The Konfidence Singapore Blog

Some of you may be eager to bring your baby to swim without thinking twice if your little one is ready. After all, babies spent the first nine months of their lives floating in the womb! However, this does not mean that your baby will take to the water like fish and enjoy the water splashing on them.

Taking the right steps to introduce your baby to the pool will increase the success rate and making it enjoyable for your little one. There are few tips you may want to try it out to help your little one feel safe in the water and to avoid them from developing a phobia that could affect them throughout their lives.

Start in the comfort of your own home
Where can be a better place than the comfort of your own home to introduce your baby to the water before heading to the pool? The familiar environment will allow them to feel safe as the experience is less daunting than going straight to a large and echoing pool.

The best way to get them into the water at home is in the bath. Keep the experience fun and interesting by including toys in bath time and constantly talking to your little one. This will soothe them and help them to enjoy the sensation of the water while also feeling safe.

Once they are happy in the water, try splashing them gently with water. If they become distressed at this point, stop and try again in the next bath. Remember that every baby is unique and learn at different pace. With your encouragements and patience, your baby will get the hang of it soon.

The first swimming pool experience
Getting ready all the necessary items on this big day is crucial and makes everything easier. Essential items such as swimming gears, towels, toys, extra clothes, diapers, milk/snacks, sunscreen etc are just a few basic items you may want to consider before adding in more to your list as you go along.

If you’re worried about the water temperature, Konfidence™ Babywarma is ideal for helping to keep your little one warm while swimming. It is made of flexible and comfortable neoprene, which insulates them and allows them to stay in the water longer. The non-slip surface of the material also makes it easier for you to keep a good grip on your baby.

You will also need a swim nappy for your baby to avoid toilet accidents in the pool. The Konfidence™ AquaNappy has been designed to ensure that any little accident doesn’t affect the water or anyone else. You can simply put it on and get in the pool.

When you are at the pool, give yourself and your baby ample time to get used to the environment before stepping straight into the water. Most swimming pools tend to be loud and the chlorine smells may require your baby to take some time to get use to. On top of these, getting into a large body of water can be too much for your little one if they don’t have time to adjust. If you are attending a baby swimming lesson, you may want to make sure you have sufficient time to do all these before the class starts.

You can reassure your baby by holding and talking to them. Once your baby has settled down, slowly get into the water with them and taking some of their bath toys with you. When in the pool, crouch low in the water and move them around while holding them against you. This will help them get used to the sensation of the water without getting stressed out.

When they are more at ease in the water, splash them gently with water. If you stay positive the whole time, your baby will likely be happy as they will take their cues from you.

Getting out of the pool
When you get out of the water, you should wrap your baby up as soon as possible. Babies can’t regulate their body temperature and so they will get cold very quickly. Once they are completely dry, get them changed as quickly as possible to avoid them losing any more body heat and becoming distressed. It is a good idea to pop a hat on them to slow down the heat lost.

When you are out of the changing room, give your baby a bottle of milk or snack as swimming will make them hungry. This will also help soothe them and make sure that every part of the swimming experience is fun for them.

We hope that with these few tips, you and your baby will enjoy this special bonding time in the pool together!

One of the challenges of parents when they bring their children to the water is how to help them feel confident in the water. This is an important part of teaching them to swim and making the kids feel safe helps them to learn swimming faster as they are more receptive with lesser fear of being in water.

With these in mind, learn-to-swim buoyancy aids can easily help give your kids the confidence to swim in water. This make it so much easier to teach your children to swim. These swimming aids are practical, giving your child the support they are looking for as a beginner swimming and it increases their sense of water confidence, which is very beneficial.

We highly recommend the use of a learn-to-swim buoyancy aid when teaching your children to swim as they have the following benefits.

Significantly Helps Improve Water Safety

Water safety is key as your child is a beginner swimming. The buoyancy aids “works together” with your child’s natural buoyancy or ability to float in water, and support your child in the water. This helps takes away the fear and allows your child to be able to quickly get how their body feels in the water. The learn-to-swim aid gives them added confidence in water.

Buoyancy aids support your child’s body as they do not lift them out of the water. This allows them to feel the water density better and get them to understand how their movements in water can have an effect on their bodies and direction of swim.

These learn-to-swim jackets also provides added safety of preventing your child from going under the water while swimming. This is important esp. for hyper active kids. While the buoyancy aids do not stop your child from going under if they jump in the water or want to put their heads under the surface, they certainly do provide a much greater water safety for swimming.

The 8-float system in the Konfidence Jacket is also non-inflatable and this gives added water safety to the child when in water. This is a huge water safety advancement over the traditional inflatable arm-bands and rubber rings.  The multi-awards winning Konfidence Jacket also features a highly visible yellow back for extra safety to make sure your child is visible at all times in the water.

Allows Natural Movements Of The Arms In Water

These traditional armbands also restricts your child’s arm movement and hence much less suited for learning to swim.

Besides supporting the weight of your child, our buoyancy aids are centered on their body torso rather than on their arms, this gives your little ones freedom to move their arms in the water — which helps them significantly when they want to master their swimming strokes.

This allows for natural movement so your child can develop their swimming strokes.

The learn-to-swim jacket helps to give buoyancy to your child so that they can still swim in exactly the same way when they are ready to progress with the swimming aid. This helps build strength and muscle development in terms of their swimming technique.

