Dog Community

Swimming for Babies?

Posted : 3/31/2008 3:19:13 PM

I've been taking the kids to the pool lately. And last year, they played in the Easy Set in my parent's backyard. Both of them love the water, and Kale is a pretty good swimmer. I'd like to get him into swimming lessons just for form, but basically, I know how to teach him that kind of stuff myself. I went through most of the levels up to a 3 Life Saving course I think.

The part I'm having problems with is Kali. She's almost 16 months old and she LOVES the water. She has no issues whatsoever about getting her head wet, or going under the water. Water in her eyes is a total non issue. I actually have to hang on to her in the water because she WILL just let go and try to take off on her own. Kale always clung to me when he was that age.

She plays and plays in there and she loves it. This doesn't sound like much of an issue really. But I want to teach her how to actually swim. How to float on her own. How to move in the water. The problem is that she isn't old enough to really listen to instructions or even really copy things. Has anyone attended mom and tot lessons at a pool? Or have any idea what my next step should be?

FTR, I am against putting a lifejacket on her in the pool when I am there, until she has some idea of how to move in the water on her own. I feel they provide a false sense of security for both child and parent, so that is not an option. I have considered water wings because I remember wearing them when I was little and I know that the child still has to work to keep their own face out of the water. Other than that, I'm at a total standstill. I don't want to go to fast and instill a fear of water in her accidentally. Thoughts? Ideas? Resources?

Liesje

Posted : 3/31/2008 3:59:23 PM

I took swimming lessons when I was a few months old. Then when I was a baby I sat in one of those rings, I didn't wear a life jacket. I guess this is what people use now, but when I was a kind mine was an actual chunk of Styrofoam. That way the kid can still splash and kick. You can get life jackets that keep a kid's head up, but most people do not get these kind (usually they don't know). Actually, where I live it's illegal for a kid to be wearing one (on a boat or other water device) that doesn't, but again, most people just assume a life jacket is a life jacket.

marty_ga

Posted : 3/31/2008 4:02:07 PM

I'm a big fan of making sure your children know how to swim well and made sure mine could. I had a WSI and did some life guarding long ago. My daughter just had lessons every summer, but when comtemplating a move to FL and hopefully having a pool, I put him in the YMCA program at 3. Can't say I was really happy with it as they did use flotation devices to start, gradually removing the support blocks as the child got more confident. That was a long time ago, so they may use a different method now. It almost seemed as if he got more frightened as it went on.

Not much help, there, but for Kale I can suggest something. If you have a swim team in your area, that is the best place to learn good form and HAVE to use it and practice it. It takes some time and commitment from the parents...but well worth it. And it's fun for the whole family when the swim meets get rolling. My son ended up being an excellent, strong swimmer because of that, and it paved the way in high school for a decent paying summer job as well.

UndefinedMelody

Posted : 3/31/2008 4:34:38 PM

I can't swim very well at all, definitely not for fun..but I can keep myself from drowning *looks around embarrassed* but SO is a strong swimmer. I am determined that Nolan will know how to swim well. We have an pool at our apartment but I really want to do swimming lessons with him, the mom and tot kind like you are talking about, but I don't know if *I* have to be able to swim or not? How deep is the pool they normally hold those classes in?

ottoluv

Posted : 3/31/2008 5:18:01 PM

UndefinedMelody
I can't swim very well at all, definitely not for fun..but I can keep myself from drowning *looks around embarrassed* but SO is a strong swimmer. I am determined that Nolan will know how to swim well. We have an pool at our apartment but I really want to do swimming lessons with him, the mom and tot kind like you are talking about, but I don't know if *I* have to be able to swim or not? How deep is the pool they normally hold those classes in?

I had my WSI too marty ;) For baby and me classes (the classes from 6 months to about 18 months the mom/dad doesn't need to be able to swim well since they are usually done in water about waist to chest high. You could take swim lessons seperately to get caught up too! I used to teach an adult class too. My favorite were the 2-6 year olds though.

mrstjohnson

Posted : 3/31/2008 5:59:40 PM

Riley's going to take lessons when we get back to Michigan. Here she is in Palm Springs in her inner tube...she LOVED it!!

calliecritturs

Posted : 3/31/2008 7:10:48 PM

They say it's easiest to teach a baby to swim very early -- when you think about it, they spend their first 9 months swimming!! go for it!!

jjsmom06

Posted : 3/31/2008 8:31:39 PM

I use to teach the infant water adjustment classes for my hospital and this is definitely my suggested route for you. These classes aren’t designed to necessarily teach them HOW to swim at those ages, but comfort in the water and one of the most important thing we did is as they grow and learn, teach them to get out of the pool AND to never enter a pool unless a parent is already in there to get you. It is really hard to explain how you teach a child to get out of the pool, but some time every lesson was spent helping to push the child out by pushing their bottom to get out of the pool. Hard to visualize I am sure.

Anyway the parent classes are great and are so much fun for both the parents and children. With the real little ones we mainly do water activities done to nursery rhymes. Check out what is available in your area.

Enjoy!! Big Smile

huskymom

Posted : 4/1/2008 8:59:36 AM

Thanks everyone. I'm gonna look into Mom and Tot classes I guess. Kali did well with her water wings last night. She discovered that if she kicked her legs her face stayed above the water. They let her sink enough that she still had to work for it, but by the end she was having a grand old time. Plus the spa was cool enough last night for her to get it and me to sit on the edge. The ledge around is just about waist height on her and she had fun walking around it and then leaning over to see if she could touch the bottom with her hands. She would float a little and then regain her footing. At one point she stepped off the edge and dunked herself. I think the shock of it scared her and she had enough. We were there for a long time though and it was time to get out anyway.

Kale made a friend there and the had races back and forth across the pool. Then they dove for water batons in the deep end. I think I'll look into lessons for him when I look for some for Kali. I might even look into putting myself in a refresher course. Its been about 16 years since I took a lesson.

VanMorrison

Posted : 4/1/2008 11:14:25 AM

My Mum taught me how to swim, using water wings (or muscles), when I was one year. We moved to a house with a pool and she wanted me to be safe. I have adored swimming ever since and it is an incredible form of excercise to get into. I've even done water aerobics when recovering from leg surgery.

Learning to enjoy the water and be confident is a huge gift to your kiddos.