When getting your kids used to the water, you may be wondering if swim goggles are necessary. Once children are familiar with the water and are happy swimming and playing underwater, this can be a good time to introduce swim goggles. Ideally, swim goggles shouldn’t be introduced until age two or three. Swim goggles can be important to help protect your kid’s eyes against chlorine exposure and pH balances. Some children have more sensitive eyes than others, so you can also introduce swim goggles earlier, as long as you allow some non-goggle swimming time as well.

Why Are Swim Goggles Used?

Swim goggles can help your child become more comfortable in the water as well as help encourage your little one to submerge and be able to open their eyes underwater and see clearly. Swim goggles are also helpful for preventing pool chemicals and other bacteria in the water from entering the eyes and being irritating. Swim goggles help to prevent red, irritated eyes after they swim.

Introducing Swim Goggles

Introducing swim goggles at a young age can be challenging. Some children won’t want to wear the swim goggles at first, but after a few weeks, they will start to warm up to wearing them. Start by playing with the swim goggles outside of the pool and any formal swimming class to avoid wasting time during the class. Start by letting your child play and hold the goggles in the water environment. Show your children what it’s like to wear swim goggles, and then have your child put goggles on their favorite toy or doll. You can also practice with goggles in the bath. You don’t want to rush or force your child to wear goggles if they aren’t comfortable with it. If your child has sensitive eyes and is having trouble adjusting to goggles, you can come up with above-water activities to break up the time your child is spending underwater.

Swim Goggles and Swimming Lessons

You should be gentle when you put goggles on your child, so you don’t create any aversions to goggles. If you are unsure, ask your child’s swimming instructor. During the early stages of goggle-wearing, your child will likely want to keep taking the goggles on and off. During a swim lesson, this can be disruptive, so this is why it can be good to make sure that your child is old enough to manage swim goggles properly. Some swim teachers have rules about goggles. For example, they may need to take them off during certain parts of the class, or a child may not wear goggles if they keep playing with them.

Swim Goggles and Water Safety

Even though goggles provide a lot of value, it’s still important to have your child swim without goggles as an important part of water safety. Children should be confident going underwater without swim goggles, so it’s recommended to remove the goggles during part of the swim lesson where this is practiced. Children who at one point were happy going underwater without swim goggles can soon become reliant on them. Make sure that your child is exposed to time without swim goggles, especially as you teach about water safety. Teaching your child to get their goggles from the bottom of the pool can be a good skill to learn about water safety and swimming. Having children have water time without swim goggles can help them learn to orient themselves in the water without seeing clearly. This way, kids don’t become reliant on the goggles and think they can’t swim without the goggles. Fear that they can’t swim without goggles can increase the risk of drowning.

Swim Goggle Safety

It’s important that goggles are well-fitting. You shouldn’t let your child jump in goggles since they could slip off and hurt your child’s face. Don’t allow your child goggles if they cannot keep them on, as this could become a safety issue. If your child doesn’t want to wear goggles, don’t make a big issue out of it because they may want them later on when they become more comfortable with the water.

Prescription Swim Goggles for Children

Prescription swim goggles can be a great tool for children reliant on glasses to see properly. Instead of having your child wear their glasses in the pool, where they can fall off and become damaged, prescription swim goggles can be a much easier solution. Just like with regular goggles, it’s still important to have your child have some swim time without goggles in case they fall in without their prescription goggles. 

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