[Sleepydream]

I don't know if this is the right spot for this question really, but we have a little boy who will be 2 in September. We are trying to decide whether to do the parent-child swimming lessons at the Y this summer. It says from 1-3 years of age. Now, N LOVES water. He flips around in the bathtub like a dolphin, jumps in every puddle he can find and loves swimming (always wearing a giant silly looking lifejacket). For safety reasons I thought it may be a good idea to at least teach him to float. We are always very careful when he is around water because he is very very brave and I am terrified he will just jump in. DH thinks that the lessons could be counter-productive from a safety standpoint. By taking him in water where he can't touch bottom without the lifejacket, and learning to go underwater and float etc that he may get over-confident and just take the plunge the first chance he gets. We are always right there with him, but still it's scary! How am I ever going to handle teaching him to drive?!?!?

Have any of you done the Mommy & Me swimming thing? I want to hear the good the bad and the ugly!

[seeking2adopt]

Today was the last week of an 8-week swimming class at our local rec center. We signed up our 3-year old AND our 22-month old -- along with Mom and Dad, of course! I, too, thought that it would be a good way to expose them to the water and hopefully teach some water safety. I think it worked really well! The very first class was about training them to enter and exit the pool safely and also to enter the pool ONLY after hearing Mom or Dad's entrance phrase ("one, two, three" or whatever you chose). Our girls are not ready to try solo yet, but it did begin to teach them the basics of "reach and pull" swimming, floating, using life jackets, etc.

Hope this helps!

Stephanie

[Ktates]

I coached a swim team and taught swim lessons for all ages for about 10 years. The earlier you start swim lessons the better - I even had one child at age 2 that could do crawl stroke with rotary breathing (his mom was a swimmer). It is a great thing that your child loves the water, the thing is children can fall in just as easily as jump in - as a lifeguard I have seen this happen more than I would like - you can't watch them every second. I think you should go ahead and do the lessons! I would suggest you make sure all the instructors are Red Cross certified (which many Y's are - but some places just hire kids who are on swim team).

PM me if you or DH have any particular concerns.

[SurprisedAMom]

Hi!

Both of my girls have been swimming sinces they were 2 years old. We used the ISR program which actually teaches the swim-float-swim sequences. They have never used any floation devices and now at age 4 and 5 are quite competent swimmers. The ISR program can start kids as early as 6 months old. I would have our 10 month old signed up, but he has ear infections and some minor asthma problems. But as soon as he is off the mediations he will be signed up as well.

[LisaCA]

Hi- a few words of caution:

we have a pool and looked into this issue and the data seems mixed. My feeling is that if you want to go to these classes and think it will help, great. there are a few things to think about:

- it may give you a false sense of security around pools (" my child knows how to float" etc)

- it may give some children comfort around water, which you may not want in some cases

- kids are prone to ear infections and some children develop particularly icky ones after swimming- some types of bacteria, etc.

-being in the pool with other kids and those "swim diapers". talk about major germs (e. coli et al.)! do not ingest any of the water, keep it out of open sores, etc.

-and finally, some children are quite sensitive to chlorine, and (you hope) that a good amount is being used in the pool during lessons. I used to break out in major hives after a swim-lessened now in my adult years, I just have to shower immediately after to remove the chlorine.

we haven't decided whether we'd do these classes in the future, since we're not sure they will be useful as you mentioned. We'll definitely have a few barriers between us and the pool: a water alarm, a 5 ft fence with a lock, and probably an automatic cover as well. We figure the multiple items should allow for individual error, or at least let me sleep at night:-). and we plan to keep all childen age 5 and younger out of the main pool-we'll set up a smaller inflatable thing for all those germs:-).

good luck, I think whatever you decide is the right thing.

lisaCA

[spaypets]

My daughter, now 2 1/2, has been taking similar lessons at the Y with DH and LOVES them. However, I don't think that she's any safer in the pool that she would be were she not taking them.

The reason we're doing the lessons is that we wanted her to be comfortable around the water -- so that one day she can really learn to swim. It has also been a great bonding activity and she's learned lots of songs too!

She's definitely comfortable -- she was of only a handful of children who went down the water slide (and wanted to again and again). She's also swimming a little with the life jacket. That was another reason we wanted her to take the lessons--so she would be comfortable in a life jacket so she could wear it on my mom's boat.

My advice is do it if you think it would be fun, but not because it will make your child any safer around a pool -- I don't think it will.

[michelec]

I did the "mommy and me" type classes at the YMCA with my daughter last winter. They called it the S.K.I.P. class (don't know if all Ys call it that). It was more of an introduction to water class: allowed the little ones to get used to being in water, play games, sing songs, mabye practice putting their face in if they are ready for it, etc.

I thought it was a lot of fun, and my daughter went from scared to comfortable by the end of the sessions. Good luck and have fun. Michele

[CeraDad]

DW and C went to swimming lessons this past winter. C will be 2 in a couple of weeks and she absolutely loved it. I didn't get to attend any of the lessons but saw videotape of them. C loves to go to travel now so she can stay in a hotel and swim. It's great to watch her.

Couple of weeks ago, DW and MIL went to Chi for a cousins college graduation. They stayed at a hotel down there and of course went swimming. One of C's favorite things to do is to jump off the side of the pool to DW. DW was talking to someone when C decided to jump in. She was only under for a couple of seconds (she was also wearing one of the bulky lifejackets) and was scared for a second or two. Almost immediately went back at it w/ DW. Looking forward to vacation next week.

[Sleepydream]

Thank you for the feedback.

We have decided to go ahead with the lessons. If for no other reason than to get him accustomed to the pool and hopefully start teaching the "rules" early. Plus, he really likes the water so I think he will have great fun which is reason enough to do it.

Thanks again!