Last summer, the puddle jumper was the absolute best invention ever for our timid girlie, in helping her not be afraid of swimming. The puddle jumper is coast guard approved, and your little one will not go under if he/she has it on. However, they also won't be able to actually learn HOW to swim.
This spring, when I signed Hadley up for her swim class, we took our puddle jumper to the pool and I just knew she was going to take off. However, I quickly noticed that kids even smaller than her were so much more proficient at swimming and they weren't wearing a puddle jumper. They wore the special swim belt, which is not coast guard approved, that the YMCA provided. So then came the fun part of breaking it to Hadley that she just wasn't going to be able to wear her puddle jumper to swim class.
The first week of her using the AquaJogger swim belt was interesting, to say the least. Kids have full use of their arms and must use them to keep from tipping over. Also, it takes some practice to learn how to balance yourself. The rubber ball activity is super, though! The instructor tosses in front of the little swimmer and he or she wants that ball sooo badly. But you can imagine that the closer they get, the more it floats away, which encourages them to swim even more. We still have a long way to go, but at least Hadley is starting to use her arms a little more. Spring swim classes Part 2 start in a few weeks and we're hopeful that she'll start to get more comfortable, as well. I'm pretty sure her baby brother is already more fearless than she is at 7 months of age!
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