When do ear plugs earn their keep?
Ear plugs are optional for most healthy swimmers and for most children with ear tubes; they earn their keep when a specific ear condition calls for keeping the canal dry. This is the part of the advice that has changed most in the last decade, so it is worth being precise about who actually needs them. Plugs have a genuine case for kids who:
Get frequent ear infections. Keeping water out of the ear canal can reduce the moisture that contributes to outer-ear infections, commonly called swimmer's ear.
Have ear tubes — but usually don't need plugs. This is the most common misconception we hear from parents. In its 2022 update to the Clinical Practice Guideline: Tympanostomy Tubes in Children, the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery advised clinicians not to routinely encourage water precautions — earplugs, headbands, or avoiding swimming — for children with tubes. Plugs are still reasonable when a child has draining ears (otorrhea), gets ear pain while swimming, is diving deep, or is swimming in heavily contaminated water such as some lakes. Our guide to swimming with ear tubes covers the exceptions in detail. Follow your own ENT's instructions over any general rule.
Have had ear surgery or a perforated eardrum, where keeping the ear dry matters for healing.
For these children, plugs are a sensible, sometimes essential, tool. For a typical healthy swimmer with no ear issues, however, ear plugs are entirely optional — many kids swim for years without them and are perfectly fine.
How do you choose and use ear plugs?
Use swim-specific silicone or molded plugs, make sure they fit and seal, still dry the ears afterward, and let a doctor guide the choice for medical cases. If your child will wear ear plugs, a few pointers help:
Use swim-specific plugs. Soft silicone or moldable plugs designed for swimming seal better and are safer than foam plugs meant for noise.
Get the fit right. Plugs that are too big or too small won't seal and can be uncomfortable. Families who need a reliable seal — usually for a perforated eardrum or persistent draining — often have custom-molded swim plugs made by an audiologist from an impression of the child's ear canal.
Still dry the ears afterward. Plugs reduce but don't eliminate moisture. Tilt the head to drain water and dry the outer ear after swimming. See our full guide to swimming and ear infections.
Ask the doctor for medical cases. If your child has tubes or recurrent infections, let your pediatrician guide the choice; the American Academy of Pediatrics offers general guidance on keeping children healthy and comfortable around the water.
Are nose clips about comfort or skill?
Nose clips are mainly a comfort aid — useful for kids who hate water up the nose or who do backstroke, somersaults, or synchronized swimming — not a health necessity. Nose clips pinch the nostrils shut to keep water out of the nose. Their value is more about comfort than health. They can genuinely help a child who:
Hates water going up the nose, a sensation that makes some kids avoid submerging at all.
Is learning backstroke or somersaults, where water is pushed up the nose and a clip can prevent that stinging rush.
Does synchronized swimming or lots of inverted work, where nose clips are standard.
For a hesitant child, a nose clip can be the small change that gets them comfortable putting their face in the water — a real win. But there is a trade-off worth understanding.
What is the breath-control trade-off?
A child who always wears a nose clip may never learn to exhale through the nose underwater — a foundational skill — so use the clip as a bridge, not a permanent crutch. Here is the catch with nose clips: learning to exhale through the nose underwater is a foundational swimming skill. Blowing bubbles out of the nose keeps water from going up it and is how swimmers manage breathing on every stroke. A child who always wears a nose clip may never learn this, becoming dependent on the device. Our guide to blowing bubbles and breath control explains why this skill matters so much.
The smart approach is to use a nose clip as a bridge, not a crutch. If it helps a nervous child get comfortable, great — but keep teaching them to blow air out through the nose, and gradually phase the clip out for general swimming. Reserve it for backstroke or inverted work where even skilled swimmers use one.
What's the water-safety angle?
Gear should never come between a child and self-rescue — in a real fall there's no nose clip, ear plugs, or goggles, so kids must be able to submerge and breath-hold with nothing on. This is the heart of the matter. Swim gear should never come between a child and the ability to save themselves. In a real emergency — an accidental fall into a pool or lake — there will be no nose clip, no ear plugs, no goggles. A child needs to be able to hold their breath, open their eyes if needed, submerge, and perform basic survival skills with nothing on — a priority underscored by the CDC, which notes most young-child drownings happen during unexpected, unsupervised water access. Gear that makes practice more pleasant is fine; gear that a child cannot function without is a hidden risk.
So whatever equipment your child uses, make sure they also practice without it regularly. A child should be able to put their face in the water, blow bubbles, and float bare-faced. The same logic applies to goggles, which are wonderful for comfort but should never be the only way a child will put their head under.
How do you put it all together?
Use ear plugs for medical ear issues and nose clips to ease a nervous child or for backstroke — but always ensure your child can submerge, breath-hold, and do survival skills with no gear at all. For most families, the practical guidance is simple. Use ear plugs if your child has ear tubes, frequent infections, or a doctor's recommendation; otherwise they are optional. Use nose clips to help a nervous child get comfortable or for backstroke, but keep teaching nose-breathing and don't let the clip become permanent. And no matter what, make sure your child can submerge, hold their breath, and do survival skills with no gear at all. Equipment is there to make swimming more comfortable — the skills underneath are what keep your child safe.
