Why Your Child Doesn’t Like Swimming

While swimming is a valuable life skill and a great source of fun and exercise, it’s not always smooth sailing for every child. Liking swimming doesn’t come naturally to every child.  Over the years, we have seen some children show their dislike of swimming by not even coming out of changing rooms and refusing to get into pool. Sometime we hear from parents that at another swim lesson provider, they have made no progress as their children absolutely refuse to put face in the water. So, it means a child can be stuck at the beginners stage for even a couple of years. And sometimes we hear children are not even happy to splash around in a pool when holidaying. So, we are going to explore why your child doesn’t like swimming or doesn’t enjoy swimming lessons.

What Are The Reasons for Your Child Refusing to Go To Swimming or Lessons

It’s essential to identify the underlying reasons and address them effectively. Here are some common reasons and later on we will make some suggestions on how to help your child to overcome them.

1) Fear of Water

Naturally we are not born to be fearful of water and that is why early safe and fun exposure to water, will help children to form a healthy connection with water. If your child has a fear of water, it could be possibly due to a previous negative experience, such as getting water in their nose or eyes, or being in water not fully supported. Also, family history matters. Children of parents who themselves are non-swimmers and fearful of water, they tend to think of water negatively.

2) Separation Anxiety

Younger children may feel uneasy about being apart from their parents. This is more of the case for children aged 1 to 3.5/4 years old.

3) Not Liking the Pool

Swimming pool or aquatic environment can be overwhelming with its bright lights, loud noises, and unfamiliar faces. This could be very scary for very young children. More so, children with any sensory issues like ASD children or Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). If children are hypersensitive or very young they try to avoid things that trigger their senses, like certain people, places like swimming pool or swimming lessons.

4) Physical Discomfort

Water Temperature, air temperature should be right. Water temperature around 29 C is recommended for the pool water.  If water or air feel too cold or too warm, that could trigger some negative emotions. Also, ill-fitting swimsuits, goggles and not so nice teaching equipment may make children uncomfortable.

5) Lack of Confidence

Children may worry about going to a swimming pool or swimming lessons if they don’t know if they have the skill set to swim. If a child who cannot swim at all or very well skills, the idea of swimming could be daunting. Specially in group swim lessons, a child may feel intimidated by other children who seem more advanced.

6) Fear of Failing or Embarrassment

In many areas like Wimbledon, in Southwest London, children start formal swimming lessons as pre-schoolers. So, it is common for school-aged children to be able to swim 25 meters confidently by age of 7 or 8 years old. So, depending on the area that you live and depending on the age of your child, if your child cannot swim or is still a weak swimmer, your child may may feel embarrassed about not knowing how to swim well or being watched by others.

7) Swim Lesson Style and Format

The lesson format and style of teaching should match your child. Children like to have fun but, a good swim instructor  should know how to make lessons fun for different age groups and teach swimming skills. It cannot be fun all the time and if lessons have no elements of fun, your child might not connect with the instructor or find the lessons boring. Also, sometimes, some children don’t do well in large group lessons and need plenty of attention that they can only get in private or semi-private lessons.

8) Peer Pressure 

If other children in the class might be teasing or intimidating a child, that could be definitely a turn-off

9) Health Concerns

Swimming is a safe activity. Enusre your child has no chlorine sensitivity, or other medical issues like ear infection that makes swimming uncomfortable.

10) Lack of Interest In Swimming

If your child doesn’t see swimming as fun activity normally is due to one of the reasons listed above. It is extremely unlikely for a healthy child who knows how to swim, to not have any interest to go to swimming pool.

Understand Your Child’s Water Anxiety

Do you think any of the above reasons listed above could explain why going to swimming make your child feel anxious or upset? Or, does your child suddenly start refusing to go to swimming lessons.

Lack of water confidence is normally the main reason for children refusing swimming. So here are some signs which show your child’s lack of water confidence.

• Dislike participating in family swims: Your child might not be excited about family swims or resist getting into the pool.
• Unhappy with water on the face or eyes: Your child continuously wipes the eyes and face in the pool and relies too much on goggles to be in water.
• Attachment to flotation devices: Your child resist taking away armbands or lifejacket.
• Clinginess: Your child clings to you or poolside and only feel safe in water by clinging.
• Needs continuous support: The idea of floating-even in a shallow end of a pool-independently makes your child nervous
• Feels safe by keep touching the bottom of the pool: Either your child refuses to take feet off or only swims where   touching the bottom of the pool is easy
• Discomfort with submersion: Refuses to put face in the water or doesn’t let head or face get wet
• Wanting to keep head above water all the time: Your child doesn’t like to jump in the pool. Your child can do doggy paddle but, has to constantly keep head above water.
• Panic in deep water: You child panics in deeper water

Help Your Child To Overcoming Fear of Swimming

1. Best option is to start them young. When your child having a healthy relationship with water before the age of 3 years old, they grow up to love the water. The best envirounments to start early are Parent and Child classes. In our toddler classes, children who are under 3.5 years old are in water with their parents and together they learn how to trust the water and enjoy swimming under the guidance of a qualified instructor.
2. Even for children who had plenty of lessons as toddlers, it is not uncommon to experience seperation anxieties when they start doing lessons as preschooler. Preschooler’s lessons  are lessons without parents in water (onky with an instructor). Therefore, not all pre-schoolers are going to have an easy transition from toddler classes to pre-school lessons. Seperation anxieties could be the issue. So, consider doing either 1:1 or semi-private lessons for your pre-schoolers. In private and semi-private lessons, swim teachers have plenty of time to pay lots of attention to each child in their lessons. This could help children immensely to overcome any attachment anxiety. Instructor’s attention to your child will assure them that they are safe in water even without their parents.
3. For school-aged children, if they dislike swimming, this could be due to lack of water confidence, a bad previous experience or feeling embarrassed that they cannot swim like their peers. Book private lessons or smaller groups. In small or 1:1 lessons teachers can work with any confidence or swimming competency issues.

Enquire About Our 1:1 or Semi-Private Swim Lessons for Children

Go for Family swims

• Choose a nice pool with warm water to visit and start with shallow water to play and build comfort
• Use toys, sinkers and anything that would make the family swim experience joyful
• Don’t use goggles and nose clips. Your child needs to learn to be comfortable in water
• Be patient and encourage small achievement, like splashing water with their hands to their own face or yours
• Let them see you being happy in water. If you look nervous, more likely that would make them feel relax in water
• Don’t expect immediate results. Be patient and keep giving them opportunities to feel relax learn to be comfortable in water

At Blue Wave Swim Schhol, we do provide 1:1 swim lessons for nervous children.

Enquire About 1:1 Swim Lessons For Nervous Children