How to dunk a baby

This is the second baby I've tried to dunk and I've discovered that the first and most vital ingredient in "dunking the baby" is a willing baby.

A couple of years ago I tried to do this with our now-three-year-old and then one-year-old and she screamed blue murder when she came out the water. I tried it again with her when she was two and then again this year at the age of three. She hates being dunked so I'm rarely do it and only to see if she's got past that stage. This year she watched me dunking the one-year-old and asked to be dunked but it turned out not to be as much fun being committed and we ended up with the same screaming.

So the technique that I use (I did not invent it) is to:

1. Hold the baby under the armpits with both hands.
2. Tell the baby that you're doing to dunk it. Use the word dunk (or pick a different keyword if you don't like dunk) several times when talking to the baby about what you're doing to do.
3. Count to three in as many seconds.
4. Blow into the baby's face.
5. Dunk him or her below the surface and immediately pull them back up again.

It'll be obvious how much the baby likes or dislikes being dunked. If he or she doesn't enjoy it then there's not much point in pursuing it. Wait a few weeks and try it again. There's always next summer and no point in traumatizing them.