I wouldn’t push too hard and approach the situation playful. It might be good to go a bit earlier to the swimming pool when they have swimming lesson and go all together in the water (mum, dad and kids) and play and splash. You can also practice blowing bubbles and wearing googles at home when in bath. And when rinsing hair after it has been washed you could do so in bath or under the shower, where eyes also get wet.

Another strategy we had for making swim time and swimming fun was to buy new swim wear. We went shopping and our children got to choose new swim wear, caps, goggles, towels, swim bags and flip flops. This made getting ready for swimming fun and they were thrilled to wear new swim wear.

Mums, i am loving ALL your responses! It’s now been a few that have told me they had daughters who were similar that ended up being incredible swimmers. This gives me so much hope and encouragement that we will get there in the end. Please keep your answers coming, i love reading them all!

Children are very different and it can take time for confidence to grow and skills to development with swimming. We kept our attitude positive and also engaged in swimming with our children outside of formal lessons. One of children that took longer to feel confident in the water ended up swimming for Squad.

Thanks everyone for the comments and sharing your own experiences with your children! I have loved reading all of the feedback and it’s given me the reassurance to just keep pushing through with it. Im sure in time, her confidence will improve and all we can keep doing is being positive and showing our support!

This is a tough one. Some kids just don’t have the same aptitude as others and the best you can do is ensure that they do know how to swim for safety. My son has never been overly confident. He does know how to swim (basically) but never showed a real interest in the lessons, so we ended up pulling him out after we thought that he at least had the basics.
Best thing you can do is just keep up taking them to the pool or beach independently. Make swimming a fun activity that they look forward to. Get pool toys and make a game out of it. But do try to encourage your daughter to use the ring less, even if she holds onto an adult and swims between you.

Honestly in this case it’s probably just going to take time. All kids are different and learn at different rates. I found school swimming lessons really helped my kids because when all their friends were doing sonething they wanted to as well. But honestly they’ll get their in their own time.

My daughter was very nervous in the beginning too and it took time, I also did bribe her with a small soft serve ice cream afterwards which i know is not everyone’s choice but it did encourage her to try and now she absolutely loves it. I have friends who have kids that struggle and they have opted for a 1:1 session to build confidence as it is more personal. I wonder if this is an option worth considering?

Thank you so much Bella for the response. We definitely try to always mention the positives after each lesson to boost her confidence and try to make it a fun activity – like getting a treat afterward to celebrate. We will definitely just keep on going, we are lucky she has a very kind and patient instructor

With my daughter it was just a matter of time and not pushing her when she didn’t want to be pushed. Mind you, my little one is very stubborn. But for a while she didn’t even like paddling. After a while, seeing her siblings having fun seemed to do the trick and she enjoyed it more.