Are YMCA "infant swim" classes worth it?

Re: Are YMCA "infant swim" classes worth it?

• herlysgirly member

  May 2012

  Whoa.  I don't know if my post looks as crazy to you guys as it does me... I don't know what happened.  I copied and pasted the words???
  

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• dixee.deluxe

  May 2012

  We did them at the Y for one session when DD#1 was 6 months old.  We did 2 more sessions with her at the pool at our new gym.  It pretty much just gets LO's that young used to the water.  In our current classes, the focus is to get a kid to lay on their back and be comfortable.  I feel like the group atmosphere is good because you sing songs and it engages the kids, since it's a group.   

  

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• sosoph member

  May 2012

  dixee.deluxe:

  We did them at the Y for one session when DD#1 was 6 months old.  We did 2 more sessions with her at the pool at our new gym.  It pretty much just gets LO's that young used to the water.  In our current classes, the focus is to get a kid to lay on their back and be comfortable.  I feel like the group atmosphere is good because you sing songs and it engages the kids, since it's a group.   

  I didn't do them at the Y, but this is about what they're like. For me, it gave me a lot of confidence about being in the water with her, and showed me some pre-swimming activities I could do to encourage swim-like movement and floating. We won't do them again until she can take the 3yr class, but it was worth it.
  

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• Mommy2CB member

  May 2012

  We just started infant swim classes at the Y near us and we all love it! DS loves the water and its just a great way for him to get used to it. We like the instructors and the price is very very reasonable. It's been a really positive experience for us!

  BFP 5/21/10, Missed m/c 7/5/10 at 11w3d (baby measured 7wks), D&C 7/7/10

  Aug/Sept 2010 - CD3&10 b/w & u/s, genetic testing, SA, HSG, & Lap/Hyst to remove septum

  12/09/10 BFP -- 7/05/11 DS born at 33w5d. Came home after 23d in NICU at 37w0d

  June 2012 - TTC #2! -- 10/05/12 BFP --  5/23/13 DS2 born at 37w1d! Yay full term!

  Surprise BFP 6/25/14 LO#3 due Feb2015!

  
  

                       

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• shopgirl78 member

  May 2012

  I think they are worth it if:

  1.  Your intent is to get DC used to the water.

  2.  Do something fun/different with DC.

  I did them with my DD as an infant and toddler and then with DS1 as a toddler.  After baby #1, they became harder to do with subsequent babies.  They teach pre-swimming skills but I am not so sure how much my DCren took away from those. It was nice that they taught them that the side of the pool is called safety, though (knock on wood) there have been no incidents where this was needed as a young child for us.  Both DD/DS1 started swimming on their own last summer.  They are taking lessons again this summer for refresher bc of this, I didn't put DS2 in.  I can't be in the water with him and watch the kids.  He loves the water and is a wanna be fish like his bro/sis.  If you intent is for them to swim, I'd try a specific swim school.   More $$ but less students/better instruction (from what I understand, we don't have them in our small town). 

  
  

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• freeatlast2014 member

  May 2012

  My friend teaches swim lessons at a Y and she told me that the younger classes are more for parents than kids. 3y+ is more for the kids to learn how to swim. We have a pool and I felt completely comfortable taking DS into it last year without lessons.

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• maramarrie

  May 2012

  We have done Red Cross swim classes for the last 3 years (2010 DS was 15 months; 2011 DS was 27 months, DD was 7 months; this year DS is 3 and DD will be 19 months). For their ages we do the PAC - parent and child - class. DS will be able to do the preschool level this year as well. Last year, at 27 months, he was making a swimming motion all by himself by the end of the class, a skill they hope to have the kids complete by the end of the class. For DD, the skills were mostly about us going through the motions with her so she would be comfortable in the water. There were only a few things she did by herself, but if she did them (even us doing it for her) she got a "check" for the skill.
  

  I feel like it's worth it to get them comfortable in a large body of water, compared to the tub. I'm not familiar with the YMCA class, but our class is privately taught by ARC certified teachers and the kids get used to pool etiquette, submerge face/head, finding the edge, floating on belly/back, going under water, etc. After 2, two-week sessions last year, DD is practically a fish. She LOVES the water, even more than DS did at her age. I'm really glad we've done it.
  

  
  
  

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• mhbraymer member

  May 2012

  My dd is 18 months and she's doing them now. This was her first time being in a pool since she was 4 months. I would consider taking dc to a pool just to see if they like it or not. My dd seems to have mixed feeling about the whole thing.

  

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