When I was going away with my sister at the beginning of the month I came to pack our swimming things and I started to panic! The last time that we had gone swimming Bob had used a swimming ring with a seat in. I knew that she was now ready for the next stage of swimming support but I had no idea what that was. Armbands? A rubber ring? One of those little jackets? I didn’t know.
A quick shout for help on twitter introduce me to various swimming aids that I had never even heard of! The general feedback said to go with either a Zoggs back float, arm bands or use a noodle. After asking what a noodle was I realised that they didn’t mean the super kind. Apparently those long foam tube floats are called noodles. 🙂
Bob also needed some children’s swimwear so an online shopping trip was in order. (They are my favourite kind!) After searching the internet I decided to buy some arm bands to try as I remember having those as a child. We went swimming and I found it very stressful. Bob wanted her freedom but every time I let go of her she dipped under the water. I only relaxed when she was in the baby pool and I was wrong to relax then.
Bob was paddling in the pool and I was sat on the side. She decided to sit down and lie back. This was alright until she tried to turn over. I don’t know how she managed it but she somehow managed to half turn over and get her head under the water while her armbands continued to float. The armbands made it a struggle for her to correct herself. I jumped up and rescued her. It was quite scary.
I knew that for our next swimming trip we needed something else. I bought a swim jacket with foam floats inside which seemed to work much better.
Bob was also keen to wear her armbands again and I happily let her wear both. She was able to float on her own and, although I was always by her side, she felt like she was achieving something all by herself! She enjoyed the experience much more and so did I!
