When we first started taking Erin to swimming lessons she hated them. When I say hated I really mean it. Erin was a preemie and really felt the cold. At 12 weeks old she was still super small and her first lessons was horrendous. Luckily, we stuck with it and now Erin loves swimming and being in the water. She never wants her swimming lessons to end and often wants to spend a bit of time in the bigger pool afterwards.
With our upcoming holiday to Majorca we were thrilled at the chance to try Erin with a SwimFin. If, like me, you hadn’t heard of SwimFin before then here is a bit about it:
SwimFin is a swimming aid that, unlike any other, is worn on the back by being strapped around the body. It is worn high on the back and if worn correctly, will ‘suspend’ the child in the water. The more submerged the SwimFin is, the more support it is giving. The SwimFin is multi-stroke functional and it leaves the arms completely free to move meaning any swimming stroke is possible.
Up until now, Erin hasn’t really used many swimming aids apart from a float she plays with more than anything. So before we head away on holiday in less than 2 weeks we wanted to get Erin used to wearing the SwimFin so we spent some time wearing it around the house and also in the bath!
In order to make wearing the SwimFin fun and exciting for Erin I tried to play games with her and also show her that she could swim with it on. We started off in the living room, with the SwimFin on over her clothes and we did things like swimming on the floor, pretending to be a shark from the Baby Shark song and also doing a bit of yoga… because that’s obviously what normal toddlers do when they’re wearing a shark fin.
Erin loved the SwimFin from the minute she put it on and because she liked it so much we decided to keep it on for bath time. I was a little bit worried about Erin not liking the straps around her chest and stomach on bare skin but it only started to annoy her a bit towards the end. When we use this for swimming it will be over a swimsuit so that won’t be an issue.
During bath time Erin had so much fun. She loved having the SwimFin on and she loved pretending to be a shark. I think this is really going to help us when we go on holiday in less than 2 weeks so I’m really glad we decided to try it out at home a few times first.
My only slight issues with the SwimFin is the size. It is pretty bulky and cannot be collapsed in any way. Being a parent that doesn’t drive, this means having to fit everything for swimming into one bag which can be quite tricky. However, for taking on holiday it’s really no problem at all as it can be put on before leaving the hotel room if you’re staying somewhere with a pool!
I can’t wait to see what Erin makes of the SwimFin while we’re on holiday. She’s already pretty confident in the water but has never been without us holding on to her much. Obviously we will be with her 100% of the time but we’re also hoping that she learns to swim on her own a little bit, with the help of the SwimFin of course!
Disclaimer: We received a SwimFin for the purpose of this post. All opinions are our own.