Swimming goggles are extremely common for kids and adults alike. Goggles let your kids play underwater for extended periods of time, they can practice and play without irritating their eyes. It’s important to know what to look for when choosing kids swimming goggles. It may surprise many parents to learn that the decision to have their child wear goggles is one that may potentially negatively affect their child’s ability to swim in the long run.

Let’s jump into it, starting with the pro aspects of having your kids wear swimming goggles.

Pros of Kids Swimming Goggles

Typically, goggles increase a child’s comfort, relaxation, and orientation in the aquatic environment. They encourage the child to submerge and allow them to open their eyes and ascertain their position underwater clearly. They’re great for helping kids learn how to swim for recreational purposes, competition, and practice in general.

If your child is new to swimming, goggles let them explore and experience the water without fear. In this case, goggles can help build up water confidence. Keeping this in mind, as a parent, it’s important that you don’t let them become too dependent on the goggles. Ideally, you’ll want your child to be able to swim with and without goggles on, meaning; you don’t want to foster an aversion to swimming without swim goggles.

Protection

The eyes are sensitive, while the experiences vary from person to person, swimming pools are filled with chemicals that keep it clean and these chemicals generally irritate our eyes. Swim goggles provide protection from pool irritants, making the experience more comfortable. This is especially useful if your child spends a lot of time with their eyes open underwater.

Prescription

If your child wears glasses then getting a pair of prescription goggles for them is a very good idea! Opening the eyes underwater will otherwise be extremely disorienting for children who wear glasses. Underwater vision is blurry as it is, even for people who don’t wear glasses.

Cons of Kids Swimming Goggle

Dependency

As mentioned earlier, it’s important not to let your child get dependent on goggles to swim. Dependency is a long-term danger. Why? Children who get dependent on swimming with goggles are more at risk for drowning. This is because, in a moment where they may find themselves underwater without goggles, they will start to panic. The panic and disorientation may lead to drowning. Parents and swim teachers are responsible for ensuring that swimmers do not become reliant on goggles. So, encourage them to participate in water activities without wearing goggles!

Faulty or Breakable Goggles

There have been cases where the plastic lenses break, resulting in minor injuries in children. This is why it’s important to choose high-quality goggles that fit your child properly.