teaching my son wrong things.....

[scubamommie]

Some of you may have read my post about whether or not to try my two year old son with a mask and snorkel since he loves mine so much... well, that's out the window now... my grandmother helps me out by watching him once a week for me to work... well I bought his mask and snorkel a couple of days ago and have already made plans to take him Saturday to show him tht mommy uses them and he can try too... I came home fromwork today to find that she opened the package for him to use them in the bathtub.. i'd be fine with that if it was someone that would teach him the right way to use them... first she loosened the straps so much that if he stuck his face in the water it would have flooded immediately (and then she was telling me it was still too tight) from the gaps between his forehead and the skirt of the mask... second she taught him to put the mouth piece of his snorkel in the water and to blow through the top to blow bubbles... so i get home and she tells him show mommy how you blow in your thing... i about had a cow.... so there's no way now that i will be able to get him to use his snorkel the right way at least not for a while... it just frustrates me so much that for one she couldn't wait and let me be the first to see him use them and two that she would teach a wrong way to use them.... ok so there's my complaint

[Diver Kat]

Hide it for a month or two (from him AND grandma ), then hopefully you can pull it back out and train him the right way ....

[No Misses]

I hate being the first one to write this.

Does a two year old have enough lung capacity to exhale through the snorkle and draw in fresh air? CO2 buildup is an issue with children and snorkles that are too big for them.

Be careful.

P.S. This post was intended to enlighten. No bashing intended.

[Vercingetorix]

Originally Posted by No Misses

I hate being the first one to write this.

Actually, not the first. There's a whole thread initiated by ScubaMommie about this.

As for Grandma "best intentions"...you have my sympathies. You'll have to un-teach your son. Good luck.

[scubamommie]

it has already been asked about the CO2... I want to introduce him to the snorkel but don't expect him to use it long enough for anything.. I mainly want it so I can get him to put his face in the water since he loves the water but doesn't like water in his face and figure it might make him feel better if he's not sucking in water... and the snorkel and mask I bought is made for small children... I just had to vent and complain that she would teach him the wrong way to use things... she does it all the time and it usually backfires on her but since she won't ever be with him when he's swimming I am the one that has to deal with it... I just find it easier to teach it right the first time

[emt]

IMHO, I'll tell you about my prior experiences (many children).
The eldest did exactly like yours and wanted to imitate me and wear a mask, fins, etc. around the house. (when more brothers & sisters came they imitated me much less, maybe due to the others to watch & imitate).
I can't remember him doing much with the snorkel except letting it dangle around the mask.
I do remember some of his younger brothers preferring to free dive in shallow water and at pools without a snorkel (mask only) for some years before progressing to snorkeling.
The final outcome was the same as all that wanted to learn to snorkel, freedive, and scuba dive did so at their own pace. They all walked, talked, & learned to swim at different ages for my kids, it's hard to tell which kids will progress faster.
I only had one of my kids knowingly get burned out on a sport and that was swimming. He took off a year and decided to restart it on his own and finished high school as team captain.
My best girl swimmer quit after the 9th grade due to conflicts with that and band and the demands required to participate in those two time consuming activities. They were and are...all different
P.s. none of my kids were ready/able/or willing to snorkel at 2, but maybe they were just slower than yours, more afraid, or had less interest .
Eventually they all learned at least snorkeling.

[JTMoney]

I always thought that was a grandparent's job, spoil and teach the kid bad habits then dump him or her back off to mommy and daddy.

[captain]

I think 2 is too early to expect much learning about using a mask and snorkle. I have a 2 year old grand daughter and her attention span is about 2 seconds.
As for the face in the water thing I think it would be better to get him comfortable with his face in the water without the mask first. That is one of the most inportant things for a child to learn to become comfortable in the water. I think starting with a mask is giving them a crutch they may have a hard time doing without in the future.
I have a mask for my granddaughter but I am waiting to give it to her until she is comfortable with her face in the water.