ISR Self Rescue (Infant Swimming Resource)

zbeesma86 · April 2014

Has anyone ever done this?

I went with a friend- her boys had a class today and I got to watch.

Mom's don't go in the pool- you have to over your LO to an instructor. It's one on one and they teach them to float and survive if they were to ever fall into a pool or any body of water.

I got teary eyed watching my friends kids ONLY because he knew what was going on and started crying when his mom handed him over to the instructor. The instructor didn't give him a minute to calm down and just dropped him in the water. (I get that in a crisis situation the LO will most likely start to cry anyway, but I still was a little shocked). I watched a 3 year old before and a 1 year old after my friend's LO turn. They all cried/screamed the entire time.
<I am in no way judging this, I am just stating what I saw and debating if this would be beneficial to Z instead of normal swim lessons>

I'm am contemplating registering Z for classes. I feel like with us living in FL it is pretty important to acquire this skill! But I worry about the trauma behind it? Is that something they will forget about and remember the skill? Or will it make them terrified of water for life? Any experience with this?

MamaKct · April 2014

I have honestly only seen this on YouTube but my DH's friend who is a firefighter/first responder strongly recommends it.

magentawarped · April 2014

It's kind of a hard call to make...I'm sure most kids get over it, though, or else they wouldn't do it. I've been looking into swimming lessons as well. Florida is just one giant water hazard. Last year a toddler on base wandered off and drowned in three inches of water in a canal runoff. If we start lessons for Scarlett, I feel like we should do something with Logan, but he's just so little.

Eskimokisses13 · April 2014

I looked into it when we lived in FL, but I chose regular mommy and me swim lessons instead. It was really expensive where we lived, we didn't have our own pool so we would have had to drive to the instructor's house every day which was an hour away, and honestly I just don't know if I could have done it. All our neighbors spoke very highly of ISR though.

LoveBeingMama · April 2014

I looked into when a friend on FB posted about it (she is an ISR instructor). I was amazed at the results they claimed. I googled it and found great stories but also horrible stories and ultimately decided it was not for our family. I waited and put my older son in regular swim lessons this past winter. He loves swim lessons and I am happy with our decision. Take the time to really research it and ask questions to make sure it is something that will work for your child.

edited: the time/driving and money involved was also a deterrent for us.

zbeesma86 · April 2014

magentawarped said:

It's kind of a hard call to make...I'm sure most kids get over it, though, or else they wouldn't do it. I've been looking into swimming lessons as well. Florida is just one giant water hazard. Last year a toddler on base wandered off and drowned in three inches of water in a canal runoff. If we start lessons for Scarlett, I feel like we should do something with Logan, but he's just so little.

It's a very scary reality. There is a pond not too far from here- but it is fenced (but climbable to an older kid). My parents have a pool and they had a fence installed when Z was born.

My neighbors cousin lost her DS to a drowning in a pool. Everyone was asleep. The kid got up and somehow got outside and drowned while everyone was asleep. He was one. It's horrible.

They start kids as young as 6 months or so and claim they can master this in 4-6 weeks with a yearly refresher course.

scubagirl81 · April 2014

A lot of the swim lessons geared at younger kids do work with them as far as getting to the side of the pool, turning to the wall, and holding on/staying afloat, especially if you ask the instructor. I think it's more important for kids to feel comfortable in the water, because panicking won't help anything, especially in emergency situations.

Disneygeek77 · April 2014

This is how myself and my siblings learned how to swim. My mom signed us up after my sister almost drowned at a public pool. I remember I was right with her and since I was a child, I had not idea she was drowning and thought she was acting funny.

No the lessons weren't fun but they taught me how to survive. The instructor threw us in the pool over and over and over again. Every time we had to float on our backs until we reached the edge. We graduated when we rode our bikes into the pool fully clothed in winter clothes and were still able to float on our backs and get out of the pool.

No, my mom was not in the pool and even the instructor was very hands off. This was when we lived in Phoenix and since a large portion of the population had pools, there were unfortunately also a lot of drownings. My mom says she remembers watching the news and many times the moms would say ""I don't understand, they had swimming lessons." Then she watched a special about these kind of swimming lessons and the instructors said that the problem with mommy and me classes is that the children panic when mommy isn't in the pool with them. Some could argue that the same could be said about the instructors, but the instructors actually annoy you while you are trying to float on your back like blow in your face or sprinkle water on you.

FWIW, my sister started when she was 3 months old. We have pictures of her at nine months floating on her back in a winter coat on her graduation day.

zbeesma86 · April 2014

Disneygeek77 said:

This is how myself and my siblings learned how to swim. My mom signed us up after my sister almost drowned at a public pool. I remember I was right with her and since I was a child, I had not idea she was drowning and thought she was acting funny.

No the lessons weren't fun but they taught me how to survive. The instructor threw us in the pool over and over and over again. Every time we had to float on our backs until we reached the edge. We graduated when we rode our bikes into the pool fully clothed in winter clothes and were still able to float on our backs and get out of the pool.

No, my mom was not in the pool and even the instructor was very hands off. This was when we lived in Phoenix and since a large portion of the population had pools, there were unfortunately also a lot of drownings. My mom says she remembers watching the news and many times the moms would say ""I don't understand, they had swimming lessons." Then she watched a special about these kind of swimming lessons and the instructors said that the problem with mommy and me classes is that the children panic when mommy isn't in the pool with them. Some could argue that the same could be said about the instructors, but the instructors actually annoy you while you are trying to float on your back like blow in your face or sprinkle water on you.

