Floatation Devices: Good or bad?
Let’s talk about using floatation devices with our young swimmers. There is now a massive range of floatation devices on the market for toddlers and young children. Today we are going to talk about the impact floatation devices can have on your child’s progress and safety in the pool.
All flotation devices can be put into 1 of 2 categories: Floatation devices they can let go of, and ones they cannot.
We use flotation devices as a teaching tool all the time in swimming lessons. Kick boards, noodles and pull buoys are all great tools to improve body position, isolate skills, build confidence and make skills more engaging and fun. All these devices can be let go of by a child which teaches them an important lesson - if I let go, I am no longer being held up in the water. They also need to be used responsibly, in moderation, and in conjunction with skills with no buoyancy assistance. It is important that our children learn how their bodies feel in the water on their own, and learn their boundaries and limits. This brings us to flotation devices children canNOT let go of.
We do NOT recommend using floatation devices that children cannot let go of. This includes floaties, vests and back floats. Here’s why:
They are dangerous. Your child cannot get out of them and often it limits their control over their body in the water. They also aren’t a replacement for supervision - things can go wrong even with these on.
They create poor body position. Effective swimming is all about correct body position and maintaining a horizontal body position, and these floats all encourage swimming in a vertical body position. Wearing these in between lessons can undo all the hard work your teacher and child is putting in during swimming lessons.
They create a false sense of security. Children feel overly confident in these and it doesn’t reflect their true ability in the water. It can be harder to get them to practice swimming without them if they are used to wearing one, and it’s also a hazard because your child does not have an accurate judgement of their own limits if they wear these often.
They often lead to a hesitance to self-submerge. Because they promote a vertical body position children can tread water and get used to swimming with their face out of the water, only ever submerged for short periods of time when they jump in.
If you have any questions about this, please feel free to have a chat with your instructor. Please remember that ANY floatation device must always be used with direct supervision, and nothing is drown-proof.