me again...dunking baby underwater.

[jennyh]

hi

Taking my 4 month old swimming tomorrow, what is the deal with dunking them under water as Ive heard many different thoughts on whether you should do it and also at what age it should/can be done. We've only been in the bath so far and she once turned her head quickly to the side and swallowed some of the water but didn't choke, I thought they were supposed to have some sort of magic flap in their throats! Clearly I will read up on it as well but wanted to get some thoughts from anyone who has an opinion!

Thanks

[Lochie]

not sure about anatomy side of it, but we went to lessons from 6 months with our son and did all the dunking under water stuff(after seeing all those amazing photos of babies swimming under water!). This was against his will (cue screaming when he surfaced!) and he now has a bit of a phobia about getting even his face wet in the pool let alone his whole head. So the only tip I would give in my experience is if your baby doesn't seem to enjoy going under water, don't push it (common sense I know). Must add though have seen lots of babies who LOVED it....

[Fuschia]

It's the mammalian diving reflex - we hold our breath if our face is submerged in water

I wouldn't try it if you're not confident, but if you feel Ok about it try

Look at baby, say

"Fred, ready, go" and sprinkle water on his head

Repeat, this time wiping a wet hand across his face

Then say the same thing, this time lift the baby up slightly then firmly but carefully submerge, while holding upright, then bring up out of the water and lean over your shoulder slightly

Never lean the baby back as they will get water up their nose

[Fuschia]

If you're lying on your back and go under or turn your head, you also get water up your nose

If you're upright, the air in your nose stops water going up, and the baby will automatically close their mouth

All of mine have been taught this from tiny, and the more we did it, the more water confident they are

[Olga]

Blow into their face just before you dunk them and they take a gulp and hold there breath for a couple of seconds

[ClareC]

We have done the underwater any swimming since my daughter was 4 mths, we were taught as described by Fuschia. Was traumatic ( for me) at first but at 17 mths she is a water baby and unfazed going under, jumping in etc

[mima08]

I've tried it first time last week - after "conditioning" like Fuschia describes. He came up a little unsure, looking to me for cues, so I laughed and cuddled a lot, then he was happy enough.

I came across this website which looks pretty cool

http://www.babyswim.info/swim-blog.html

[Saffron]

We do Water Babies classes. Little Saff has been going since about 4 months and has loved it from the beginning. The technique is sim to what Fuschia described, and babies are never taken under water if they are crying, have hiccups, or or otherwise not well etc.

Hope you have a great swim! xx

[jennyh]

Thank you everyone! I was thinking if doing the babyswim course but it's not until sept so don't want to miss these months!

[Fuschia]

The important thing is to keep it short and sweet snd have fun

[jennyh]

We went to Jelly Babies and had a blast, she loved it and didnt mind being dunked at all. Half hour is the max though, i could see the grizzle on the way!

[bobbly]

My little one went to water babies from a few months old, they have a technique that they do beforehand whereby baby knows when its happening, (certain part of a song) and they do it when the baby is confident and the parent also. I was useless as not confident, and i think that's important. If they not keen best not too, could scar them for ages afterwards. One teacher (not waterbabies) used to let them dunk when they had a cold, as it decongested them, must say it did work.

[Fuschia]

You can burst an eardrum submerging with a cold