How can I help my 5 year old son overcome the fear of swimming?

Question

My 5 year old son is currently in swimming lessons. He refuses to dump his head under the water. The swimming instructors have encouraged him; I have encouraged him. We have worked in the bath tub, and my husband tried to work with him. Today, he had a fit! He was screaming in the pool while holding on to my husband's neck. We have not forced him underwater, we have been patient. Today, I was upset and mad how he acted. I think he cried and screamed because it was my husband who was out in the pool with him (this is my husband's first time with him). I've never been in because I do not know how to swim ( I start lessons in 2 days). He has never acted this way with the swimming instructors. Currently, he is in a 12 week session (once per week for 30 minutes). I also entered him in a swimming camp which will be 10 days straight teaching. Is there anything you can suggest to help calm his fear of the water? He has had no water trauma that I can think of.

Answer 1

As an instructor I like to give children the option of putting their head in on their own. I encourage them to do it as much as I can for the first few lessons. I usually do this by asking them to put their head under in steps. We start by putting their chin in, then up to their mouth, their nose, their eyes and ears, and then their whole head. For most kids, this works pretty well.

However, if after more than three lessons they haven't made any progress (usually if they haven't put more than their mouth in the water) it's time for some tough love and I dunk them. I won't lie, they are not happy the first time and that usually ends the lesson for the day. This usually has the desired effect though, because the children then know that if they won't go under the water on their own, I'll put them there. I want to be clear though, this is my last resort for teaching a kid to put their head in the water. With enough encouragement most kids will go under on their own.

If you or your child's instructor are not yet ready to force him under there are some other things you can try.

1) Make sure he has goggles. He doesn't really need them yet, but they are good to have now because a lot of children are afraid of water going in their eyes and just having goggles on (even if they don't keep their eyes open) goes a long way to alleviate this fear.

If/When he has/gets the goggles explain to him what they are for and how they will help him swim. Also, make sure they fit correctly so no water is leaking in.

2) Make him feel really good about the things he can already do in the water. These might be kicking, laying on his back, or blowing bubbles. When he feels good about the things he can do, he will be more comfortable around the water and more willing to try things he finds challenging.

3) A lot of kids use something they don't want to do as a bargaining chip for the rest of the lesson and this results in a constant power struggle between the parents/instructor and the child. This often results in a child refusing to do anything in a pool. Resolving this is often a tedious process. The parent/instructor must tell the child to do something and then they can not back down from their "command" until the child does it. I have spent entire lessons waiting for children to blow bubbles simply to illustrate to them who is in charge and that I am much more stubborn than they are.

Note that this approach only works when you want the child to do something, not stop doing something. For example telling a child to lie on their back and waiting until they are willing to do it will work. Telling a child to stop screaming will not work. It's better to distract them by telling them to do something else or by simply talking to them until they calm down.

4) It's good that you're taking lessons. Children often pick up the fears of their parents and while you might not necessarily be afraid of the water, there's a good chance that since you can't swim you are more nervous and apprehensive around water. When you become more relaxed around water, so will he. He'll see it's a normal thing to do something like put your face in or go swimming and it's not something to be nervous about.

Finally, the more often he's there the better it will be. Going once a week is probably not often enough for him to experience being around water and he probably spends the rest of the week psyching himself out about it. If you or your husband can take him to the pool between lessons it will help a lot. The 10 day camp will also help.

Answer 2

I currently conduct learn to swim classes and I have a kid who is scared to put his face underwater too. What I do with him is, I teach him the other techniques such as kicking, arm action, picking up water toys from under the water at a depth that he dosent have to put his face into the water....slowly i encouraged him to jump of the side of the pool into the pool while catching him and making sure his head remains above the water at all times (kids generally start to love to jump into the pool). Then slowly encourage him to jump on his own. This way you can slowly get him to start loving the water. Use a lot of water toys and ask him to walk in a shallow pool and get it.

I've seen that water toys works the best for all kids irrespective.

Answer 3

well, if he doesnt like to swim dont let him swim or forced or encourage him, let him do what he likes maybe u'll like it.  if he likes other activities such as football, basket ball, soccer,.....  then u should encouraged him.   for example, my son love basket ball, but i wanted him to play fooball, but he acting  like a little ***** ( he scare of getting hit). he said he wants to play basketball, i said ok. and now look, he's in college playing basket ball, and he's one of the best player in the team. i 'm s proud of him.   i think u should do the same to ur son