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. Should we be able to share images of our children safely?

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    A few weeks ago, during half term, my eldest daughter got the opportunity to go to see her baby sister in her Water Babies swimming lessons. This was quite a novelty for her, especially as it is usually the little one watching her every week.

    So whilst sitting on the side of the pool playing on her iPod, she decided to take some videos of Nanny and the little fish in the water. It was fantastic for me to get home and watch them enjoying the water and I have loved seeing her start to learn to actually kick her feet in the water.

    I have agonised over sharing these videos, as it is genuinely lovely to see all the little ones enjoying the lesson and I really want to share it with you so you could see what I have been going on about for all these weeks. But unfortunately it is not just Nanny and little fish in the video. There are other babies in the background and I know how I would feel if someone was sharing my daughters images through social networks, without my permission.

    I remember when I was young, my parents took pictures of me in the bath or running through the water sprinkler in the garden for no other reason than for their memories. Unfortunately today, in an age when every aspect of our lives is shared through social media, I am still very reluctant to share images or videos of my children.

    Ultimately, I am not skilled enough with video editing to manage to isolate the little fish and Nanny in the video, so you will just have to take my word for it that is it great. It just makes me a little sad that we are now so cautious and that protection of our children's safety means sharing our memories is no longer acceptable.

  2. Changing the Tide

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    I have always blogged about our Water Babies journey but a few weeks ago, our journey took a little detour. Our fabulous teacher, Kate, left to start her maternity leave. Kate was an amazing teacher and little fish adored her, so much so that Kate frequently used her as the "demonstration" baby for the next technique. So Nanny was extremely apprehensive ( I think she is more of a creature of habit than the little one) so when Lynsey took over the lessons, I had to convince my mum to give her the benefit of the doubt. It wasnt necessary of course, Lynsey is a very natural teacher and Nanny was raving about her after they got home.

    We have already signed up for the next course but due to Lynsey only covering the remainder of the last set due to Kate's departure, it is highly likely that we will have another new teacher for the new course. *insert Mum's renewed apprehension here*  

    Babies and children all react differently to change but my girls have always been creatures of habit! So we will wait will some excitement and trepidation as to who will be taking the new class but if our baby swimming experience so far has been anything to go by, then a change in the tides (or the teacher) is just another opportunity to meet one of the fantastic Water Babies team!

  3. 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

  4. 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!