soamelt
Contributor
Excellent point. I always got mine real excited about doing it before hand. Anytime (whether 2 minutes or 10) she was not feeling it, I would stop. It was always at her own pace.
New divers with a toddler... and questions.
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Excellent point. I always got mine real excited about doing it before hand. Anytime (whether 2 minutes or 10) she was not feeling it, I would stop. It was always at her own pace.
Sinbad the Diver
Contributor
Preface, parental advice is purely opinion based, so please take it as such. Your views on your kids are your own and at this point, we still have some rights to exercise those views...
My son (who just turned 8) is like yours, frighteningly skinny, eats like a horse and has a metabolism of a humming bird. He always wears a one piece rash guard (like a licra shorty) when swimming to keep the body heat in but we have to drag him out to warm him up. Watch for shivering, blue tint to lips and fingernails, at that point, out of the water and into the sun wrapped in a heavy towl.
As for snorkling, my personal opinion is that a snorkle and mask should be held back until the child can and will swim with their face in the water without fear or hesitation. My reason, leaking mask, breathing in water through the snorkle, etc will cause panic and if they child is not comfortable in the water without those things, that panic can lead to problems. In practice, my son would not put his face in the water without a mask so we let him have that and worked on becoming comfortable, which worked well for him. After about 2 months he moved to goggles and then to no goggles in about 2 days. But I held firm on the snorkle. When he was able to swim confidently I allowed him to use one, but I still only let him use it with an adult in the water with him.
My 2 cents, good luck and have a great trip.
My son (who just turned 8) is like yours, frighteningly skinny, eats like a horse and has a metabolism of a humming bird. He always wears a one piece rash guard (like a licra shorty) when swimming to keep the body heat in but we have to drag him out to warm him up. Watch for shivering, blue tint to lips and fingernails, at that point, out of the water and into the sun wrapped in a heavy towl.
As for snorkling, my personal opinion is that a snorkle and mask should be held back until the child can and will swim with their face in the water without fear or hesitation. My reason, leaking mask, breathing in water through the snorkle, etc will cause panic and if they child is not comfortable in the water without those things, that panic can lead to problems. In practice, my son would not put his face in the water without a mask so we let him have that and worked on becoming comfortable, which worked well for him. After about 2 months he moved to goggles and then to no goggles in about 2 days. But I held firm on the snorkle. When he was able to swim confidently I allowed him to use one, but I still only let him use it with an adult in the water with him.
My 2 cents, good luck and have a great trip.
OP
waterfaerygrrl
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I really appreciate everyone's generosity with your replies. Have been offline for the past 3 days doing our AOW certification: five dives in the balmy Puget Sound. Much improved buoyancy, and I got my instructor to remove 4 pounds (down to 28). I think I could dive with less--but I like to keep myself negatively buoyant (bad habit I know) because I have a strong tendency to have runaway ascents. Still working on those basic skills. It took me a long time to learn to drive a stick shift too, but I got it after a few months, and neutral buoyancy's bound to work out the same way.
Captain Larry, TGreene, and Soamelt, thanks for the Florida recommendations! If time and babysitting permits, I may get in a dive before the trip and work on my free floating safety stop.
Mike, great point. It never occurred to me there would be a dive expert on the ship, but if there is I'll take advantage. My OW instructor Gale Young (highly recommend to anyone else in the NW) has been helpful too.
Diver0001, wow, thanks for the detailed and thoughtful reply. I ended up with a 5/4 Xcel thermoflex wetsuit, and a 2 mil Xcel shorty... wetsuit for diving, shorty for snorkeling and pool. I also got a 5 mil bibbed hood and a very light hood, depending on how things go. Proud to be a thermal weenie--and I've never much liked bathing suits. (5'5", 125 lbs, 34H bra makes it difficult to find suits that fit well.) We do have our own computers (one for each of us, yep), and will be working on diving skills and buoyancy. I do think I'll bring my fins and snorkel to the pool and work on kicking, though, since apparently I do a bicycle kick which is inefficient and made it very hard for me to ascend from our 80' "deep dive" on Saturday. (Hubby got a tiny bit narc'ed, I was fine!)
Booyakasha, Rhone Man, Soamelt, Diver0001, Cborromeo, and Sinbad the Diver: Special super thanks for the toddler advice. I know every kid is different but I also like hearing from others--and the running themes confirm our instincts, too.
We do let him do things at his own pace and neither overpraise nor force anything with him. In Hawaii he didn't like going in the water on the beaches (afraid of the surf)... but was very very happy to splash in the tidepools. And he loves wading pools or hanging out on the stairs (and railings) of swimming pools, with mom or dad no more than a foot away.
He'll also let us push him on an innertube or a floaty if he's feeling confident. And his absolute favorite thing is to hang out on people's laps in a hot tub.
My guess is that we'll play it by ear and he'll enjoy the pool more in his new 1T O'Neill 3/2 fullsuit. ;-) Also getting a rashie shirt to wear over his swim diaper for sun and sand protection.
