ANGIE - DOB: 15/12/00

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DION: 20/12/02 - 15/01/07

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JAYDEN - 01/02/08

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TEACHING YOUR CHILD TO SURVIVE THE WATER

**I can’t stress enough that a good teacher is a confident one. If your not 100% confident in teaching your child to swim THEN DONT!!!!

• Get them use to the water from the start. My Jayden is a water baby and has been since he was 3 months old.
• Gain their trust in the water so they're relaxed. You can take some bath toys with you so it's a fun experience for them.
• Make every water experience a good one. If your child is afraid of the water then start by only going into the water for 10 minutes at a time at first then gradually extend their time in the water. **Don’t think for a minute that a child who is afraid of the water won’t end up there at some stage.
• Once you have their trust in the water the next thing to teach them is how to jump in the water and swim back to the edge. Vary how they get into the water but start off with them jumping in feet first then grab them under the water, turn them around and help them get back to the edge and climb out. Give plenty of praise. Keep this up until your child is jumping in willingly. **They will still need your help getting back to the edge and climbing out until they can swim alone.
• Next step is to teach them how to float. Hold them with one hand over their chest and the other under their lower back and rest their precious head on your shoulder with your cheek pressed against theirs and slowly walk around the pool with them. Talk to them or sing to them and even give them a toy to hold. Do what ever it takes to help or keep them relaxed.
• Once your child gets confident doing this and can respond to a command (so they're about 18 months old +) extend your hand from their chest to under their neck so your holding them faced away out in front of you but keep your face close to theirs so they don’t feel like they're going to fall.
• Once your child is happy to do this then progress to just having one hand under their neck. It's important that they push their chest up and face the roof as this will make it easier for them to float. When your child gets better down the track and with heaps of practice they may be happy enough to float alone to the count of 10, but dont push them as all children are different with how long they take.
• Once your child is confidently floating by themselves (as in without your assistance but with you close by in the water) try and get them to come out of the floating position by tucking their knees in and help them get to the edge of the pool. This will give them the skills to rest before getting back to the edge if they're tired.
• Then when they can jump in the water and get themselves back to the edge you know you've done the basics for them if your back should be turned long enough that they gain access to the water.

**Please note that I am not a swimming teacher and these tips come from personal experience with my own children's professional swimming lessons**

There are many other ways a child can drown, the toilet, a bucket, a shallow puddle, the bath anywhere that water can gather. Where there's water your child is at risk.

More water safety tips

• Older children should not be left to supervise younger siblings.

• In Australia – Swimming pools must at all times be surrounded by a child-resistant barrier conforming with Australian Standard 1926
• In New Zealand – All home pools including spa pools must comply with the Fencing of Swimming Pools Act 1987