What's the bottom line for parents?
Use gear to support comfort and health, but make sure your child is always capable in the water without it — that balance gives you happy swimmers who are also safe ones. Nose clips and ear plugs are neither magic nor menace. Ear plugs are a real help — sometimes a medical necessity — for kids with ear issues, and a comfort option for everyone else. Nose clips can ease a child into the water and are standard for certain strokes, but should not replace learning to breathe out through the nose. The guiding principle is dependence: use gear to support comfort and health, but ensure your child is always capable in the water without it. That balance gives you the best of both — happy swimmers who are also safe ones.
For the rest of the kit, our free printable kids’ swim gear fit check runs the same one-test-per-item treatment across goggles, caps, thermal wear and swimsuit color — and ends on the same no-gear rule this guide does.
When should you see an audiologist or ENT about your child's ears and swimming?
See a pediatrician first for pain, drainage or a suspected infection; ask for an ENT (otolaryngologist) when ear problems keep coming back or a tube or eardrum is involved; and see an audiologist when hearing is the question or you need custom-molded swim plugs. Parents often use the three titles interchangeably, but they do different jobs, and knowing which one to ask for saves a lot of time.
Your pediatrician is the right first call for an earache after swimming, itching, or fluid coming out of the ear. Most cases of swimmer's ear are diagnosed and treated here, and your pediatrician decides whether anything else is needed.
An ENT, or otolaryngologist, is the surgeon who manages recurrent ear infections, persistent middle-ear fluid, ear tubes, and a perforated eardrum. If your child has had several infections in a year, has fluid that will not clear, or already has tubes and keeps having trouble, this is the specialist to ask about — and the one whose swimming instructions override any general advice, including ours.
An audiologist tests hearing and makes custom ear moulds. Two situations bring swim families to one: you are worried your child is not hearing well — turning the volume up, mishearing instructions at the pool, falling behind on speech — or you have been told your child needs a watertight seal and off-the-shelf plugs keep leaking. Custom-molded swim plugs are taken from an impression of your child's ear canal and are re-made every year or two while the ear is still growing.
Don't wait on hearing concerns. Swim lessons are a setting where hearing trouble shows up early, because instructors give short verbal cues across a loud, echoing pool deck. If your child consistently misses instructions in the water but follows them fine at home, mention it — that pattern is worth a hearing check rather than a discipline conversation. The 2022 tympanostomy-tube guideline was itself endorsed by the American Academy of Audiology, and hearing assessment is a standard part of the workup when ear problems keep recurring.
Whatever the gear decision, it sits on top of supervision and skills rather than replacing them — see our water competency skills checklist for what actually keeps a child safe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should kids wear ear plugs to swim?
For a typical healthy swimmer, ear plugs are optional. Most children with ear tubes do not need them either: the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery's 2022 guideline advises against routine water precautions for tubes. Plugs still make sense for a perforated eardrum, recent ear surgery, ears that are actively draining, pain while swimming, deep diving, or dirty water — and whenever your child's own doctor says so. Choose swim-specific plugs and check the fit.
Do nose clips help children learn to swim?
Nose clips can help children who struggle with water up the nose, especially during backstroke or somersaults, and can reduce discomfort that makes some kids avoid submerging. But learning to breathe out through the nose underwater is important, so clips should support practice, not replace teaching breath control.
Can ear plugs and nose clips affect water safety skills?
They can, if a child becomes dependent on them. A real emergency will not include gear, so children still need to be comfortable submerging, holding their breath, and blowing bubbles without any equipment. Use plugs and clips as comfort or medical aids, and practice without them too.
Are ear plugs necessary for swimmer's ear?
They can help reduce the moisture that contributes to swimmer's ear but are not a guaranteed cure. Drying the ears thoroughly, tilting the head to drain water, and following a doctor's advice also matter. For frequent infections, ask your pediatrician about custom or molded plugs. Gear helps comfort, not safety — the measures that genuinely reduce risk are tracked in our drowning statistics hub.
Should my child see an audiologist about swimming and ear plugs?
See an audiologist if you are concerned about your child's hearing, or if you need custom-molded swim plugs because off-the-shelf ones will not seal. For pain, drainage or infection, start with your pediatrician; for repeated infections, ear tubes or a perforated eardrum, ask for a referral to an ENT (otolaryngologist). Custom moulds are re-made every year or two while a child's ear canal is still growing.
📚 Authoritative Sources
- American Academy of Pediatrics: keeping children healthy and comfortable around the water, including ear-health guidance.
- AAO-HNSF Clinical Practice Guideline: Tympanostomy Tubes in Children (Update, 2022): advises clinicians not to routinely encourage water precautions such as earplugs for children with tympanostomy tubes, and lists the exceptions.
- CDC — Drowning Facts: most young-child drownings happen during unexpected, unsupervised water access — when no gear is worn.
- American Red Cross — Water Safety: foundational water-competency and supervision practices.