Are you doing swim lessons for LO?

sunflwr2 · July 2013

DD will be 2 in September I'm thinking of doing swim lessons with her. Kind of regretting not doing it earlier because she's more scared now that she's getting older. We donthave a pool butseveral friends and family members do so sheis around the water quite a bit. Thoughts?

jmw222 · July 2013

We just signed DD up to start swim lessons next week. She hates getting water on her head in the tub, but loves being in the ocean with us and in the kiddie pool in our yard. We figure we would try it out and see how she does.

jenb_99 · July 2013

I think all kids should have swim lessons. The sooner the better, but anytime is better than not at all. If your LO is around the water a lot, it's a basic matter of safety.

tracey007 · July 2013

Go for it! I am teaching 2 classes (baby and toddler) and it can get harder as kids get older. The classes are so fun though, so even if it is hard at first, kids end up loving it!

chicsahm · July 2013

We started swim lessons, went to 3 classes and bowed out. It was SO awful. DS LOVES the water, we don't have issues with that. But DS was the youngest in his class, the "instructors" were like 16 and would just stand there and say "OK now were going to blow bubbles.... now were going to lay on our bellies and kick our feet" ....etc. They not once would come around and help in any way. We decided to just go to the pool ourselves and work on those little things. Blowing bubbles, kicking feet, jumping to us from the side, getting comfortable floating on back while we hold him. Next year we will find a better swim class with a professional instructor.

sunnyday016 · July 2013

DS has his first lesson tonight at the Y.

chicsahm · July 2013

LalaMama81:
chicsahm:
We started swim lessons, went to 3 classes and bowed out. It was SO awful. DS LOVES the water, we don't have issues with that. But DS was the youngest in his class, the "instructors" were like 16 and would just stand there and say "OK now were going to blow bubbles.... now were going to lay on our bellies and kick our feet" ....etc. They not once would come around and help in any way. We decided to just go to the pool ourselves and work on those little things. Blowing bubbles, kicking feet, jumping to us from the side, getting comfortable floating on back while we hold him. Next year we will find a better swim class with a professional instructor.
Was it at the Y? I always hear bad things about the Y's classes, but I know some people get a great instructor and love it.
We've only ever had high school or college students and they've always been great. I don't think there are many adult professional swim teachers, but I could be wrong.
In the classes for toddlers the instructor would come around and do 1:1 time w/ each kid and while they were w/ the other kids the parent would work on it with the child. Unless your doing a private lesson or the kids are older and swimming, some down time is inevitable.

Not the Y, but though the community pool. Like you explained above...We would have just liked instructor to come around and spend a min or two with DS... because as DH was holding him and DS was holding onto the floating barbell thing... he needed instruction on how to kick his feet.... but they were not coming around AT ALL!

kristennd · July 2013

Our Y starts them at six months but we didn't actually sign LO up until 12 months. He was very clingy during the first two lessons but after that he loved it. It was for something new to do during the day as much as anything.

lkm2006 · July 2013

I'm sure we will do real swim lessons at some point, but like PP said.. Exposure is key at this point.

I have him in the pool almost daily and I'm doing everything they would do in a swim class at this point. I've noticed a huge difference since the beginning of the summer. Now he floats on his back, blows bubbles, kicks his way back after jumping in [with me holding his belly] and goes all the way under on his own doing.

My biggest fear is him falling in a pool [it's my moms that lives next door] so of course pool safety is taken very seriously. Never unattended, common sense, but I felt like it needed to be added still!

TiffanyBerry · July 2013

This.

We're not around the water a lot, and DD started REALLY hating swim lessons (anything to do with water on her head, really) when she was a few months old. (We started at four months.) So I held off. But we're not around a lot of water normally.

But she now likes playing in the water and likes to go to the (lake) beach, so I know we will soon be going more often. So she has to learn to swim. We are back in lessons, and she mostly enjoys it but still is VERY concerned about getting her hair wet. At this point, however, learning to swim isn't optional - it's a safety issue. She can take her time with it, and I won't push the speed, but it's not something that we will give up on again.

SusieBW · July 2013

We did a session at the Y right around when DD turned 1 last fall. Our instructor was a high school/college girl, and she was great! She did like what PP said and came around to spend 1:1 time with each kid, and would take each kid to "swim" with her for a few minutes to help them get over being latched to their parent. They also had each kid get comfortable with having water dumped on their head and with going under water.

We're going to do another session there when DD turns 2. We would've kept going sooner, but the class would've been the same basic stuff as we already did until 2 years old, when they can move up to the next level class. In the meantime, we take her swimming in the ocean and other peoples' pools and work on skills with her ourselves. DD is totally comfortable in the water and loves jumping in and going under water and everything.

USSwim.com has a whole series of videos with skills lessons that you can work on with your kids yourself.

preggersin2011 · July 2013

I did lessons with LO at 8 months- she had already been in the pool 3x a week before that and the lessons were pointless. They said she was too young for the next group, 2-3yrs, since in that class they are given instructions like blow bubbles etc. I would say if you take a class you can pick up on almost everything you need to teach your child yourself....

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