FWIW, my sister started when she was 3 months old. We have pictures of her at nine months floating on her back in a winter coat on her graduation day.

wow! how intense! I'm glad your sister is okay! any of your siblings hate swimming or water?

The younger kids she holds above water then lets them go, facing the wall, and they float to the top and outstretch their arms and grab the wall- the instructor encourages kicking. The better they get the further she gets from the wall. Each lesson is about 10-15 minutes. But very intense the entire time. No downtime. Right before they get out she sits them on the edge and then pulls them into the pool and they drop down and bob up and grab the wall.

The older boy was rolling to his back and doing a great job.. but he was sobbing the entire time.

Disneygeek77 · April 2014

No, we all love the water. I remember I didn't particularly enjoy the lessons, however they were more annoying than scary and I also remember my sister crying ( the one that almost drowned not the one who took lessons when she was a baby), but we don't have lifelong issues with the water because of it. Actually, we do have video of my brother floating on his back and crying for Superman to come and save him.

If anything it helped us feel more comfortable in the water. Trust me, if you can ride your bike fully clothed into the water, you can handle almost anything.

Also, my sister ( the baby) was a life guard for a while.

lyingliarlies · April 2014

i really really wish we had. DS starts swim lessons this summer (at 3) & from what i hear his class is similar to the ISR approach. some kids cry for the first several lessons but they learn how to swim & how to get to the side. parents don't go in the pool. DS will run from me right by the pool so he needs to know what to do if he falls in & hopefully he's learn some healthy respect/fear of the water as well.

Andrewsgal · April 2014

My kids all start lessons at 6 months. The older two have done year round regular lessons. We are putting in a pool next year and the baby will do ISR lessons.

AKB090609 · April 2014

If it was offered in our area I'd do it.

For what it's worth there are kids who will cry thru the whole lesson no matter what type of lesson it is. When I was a WSI (water safety instructor) in high school and college I had kids who spent the entire 30-45 minute session all 10 weeks in tears, they still acquired skills they just didn't enjoy the pool.

zbeesma86 · May 2014

DH really wants her to do it. We have been talking about it on and off today and I'm sure we will discuss more when he gets home.

I told him he may have to be the one that takes her.

The lady is super nice. She will come to you (if you have your own pool) or we meet at a local pool early before everyone else gets there.

She gave me this huge packet of info so we are going to review and go from there

Thanks for all the advice and stories of experience!

MrsLele · May 2014

Lurker, but I came across this post while searching the bump for something else. My DD started these type of lessons less than 8 weeks ago and the results have been unbelievable. Just this week she passed the fully clothed float test. She's 17 months old.

Her instructor's approach doesn't seem as extreme as some mentioned here, but it's definitely not "fun" for her during the 10 minutes she's in the water. It's hard work, and she's a strong willed child so she sometimes puts up a fight and there are tears. But she's a happy, healthy girl, who even mentions her instructor in her night time prayers now

Now that she's passed the float test, they'll start to work on basic swimming skills. Another young boy at our pool can swim laps! He just turned 3 and he is just back stroking like a pro! We are on and around water a lot in the summer, so these lessons work best for our family. They are no replacement for supervision, but I am very satisfied with the skills she's learned in such a short time, and can't wait to see what else she can do

HBirdie · May 2014

I was just on the ISR website learning about this the other night! We are strongly considering doing it this fall. The tab is actually still open in my browser right now.

As far as being traumatized, I watched the video on their website and there was a doctor on there explaining that a lot of kids cry because they're learning a new skill, and a difficult one at that. But he specifically addressed concerns about it scarring kids and says that it won't do that at all. Obviously that's not an unbiased source, but the things he said made a lot of sense. The older kids they were showing in the video just seemed so confident and competent in the water. As someone who still can't swim and isn't super comfortable in the water, I know I want to do everything I can to let my kids feel safe and okay with swimming.

MrsLele · May 2014

NandaB said:

MrsLele said:

Lurker, but I came across this post while searching the bump for something else. My DD started these type of lessons less than 8 weeks ago and the results have been unbelievable. Just this week she passed the fully clothed float test. She's 17 months old. Her instructor's approach doesn't seem as extreme as some mentioned here, but it's definitely not "fun" for her during the 10 minutes she's in the water. It's hard work, and she's a strong willed child so she sometimes puts up a fight and there are tears. But she's a happy, healthy girl, who even mentions her instructor in her night time prayers now Now that she's passed the float test, they'll start to work on basic swimming skills. Another young boy at our pool can swim laps! He just turned 3 and he is just back stroking like a pro! We are on and around water a lot in the summer, so these lessons work best for our family. They are no replacement for supervision, but I am very satisfied with the skills she's learned in such a short time, and can't wait to see what else she can do

you should post more so I can see your adorable siggy.

Hahaha thanks! It's an old photo, I need to update! I am a SAHM but not that frequent of a poster. And I feel I have even less time when DD #2 comes in July!

Erin KM said:

@MrsLele You look familiar. Are you from Dec12?

I am! However, my DD decided she wanted to be a November babe and came 3 weeks early.

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