready, go" which is commonly used by most sites. I even use a certain voice so she can anticipate that she's going to be submerged under water or have water pour down her head in a moment. of course now she is talking, whenever i call her name using my 'instructor' *ahem* voice, she would say "yeady" and then "go". super funny. Do not start teaching once you have researched up on this and watch related videos. This is also for safety reasons

-and of course, have faith, believe in your baby's potential. the first time I was going to dunk her, i was so scared. what if she swallowed, what if she breathe the water in.
but when she came up relaxed, and reach out for her toy, you knew this baby is smarter than you think! ahhahahah

-know her signals.respect her cues. if she does not want to continue, if she fusses, then stop. this is suppose to be fun for her. and there's always other times to teach.dont rush her.

Look up here and enjoy!