How early can my baby start swim lessons?

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Infants

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amother

Wed, Jun 26 2024, 4:30 pm

He’s currently 4 months old. I want to get him started as early as possible

Rappel ↓

Wed, Jun 26 2024, 4:54 pm

It's child abuse masked as advanced parenting. Skip it until they've grown into their bodies

tweety1

Wed, Jun 26 2024, 4:59 pm

So interesting you asked. There's on article in the view this week. It's an interview with Zahava Shapiro founder of waterwaze swimming academy. She's says as early as 3 months old.

amother

Phlox ↓

Wed, Jun 26 2024, 5:01 pm

6 months

amother

Periwinkle

Wed, Jun 26 2024, 5:06 pm

A very well regarded swim school in south Florida will do real water safety lessons at youngest 11/12 months. Before that they would get kids adjusted to water but not with life saving techniques.

amother

Antiquewhite

Wed, Jun 26 2024, 5:45 pm

I don't get this. How can a baby swim?

amother

Nemesia

Wed, Jun 26 2024, 5:48 pm

Rappel wrote:

It's child abuse masked as advanced parenting. Skip it until they've grown into their bodies

I assume op has her own pool, not that she's trying to get her kid a head start in the Olympics. It's a safety thing.

↑ Rappel

Wed, Jun 26 2024, 5:54 pm

amother Nemesia wrote:

I assume op has her own pool, not that she's trying to get her kid a head start in the Olympics. It's a safety thing.

It is not.

The sportiest toddler in the world should not have access to a pool, unsupervised.

There is no replacement for adult supervision, and that obviates any theoretical benefits from forcibly exposing your baby to fear and pain and minor asphyxiation, before they can even say "help!"

amother

↑ Phlox

Wed, Jun 26 2024, 5:57 pm

amother Antiquewhite wrote:

I don't get this. How can a baby swim?

I’ve seen videos on instagram and YouTube. Starting 6 months old babies are trained to swim and float first small pool and then a regular pool.
It can save their lives. What if they fall in ? They know how to help themselves.
I wish I knew how to swim.

Ema of 5

Wed, Jun 26 2024, 6:10 pm

Rappel wrote:

I was just in my pool with my kids. I was standing by the ladder, literally right next to it, and my 19m was coming down. He slipped and went under, with me standing right there. No one purposely allows their little baby to go to a pool unsupervised, but if you have a pool it 100% makes sense to teach kids young. We aren’t talking about throwing a kid in and making them fend for themself. This is actually learning how to swim. I plan to teach my baby this summer. Better safe than sorry.
I’m not understanding your last paragraph. Why are you assuming there is no supervision? And why are you assuming fear, pain, and any asphyxiation?

amother

Wandflower

Sun, Jun 30 2024, 6:27 am

amother Antiquewhite wrote:

I don't get this. How can a baby swim?

Humans are actually born with the instinct to swim and if it's used early on it can be preserved.

notshanarishona

Sun, Jun 30 2024, 7:24 am

Swim instructor here:
1) I don’t believe in survival swim which many people use for infants . It has many issues including causing kids to swallow a lot of water (I have seen kids needing medical care afterwards), trauma, etc.
(2) in general I find the ideal age for children to learn to be 2-3 once they are old enough to follow directions but still fearless.
However, if someone has a pool, that’s a totally different story and I would start with the basics already with an infant. Not literally how to swim but teaching them how to hold their head up with a life jacket, how to move around the pool in a life jacket, how to close their mouth and blow bubbles, how to roll on their back and kick.
And the obvious, if someone has a pool make sure you have a double or triple locking system ie fence plus a video monitor.

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