Buoyancy That Can Be “Customised” As Your Child Learns To Swim

The Original Konfidence Jacket features 8-float system with individual floats fitted around your child’s torso. The floats can be removed (two at a time) with adult supervision and to tailored it to support your child  as their awareness of their buoyancy levels and swimming skills grows.

As each child develops their swimming ability and gain water confidence and buoyancy differently, our learn-to-swim buoyancy jackets feature removable floats to allow you to tailor the amount of support given to the needs of your little ones.

This 8-float system is ideal when it comes to being able to alter the level of buoyancy provided while at the same time it also means your child to continue to feel safe in the water. This aids confidence as they do not have to swap to another swimming aid — which they may be uncomfortable as they will need time to get used to — while they grow and learn.

Probably The Best And Definitely One of The Most Comfortable Learn-To-Swim Jacket in The World

At Konfidence, with feedback and through close working with parents and swimming instructors we are constantly improving. Our buoyancy aids, such as The Original Konfidence Jacket are made of highest-quality, softest material to ensure that your child is totally comfortable when they wear them.

The Konfidence Jacket is made from high-quality, soft neoprene (1-2.5mm), which allows a good stretch that allows movement to be easy both in and out of the water. This also ensures a snug and still tight fit, even as your little one grows or gains weight.

All of the binding is specially coated in soft lycra to give your child maximum comfort so that they do not experience any chafing. This is especially useful for longer swims in the pools or at the beach. We know our jackets look cool and smart, and with the extra comfort of lycra. Your child will not be left with red marks after wear and they are more than likely and very excited to put their swimming jackets on again!

The Konfidence Jacket features a high quality YKK chunky, self-locking zip with a Velcro zip retainer that allows for easy use even when it is wet. The Velcro zip retainer over it prevents your little ones playing with it and for added safety to ensures they get all the benefits of the buoyancy aid. All our floats and buoyancy are tested with CE marked and comply with the most recent European Safety Certification EN131138-1:2008 relating to buoyant aids for swimming. This safety standard set us apart from others in the market.

You can be assured that you are getting the best for your children with The Konfidence Jacket!

Many small children are afraid of swimming in the pool or more specifically – sinking. It can be due to an unpleasant experience, dislike of water splashing on the face or you may not even be able to figure out why they are afraid of the water. More often than not, you find that the fears may not always make sense.

I went through the same experience with my daughter when she was about 3 years old. She was so petrified of the water that she clung on to me like a koala bear. She loved slashing water in the pool when she was a baby but then had a bad experience in one of her swimming classes. It took a long time for her to get over it but she eventually did! Well, sort of gradually and with lots of patience and encouragements along the way. If you’re looking for ways to help your child to become more comfortable in a pool, consider these tips and see if they work for your child.

Slow and steady wins the race

The very first thing parents should realise is that the fear needs to be addressed even if you do not think the child has any reason to be scared of the water. Parents should focus on building up the child’s confidence first. While you should take fear seriously, over reacting can fuel it.

When introducing your child to the water, you may need to take your kid back a few steps, take it slow and respect the fear. There is no advantage in rushing your child. Encourage him/her to approach the pool and let them know that you are around to help him. The objective is to get your child to be comfortable with being in the pool. If your child prefers to keep a distance, it’s okay and keeps on encouraging him/her to take a step closer.

The slow progress can be agonizing but I believe that you will achieve a better success rate if you allow your child to get comfortable with the water their own pace. The main thing to remember when it comes to helping a child become comfortable with water after being afraid of it is patience. This could be a long process and you need to ensure that you don’t lose your cool.

I once saw a father just sitting at the poolside with his terrified daughter chatting and dangling their feet in the water.  He slowly proceeded from there by gradually immersing their legs, then their hips and eventually half their bodies. During this process, the father back away if there is hesitance from his daughter. I thought this is brilliant and fantastic! Patience is the key when helping your child to overcome the fear of water.

Focus on fun, not fear

Parents should focus on the fun in the pool by letting the child plays with water toys such as squirters, plastic watering cans, sponges, diving rings etc. Toys like this can divert the child’s uneasiness away and associate water as fun.

If the fear is specific to the pool, your child may be daunted by the vast size of the swimming area. Try limiting the space by picking a smaller or shallower pool. Also, visiting the same pool may give the child a sense of familiarities and the child is more willing to step out of their comfort zone.

If the fear is specific to sinking, a buoyancy aid is ideal, as they can put it on and instantly feel more secure. There are numerous floating products in the market that can make your child feel more comfortable in the water. When choosing buoyancy, it is important to look out for the safety marked.

Our Original Konfidence Jackets is tested with CE marked and comply with the most recent European Safety Certification EN131138-1:2008 relating to buoyant aids for swimming. This safety standard set us apart from others in the market. In addition, it comes with removable floats that allow you to tailor the level of support to their need. This means that you can take out floats as their swimming ability and water confidence increase. The striking bright yellow back provides high visibility for parents as well.

Last but not least, praise every achievement and highlight to your child that the pool is fun. Set short, achievable goals for your child and reward your child for his willingness to explore. Give your child frequent reassurance she is safe.  You may also read storybooks that discuss the fear to read with your child such as The Boy Who Wouldn’t Swim by Deb Lucke, Katie Catz Makes a Splash by Anne Rockwell, Edward in Deep Water by Rosemary Wells.