From the time he was a baby, we made sure he was ok with water.
We gave him warm/fun baths all the time, got him interested in/excited about our cups of water so that he would stick his face in there and lap it up (like it was a treat), we would pour water from a bottle/cup when he was really thirsty from playing, and have fun with the hose when we sprayed off the back porch. . .all types of little things to get him comfortable with it (because we knew we would have a pool someday).
We started with the ocean when he was a baby, playing ball and allowing him to only go to his chest. Then (at 18 months) with the pool it was all about luring him in with his favorite toy and letting him know that it's safe - helping him swim and praising him (A LOT), teaching him to only enter and exit from the stairs, and then eventually getting him nuts about his toy and throwing it in to see if he would follow. . .and he did! But only for one particular toy. . .just one.
Well, he's moved on to jumping in after any toy now--if we are in the water and excited about a toy, he will jump in and swim after us until we give it up.
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