Teaching a Toddler to Swim with the SwimWays Swim Sweater

I am going to be honest, when it comes to my children, water terrifies me. Water safety is a big concern of mine and that is why it is important to me that my children all learn how to be good swimmers. The three oldest takes lessons at the lake and I try to reinforce what they learn on our own in the pool. I love the SwimWays Sim Steps line of swim training gear for teaching my boys to swim because they offer a wide range of products for every swimming level.

"The Swim Sweater has a stable, circular torso design that rides high on the child's chest for extra stability. It helps kids learn to paddle and balance in the pool which are important pre-swimming skills."

My 2.5 year old toddler loves going in the lake because he can stand, but the pool is another story. He likes being held in the water, but he will freak out if you let go. Which is understandable as this is still new to him. A few weeks ago we had him suit up in this SwimWays Swim Sweater to try to get him to feel more comfortable in the water. This product brings back fond memories to me as I had a similar type of thing when i was his age. Mine was all red with the same type inner tube and I remember floating about the pool for hours in it.

Initially, he wouldn't let me put him down into the water at all. So I carried him around and let his feet dangle in for a little while. Once he got acclimated to that, I was able to get him down into the water, with minimal complaints. I held onto his hands and pulled him around for quite some time. This was a huge first for him so I wanted to take my time. I find letting them go at their own pace, especially with something like water which can be scary for them, is your best bet. Forcing them to do something is not going to gain anything.

After a long, long time of me pulling him around in the water, he eventually would allow me to let go for a few seconds. He is obviously a little wobbly in there as he learns to balance himself, and only lasted a few seconds at a time. But I felt like this was a HUGE step for him as only a few hours earlier, he didn't want to be in at all. I am looking forward to the next time we get him in the pool to see how much more he can progress.


 
I am participating in this review as part of the Swimways Swim Steps Swim Team. Please note that the opinions and views expressed in this review are my own and based on my personal experience with the product and/or company. You may encounter a different experience with this than I did. I received free product to review.