Blog : Little Lilypad Co

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The Little Lilypad is a lifestyle blog mostly written by a mum to two beautiful, cheeky and entertaining daughters. It is sometimes written by the Man on the Pad or by one of our baby bloggers. Occasionally we accept guest posts too. There is frequently talk of sustainable living, saving money, lifestyle and travel. It is hopefully helpful, sometimes funny and always honest.
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Category: Swimming

  1. Reaching a Plateau and how to overcome it.

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    I mentioned a few weeks ago about the litte one getting "water wobbles" during her swimming lesson and it was really interesting to learn about different stages of babies development and the seperation anxiety that they can experience.

    The Water Babies (Wbchasetheball) team, as always, were super helpful in reassuring me (and the little one ) that it was a phase and it would pass. The whole theory was genuinely interesting to me though and whilst the Water Babies team were totally right about it soon passing, I wanted to find our more about plateaus.

    It is facinating to learn that it is quite common for toddlers to decide not to take part in an acitivity they have previously enjoyed, with a regression in the progress and in some cases, a complete change in attitude towards (in our case) swimming. These are all signs that they may have hit a plateau! This plateau can arrive at any time during their "toddler" years from age 11 months to 2.5 years and toddlers can experience several plateaus in their early years particularly when language is developing.

    The Water Babies team give some great advice on dealing with this and suggest the following:

    • Take time to explain the activities to your child and encourage them but do not push them!
    • Allow them to watch others; they will pick up what is going on even though they are not taking part at that moment
    • Allow your child to lead, rather than be lead
    • Encourage your child to be independent in and out of the water

    But my particular favourite is:

    • We do not learn in straight lines; so a child may go forward, then back a little, then forward again! (This sounds like me!!)
    I have always seen our Water Babies adventure as learning a life skill, through enjoyment and having the little one regress was a little bewildering to start with but having had the reassurance from the fabulous Water Babies team, I feel much better.
     
    Unfortunately the little one is not feeling well so has missed her class this week. We wanted to say a huge thank you to Kate, the swimming teacher, as she is finishing for maternity leave today and we hope to see her soon, with her own little water baby xx

  2. Water Wobbles : Separation Anxiety

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    I regularly blog about our Water Babies adventures and Nanny is delighted that on this new course there is another "Nanny" joining the classes this term. She has taken great pleasure on passing on her wisdom for ease of changing and approaching the lessons (anyone would think she is a dab hand at it these days!!).

    So with the little fish usually being star pupil, Nanny was a little perplexed this week to find that she wouldn't go to Kate the swimming teacher and she cried everytime she went to approach her. Now knowing my youngest daughter can be a cheeky little monkey when she chooses to be, I did wonder if she was just wanting to spend her day with Nanny or if she was feeling off colour but Kate suggested it maybe a stage of seperation anxiety.

    The little fish is now fiercely independant but still needs reassurance from time to time and this is typical of seperation anxiety. I spoke with the Water Babies Midshires team and they recommend allowing the little one time to process information as they are becoming independant but do not know how to be. I suspect that this is what has happened in our case.

    They also say that the early stages of child development & new experiences can also cause anxieties and consequently the "water wobbles".  Things like:

    • Starting to walk or crawl
    • A new experience like nursery, new teacher, new baby in house, change of sleep times
    • Mum goes back to work
    • They have an extended break from lessons e.g. summer holiday
    This totally makes sense to me and it is fabulous to hear that the children who come through the "wobbles", make the most confident in the class. My daughter is usually most confident dancing around the lounge and showing off her water baby skills in the bath tub, so I am sure that this is a one off episode and the only wobbles we will be experiencing are her groovy dance moves in the lounge!

  3. Love Is ..... chasing the duck

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    We love our Water Babies classes and can't shout about them enough but I had to share this week about "chasing the duck". My precious little one has a definate affection for ducks and she plays with her own in the bath, shouting "quack, quack" at every given opportunity.

    So the Water Babies class that we attend are run by "wbchasetheball" (their twitter and facebook name), so chasing the ball or the fish as part of our lessons was undoubtedly inevitable. Last week Nanny said that when "chasing the fish", all our little fish kept saying was "quack quack" .... obviously not the noise that a fish makes but THIS week, we had a duck to chase and she was in her element. 

    I love hearing the stories of how confident she now is in her lessons which are a far cry from the cold, shivering little baby who cried in her first lesson. It makes me so proud to hear how she is the one that the swimming teacher uses to demonstrate the next activity in the water as she is so comfortable.

    So I will continue to shout about how amazing Water Babies are  .... and I am sure the little one will keep shouting "quack quack" at anything in the water that bears the slightest resemblence to a duck! I can't wait to hear about next weeks quack-tastic adventures!

  4. How proud am I?

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    I know that every mum is proud of their children and I am quite sure that we all have moments thinking that they are reaching their milestones before other children but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter when they reach those milestones as long as they are happy, content and not pressurised to do so.

    As regular readers know, my mum takes my youngest daughter to Water Babies classes on a weekly basis ( I hope the snow doesn't stop that this week, otherwise I really will vent, even moreso than I did here) and last week was their best week yet. Mum was brimming with praise and enthusiasm after the lesson, so much so that she text me to say that my little fish was the star pupil! Obviously this is music to my "proud mum" ears but why was she the star pupil? She was totally relaxed in the water, holding on to the side (even trying to climb out herself, I think she forgets she is only 16 months old) and going under the water repeatedly. Apparently she was so good that the swimming teacher kept asking to "use" her to demonstrate what they were going to do next! How proud am I?

    On the flip side, trying to get my eldest to go to swimming lessons has always been a battle, she loves the water but has never been a fan of the lessons. So what happens today? She is upset that the snow means there will be no lesson today! After all this time, on the one day we can't get to swimming lessons, she decides that she actually wants to go. Typical!

    Learning to swim is a life skill and with both my girls being water babies, it makes me a very proud mum!

    What have your children done to make you proud?