5 Tips to Get Your Child Ready for Swimming Lessons (Before Toes Even Touch the Water)! by Marylynne Schwartz

Learning to swim early allows kids to embrace the pool or beach, encourages healthy exercise and can save lives. Here are five tips to help your little one make a splash!

• Temperature matters. Check if the pool is a comfortable 85 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Bring some favorite bath toys from home and put them in first. Little hands like to have something familiar to grasp.
• Make sure kids are not hungry or overtired. Nothing makes a good first impression on a cranky infant. 
• Everyone in the pool! Having a dry helper on the pool deck can be convenient but encourages your little swimmer to want to get out, too.
• Skip the flotation aids. While noodles or water wings can be fun, let kids get comfortable swimming without props first.

Here's to everything going swimmingly and having lots of fun in the process!