Water Safety Awareness Month
Disclaimer: We are provided free swimming lessons by Goldfish Swim School in exchange for collaborating blog posts. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
May is “Water Safety Awareness Month.” According to the Centers for Disease Control, drowning is the leading cause of accidental-injury death among children ages 1 to 4. Goldfish Swim School aims to educate families during lessons by teaching steps that can be taken to prevent accidents from occurring.
One of the major reasons I have both of my children enrolled in swim lessons is to help my children understand that water is a powerful and how to handle oneself around/in/out of water. If one of them were to fall in, I want the safety skills that are practiced in the weekly lessons to kick in from motor memory.
Being that my son is under one, I have had a lot of questions about how he is learning safety skills at such a young age. Each week in his swim lesson he is becoming acclimated to the water through conditioning activities, so if something were to happen he would be able to ignore the water on his face and allow the muscle memory to take over with the skills he is learning in class. The following skills are the big takeaways from our Mini 1 Class and how a baby so young is learning to be safe in and around water:
Water Conditioning: P is conditioned to the water with the duck cups pictured below. We start by pouring water on his shoulders and work our way up to his. Our swim instructor supports us by providing verbal cues that we use in order to prepare P for the water being poured on him.
Dips: Each lesson we practice dipping P under water. We use the same words paired with the dip movement each week to help prepare him to coordinate his breath control with going under. We move at our own pace and follow his lead to know when he is ready to go under vs just being submerged up to his nose.
Back Floats: This skill is practiced twice in the class. Back floats are practiced first to allow baby to feel comfortable in this position so that later if he found himself in the water he could float on his back until help arrives. Later in the class we start P out in a dip and then maneuver him into a roll into a back float.
Wall Walks: We help P practice walking with his hands down the wall. This helps his little body learn what to do if the water is too deep or he can’t swim to a ladder. He is also completing one heck of a bicep workout!
Climbing Out of the Pool: We have been learning that part of water safety is knowing how to get out of the water quickly and safely. We help P practice the technique of climbing out of the pool using the “elbow, elbow, tummy, knee” method. (One elbow first on the ledge, then the next elbow, followed by pulling herself up on to her belly, and finally up on her knees.)
The emphasis that Goldfish Swim School places on water safety is so important to help keep these little humans safe. As we move into the summer months, and water activities become even more prevalent, it is important as a parent to be vigilant around water. We are thankful Goldfish puts such an emphasis on water safety and begins addressing this issue at such a young age.
The Details: We are currently in the Goldfish Mini 1 and the Junior 1 class at Goldfish Swim School. We attend lessons at the Goldfish Swim School in Westerville, Ohio. Check out the link for location, address/telephone details and how to sign up for lessons. And as always, please reach out with any questions you might have.