Instructions
1. Get your child into the water and completely wet. Review techniques for floating, especially the facedown float (see Related eHow "Teach a Child to Float in the Water").
2. Demonstrate and practice blowing bubbles in the water. This introduces the necessity of blowing air out while underwater.
3. Hold the child under the armpits and take the child for a "motor boat" ride by pulling the child around the pool while he or she blows bubbles and breathes.
4. Teach the child to bob, bouncing up and down in the water in a steady rhythm. Bobbing help the child learn to breathe only when out of the water.
5. Hold the child's hands and bob together.
6. Demonstrate breathe from the facedown float, bringing your hands together in front of you and lifting your head (see Related eHow "Survival Float").
7. Have the child try to breathe from the facedown float. Start in the shallow end and eventually move to the deep end.
8. Be patient, as it may take a few lessons for the child to become comfortable with breathing while in the water.
Tags: facedown float, breathe from, breathe from facedown, from facedown, from facedown float, hands together, Hold child