How to Help Your Child Overcome a Fear of Water
Just like a fear of the dark, ghosts, or going to school, the fear of water is a common occurrence among children. Even for kids who enjoy splashing around in the bathtub, when it comes to swimming in a pool, an ocean, or a lake, an almost overwhelming fear can take over them, and this can be a little concerning from a parent’s point of view.
For kids, getting accustomed to the water is a safety hallmark that will be crucial in later life. Not only this, but it can strip them of some brilliant experiences. If you’ve tried out our boat rentals here at Volcano Watersports, you’ll know how much of a life-changing experience it is for adults and kids, but if the initial fear is not dealt with properly, it can become embedded, and activities like this might never be possible.
The Night Light Scenario
The fear of water won’t go away on its own, either. If you’ve noticed that your child has a genuine fear of water, it’s up to you to pay attention to it and do everything you can to help them. This isn’t the same for all childhood fears, of course. As we mentioned before, children can be afraid of a variety of things at an early age. But this doesn’t mean you should go rushing in to end those fears. A lot of the time, these irrational anxieties are a natural part of their development, and they’ll go away on their own.
Take the fear of darkness, for instance. Parents will often deal with this problem either by installing a nightlight in their bedroom or leaving the door open a crack to provide some extra brightness. This is essentially blocking their fear of the dark by getting rid of the darkness itself. Over time, the child’s fear will dissipate, and the door will be closed.
With the fear of water, your tact should be slightly different. Swimming isn’t a constant part of your child’s life like darkness is. One of the reasons it’s easier for a fear of darkness to go away is because children are confronted with it every night. This exposure almost forces the brain to abandon any irrational anxieties, allowing them to recognise their irrationality and, over time, turn the night light off themselves.
When it comes to water, however, exposure isn’t guaranteed. If you don’t actively take your child to water – whether that’s with regular swimming sessions or trips to the local swimming pool – then the fear can easily rest at the back of their mind and eventually become a limiting part of their personality. Regular confrontation, in this way, becomes key.
Why is Your Child Afraid of Water?
Before you start helping them to overcome it, it’s also useful to understand why your child is so afraid. There are a few causes that can be attributed to this. The first is genetic susceptibility. If either you or your partner are sensitive or emotional, this could be inherited by your children and feel amplified in their early years. As well as this, children learn how to behave through their parent’s actions, and if at least one of you regularly portrays anxiety, then your child may replicate this behaviour.
More usually, the fear of water can be attributed to the fear of the unknown. When a child is young, they live their life through what they see and experience. There is no wider knowledge of the world other than what’s in front of them. Because water falls into the category of the ‘unknown’, it gives more weight to their imagination, and this leads to a number of unpleasant scenarios playing out in their minds. From drowning to being sucked down the drain, young children are not yet developed enough to understand this fear is unwarranted, but for them, it’s anything but irrational.
How Can You Help Them Overcome It?
When it comes to overcoming this fear, you can’t just bring your child to a swimming pool or a lake and hope that they work it out themselves. When you’ve introduced your child to water, there are a few things you can do to make the process as safe and fearless as possible, and these include:
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Being Patient
First off, you need to be patient. Your child doesn’t want to be afraid in the same way that you don’t want them to be afraid, so don’t push it. If they just want to go to the pool and dip their feet in the water, you shouldn’t force them to do anything more. After a while, they will see other children having fun and feel the urge to take the next step themselves.
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Dipping Your Toes in the Water
Speaking of dipping toes into the water, this is something you should do too. As we mentioned previously, children take their cues from their parents, so if you’re in the water and encourage them to join you, they’re more likely to follow and feel safer.
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Introducing Equipment
Equipment can also be useful to help your child feel comfortable. Noodles, lilos, and floaties can be enough to inspire confidence and avoid your child feeling embarrassed.
For instance, if you have a seven-year-old who is still afraid of the water, it can be humiliating for them to see other children swimming without any aids – such as arm bands or life jackets. This can then compound their negative feelings towards the water. With lilos and floaties, however, your child can still be immersed in the water, but with that added buoyancy to help them feel comforted.
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Making it Fun
Your child might already know how to swim – having learned at an early age – but has since developed a fear of water. If this is the case, you can help them out by choosing water-related activities that inject some fun into proceedings. Whether it’s by introducing kids to wakeboarding, sailing, or surfing, showing them another aspect of water immersion can help them take their mind off the water itself and focus instead on having a good time.
With wakeboarding, specifically, we’ve come across a handful of kids who have started sessions feeling nervous, and ended them with huge smiles on their faces. If they enjoy the activity, then they will look at water in a more positive light, recognising it as something that induces pleasure rather than fear.
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Praising Them
One last thing you should remember when helping your child get over their fear is that they respond to encouragement. You should be praising your child at every opportunity, whether they’re dipping their toes in the water or submerging themselves for the first time.
It’s long been proven that praise nurtures a child’s confidence and sense of self, helping them learn how to feel proud of themselves. If you’re constantly praising their efforts in the water, then their motivation will quickly increase and, once again, they will correlate water with a feeling of positivity and pride.
When to Take it a Step Further
We talked before about understanding why your child is afraid, and there’s a very good reason for this. During childhood, every fear is different, and the reason your child is afraid might have different implications compared to other children. For instance, rather than an irrational fear that can be gradually eroded through exposure, this fear could be a symptom of an underlying anxiety disorder that’s a little more complex.
Symptoms of anxiety include constant, almost obsessive worrying. Difficulty sleeping and concentrating can be another sign, so if you spot these symptoms in your child, it’s important to take the appropriate measures to deal with it. This is usually done by taking them to a psychologist who is professionally trained to get to the root of the problem.
Even if it’s just for a single session, a meeting with a psychologist can help to identify underlying mental issues and give you the right tools to manage their anxiety. It might feel unnecessary, but you never know what your child is really feeling, and a simple fear of water can be a key symptom of a deeper problem. It’s always better to be safe than sorry!
A Healthy Relationship With Water
As a parent, it’s easy to overthink situations and try too hard to ensure your child’s journey is as smooth as possible. But it’s important to remember that the journey doesn’t have to be smooth. Your child’s relationship with water can involve fear, trepidation, tears, and perhaps even tantrums. But it can also involve joy, relief, positivity, pride, and fun!
If you take the necessary steps, their relationship with water can grow through the stages and eventually land where it needs to be, whether that’s trying wakeboarding for the first time, or simply taking the occasional swim in the local pool. But again, don’t force it. The important thing is to remain understanding of your child’s fears, nurture them, and transform yourself into a passenger in their journey, rather than the leader. You’re there to help, to encourage, and to praise, and if you do this, you will eventually see things going in the right direction.