How Do I Teach My Baby to Put His Face in Water? Easy Tricks to Use
So, you are here because you want to know how to get a kid to put their face in the water.
At first, they will resist! And quite understandably so because… it is like getting buried, getting vulnerable.
And that is something that we don’t like!
But if they are going to be good swimmers, your kid needs to learn how to put his or her face in the water.
There are no two ways about that! They have to learn.
In the past, we wrote an article on how to teach a kid to swim. If you remember correctly, we did not discuss how to get him or her to get his face in the water.
So today, we will do it.
But first, what is the best age to start teaching your child how to put his face in the water? Two years is a good age.
How To Get A Kid To Put Their Face In The Water
Is your child afraid of water on their face? You need to help him or her overcome the fear of swimming underwater without holding the nose. Otherwise, they might never be able to learn how to swim.
How to get a kid to put their face in the water need not be too hard. Just use the following tips at home, and you will succeed in one day.
1. Start with face-in-water games
If it is a game, your child will love it. You can start right at home in the bathtub, or if you do not have one, with a basin.
Take turns to put your faces in the water. Just dunk it into the water for a couple of seconds and then get it out of the water, shaking the water out of your hair like a dog swimming. You can laugh while doing it to make it even more fun.
If your kid is still apprehensive, do it a couple of times and encourage them to do it. After they do it the first time, they will realize there is nothing to be afraid of, and they will start getting used to it.
Do not stop after the first day. Do it whenever there is an opportunity, so they can get fully used to the water.
It is also important to know when enough is enough. For example, since your kid is not wearing goggles or a mask.
You do not want them to swallow water. Thus, do it for a few seconds, especially on the first day. You just want the kids to get used to the feel of the water on their face.
2. Use the Birthday Moments
The birthday moments are an excellent way to get your kid used to having water all over their face.
Weather allowing, you can have the kid’s birthday in the water, in the swimming pool. Also, make sure that pouring a bucketful of water over his or her head is one of the must-happen things.
Once you have introduced your kid to face in the water that way, even when the birthday is over, you need to continue with face in the water lessons.
So, the day following the birthday, go to the pool or the bathtub and get your child to practice dunking their face into the water.
Even then, you need to keep the dunking sessions short. Just a couple of attempts should be enough for a day.
When you want to pour a bucketful of water over his head, alert him or her first. Of course, it helps a lot if he or she has seen you do it on your spouse or on your older siblings.
3. Only practice dunking in clean water
One of the reasons why kids learn to fear water is when you bathe them in soapy water, and it gets into their eyes.
Thus, soapy water is definitely not good for teaching your kid to dunk his or her head in water. Also, make sure the water is not too cold. Cold water makes children apprehensive about dunking.
When giving your kid a bath in the tub, teach them to close their eyes to prevent soap from getting inside.
Also, to teach your kid how to dunk their head in water, make them do it slowly, taking their time. Do not trick them into doing it. You should only encourage them by showing them, but never by tricking them!
4. Use swimming goggles
Children love water, but they do not want it going into their eyes. Also, water goes inside you when you swim, through the nose and the ears.
If this happens, your kid will not be comfortable inside the water. This might even discourage him or her from wanting to swim.
Thus, to help with this, get the right swimming gear.
Using the right strap-on goggles for swimming can help the kid develop confidence in the water. When the kid knows that water will not get into their eyes, they will be ready to dunk at any time.
You might also want to get them a pair of earplugs for swimming to prevent water from getting into their ears.
Other things to try out include flotation devices for kids safety. Basically, the idea here is to make your kids feel as comfortable as possible. That way, they will be willing to try new tricks.
Check out my articles on:
Does water go inside your nose when swimming?
Will swimming wash off sunscreen?
Conclusion
Those are the four super easy tricks for how to get a kid to put their face in the water. We would recommend you go the “face in water” way because kids love games.
You can try a treasure hunt in the water; that would definitely get the child to dunk their head. Playing water games with their favorite water toys can help.
The child definitely has to dip their face underwater a time or two to retrieve their toy.