He will at this point put his face in the water and blow bubbles (without being asked to), so if he demands mask or snorkel I'll let him try in a very supervised way (read: 2-4 hands on him at all times). If he doesn't ask, I won't offer--til he's 5 or 6 and swimming very well. He doesn't like having his ears in the water so I'm guessing it'll be a while. I do expect he'll ask for fins, since he puts ours on in the house and falls on his face, giggling madly, on a regular basis.
He also has a scuba diver toy (from our LDS) with a removable tank, regulator, fins, and computer: he can name all those things and the BCD and mask, and knows what they are for. And he reacts immediately and jams it back in when the diver loses his regulator, which is pretty funny. Then he asks "ARE YOU OK?" Yes, he watched our OW training video with us. ;-)
We'll keep you posted after the trip. Thanks again, everyone. I feel much more prepared for the upcoming dives. Between your kind advice, five more dives under my belt (or fully integrated bcd), and getting familiar with our new equipment, I'm ready for some nice, warm water.
Cheers,
Johanna
Captain Larry, TGreene, and Soamelt, thanks for the Florida recommendations! If time and babysitting permits, I may get in a dive before the trip and work on my free floating safety stop.
Mike, great point. It never occurred to me there would be a dive expert on the ship, but if there is I'll take advantage. My OW instructor Gale Young (highly recommend to anyone else in the NW) has been helpful too.
Diver0001, wow, thanks for the detailed and thoughtful reply. I ended up with a 5/4 Xcel thermoflex wetsuit, and a 2 mil Xcel shorty... wetsuit for diving, shorty for snorkeling and pool. I also got a 5 mil bibbed hood and a very light hood, depending on how things go. Proud to be a thermal weenie--and I've never much liked bathing suits. (5'5", 125 lbs, 34H bra makes it difficult to find suits that fit well.) We do have our own computers (one for each of us, yep), and will be working on diving skills and buoyancy. I do think I'll bring my fins and snorkel to the pool and work on kicking, though, since apparently I do a bicycle kick which is inefficient and made it very hard for me to ascend from our 80' "deep dive" on Saturday. (Hubby got a tiny bit narc'ed, I was fine!)
Booyakasha, Rhone Man, Soamelt, Diver0001, Cborromeo, and Sinbad the Diver: Special super thanks for the toddler advice. I know every kid is different but I also like hearing from others--and the running themes confirm our instincts, too.
We do let him do things at his own pace and neither overpraise nor force anything with him. In Hawaii he didn't like going in the water on the beaches (afraid of the surf)... but was very very happy to splash in the tidepools. And he loves wading pools or hanging out on the stairs (and railings) of swimming pools, with mom or dad no more than a foot away.
He'll also let us push him on an innertube or a floaty if he's feeling confident. And his absolute favorite thing is to hang out on people's laps in a hot tub. My guess is that we'll play it by ear and he'll enjoy the pool more in his new 1T O'Neill 3/2 fullsuit. ;-) Also getting a rashie shirt to wear over his swim diaper for sun and sand protection.
He will at this point put his face in the water and blow bubbles (without being asked to), so if he demands mask or snorkel I'll let him try in a very supervised way (read: 2-4 hands on him at all times). If he doesn't ask, I won't offer--til he's 5 or 6 and swimming very well. He doesn't like having his ears in the water so I'm guessing it'll be a while. I do expect he'll ask for fins, since he puts ours on in the house and falls on his face, giggling madly, on a regular basis.
He also has a scuba diver toy (from our LDS) with a removable tank, regulator, fins, and computer: he can name all those things and the BCD and mask, and knows what they are for. And he reacts immediately and jams it back in when the diver loses his regulator, which is pretty funny. Then he asks "ARE YOU OK?" Yes, he watched our OW training video with us. ;-)
We'll keep you posted after the trip. Thanks again, everyone. I feel much more prepared for the upcoming dives. Between your kind advice, five more dives under my belt (or fully integrated bcd), and getting familiar with our new equipment, I'm ready for some nice, warm water.
Cheers,
Johanna
Blazinator
Contributor
The best dive spot in West Palm Beach for newbie and critter loving divers is the Blue Heron Bridge (Phil Foster Park on Blue Heron Blvd bridge). I can't say enough about this site - 20 - 30 ft, no waves, no dive charter cost (dive from the park), and losts of marine life (schools of spadefish, octos etc) and if you are good a critter searching - nudibranchs and tons of macro life. Just rent your tanks, and dive a half hour before high tide peak so you jump in just before slack tide. Location is at the park inside the intercoastal waterway (Lake Worth) between Palm Beach Shores and Riviera Beach. If you miss the slack tide and get their late (an hour or so) you will be in murky water and the current can sweep you through the inlet to the ocean, but otherwise its usually blue water diving, just don't touch the bristleworms.
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