- BLOWING BUBBLES- You don't want your child to blow out their air when they go under. You want them to hold onto that breath. It takes approximately 2 minutes for a child to lose consciousness in the water and approximately 4-6 minutes before permanent brain damage will begin to occur. If your child blows out their air, then that takes away valuable seconds. The theory behind it is that if you are blowing air out, then the child won't get it up the nose or in the mouth. This leads me to a misconception. When a child comes up coughing, it does not mean they got water in their lungs. The anatomy of a human has the epiglottis which is the flap at the back of your throat that diverts air to the lungs and food to the stomach. The function is such that the epiglottis has an automatic reaction to divert anything more dense than air to the stomach and way from the lungs. When water touches it in just the right way, the body will not only close the flap but also cause you to cough thus pushing any water at the edge back out and away from the lungs. This means in an anatomically healthy human child, water will be diverted to the stomach not the lungs.
- NOODLES & KICKBOARDS- Most swim programs agree that arm floaties are not good. Yet many programs still use noodles or kickboards to teach. These are in the floatation devices category meaning that they provide a false sense of security. Children who cannot swim independently think they can because of these devices. The theory is to isolate the kicking skill which makes sense except that you are still not going to progress as efficiently as is possible through the water if your head is up out of the water due to the vertical posture.
- BOBBING- I heard it explained that bobbing teaches children a way to get air. The problem with this is that it teaches them to get air by standing up. What happens if there is nothing within reach to touch with your feet. This is the same problem with children playing on the steps. They learn that in order to get air, you must stand up. By going vertical, the posture pulls their body under the water more quickly. This is the opposite of what you want them to do. You really want your program to teach them to float.
- BATHTUB PRACTICE- If you child has learned to float, then you want them to practice this skill. You do not, however, want them to practice it in the bathtub. Seems like a good thing but if you think about it, it actually teaches a similar mistake to the bobs. A child who floats in the bathtub will eventually want to get up from that position. The way they would do this in a bathtub would be to push down on the bottom of the tub with their hands and buttocks. Now, consider your child was in an emergency situation. They went to their float (thank goodness and then decide they want to get up. If they have practiced in the bathtub, they will likely try to do so in the same way. What happens is that they proceed to sink themselves. This is definitely not the goal. Practice is best left for the pool.
- HEAD LIFTING FOR AIR- Teaching a child to lift his/her head for air is the least efficient manner to do so. It is exhausting for a small child to continually swim and then have to lift up to get air. Instead teach them to float. A back float posture provide a place to rest with unlimited access to air. There are numerous programs out there that claim to teach children how to float but then skip teaching the child how to get there from swimming. Make sure whatever program you choose teaches not only the float but how to get there and maintain it.
- GOGGLES- Ok, so goggles aren't the worst thing in the world UNLESS your child does not believe he/she can open his/her eyes underwater without them. Pools that are not chemically maintained properly will often hurt little eyes and there is nothing worse than your child screaming because their eyes won't stop burning. However, your child needs to be able to open his/her eyes in order to know where he/she is going. Once they know they can open their eyes, then you can use goggles in play. I can imagine it isn't any fun to run into the wall or another person's head underwater because you couldn't see it coming.
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