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Saturday, February 23, 2008

Taeya's First Swimming Lesson



This morning, Taeya had her first swimming lesson in the bathtub. She practiced floating on her back and really liked it. She smiled a number of times and was very relaxed. She also practiced putting her face in the water two times and did very well. As a swim teacher and former lifeguard, it is very important to me that my children learn to swim at a young age. Infants CAN learn survival skills and the younger you start teaching them to swim the more comfortable they'll be in the water and the earlier they'll be water safe.


My youngest swim student started with me when she was 8 months old. She was swimming short distances in the water that season and the next year when she was 20 months old she could swim the length of the pool on her own using side breathing. It was pretty amazing to see. I would encourage any of you who have young children to consider putting them in swim lessons.


Watch this video of an 11 month old boy who was taught survival skills using ISR (Infant Swimming Resource) instruction.



You can also visit this webpage to learn more about ISR. http://www.thepoolsafetyresource.com/id14.html


Many older children I taught swim lessons to were afraid of getting water on their face. This is usually because parents are very careful to wash out their children's hair without getting water on the face. Then, when it's time for lessons, the child is uncomfortable getting their face wet. It's okay to pour water over their face, even with infants. When I bathe Taeya in the sink, I spray her head and face with the spray hose and she just closes her mouth and opens it again when I'm done. Start early! It makes it easier.


Okay, I'll hop off my soapbox now.

7 comments:

Cierra Pera said...

Megs- We are totally batteling this right now!! Gracie has been TERRIFIED of water since about 2 years old. She will SCREAM if even a DROP gets on her face! We are really at a loss with what to do with her safty. Court on the other hand LOVES the water. Lays down in the tub, even goes under sometimes on accident and just doesn't care. BUT.. I think Gracie's fear is really getting to her since she just turned two.... we'll see.
CC

Amanda said...

I totally agree...I used to be a swin instructor too, and it is so frustrating when kids hate the water. My youngest swimmer was 2 and he loved it! I certainly agree you should start them young! Post pics of your baby swimming! :)

Becca Sports said...

I try to get the girls faces wet all the time. I plan on having Abigail and Grace take swim lessons this next year. I did a mommy and me swim class with Abigail when she was a baby, but I couldn't do it once I had two kids. :) We had a scare once with Abigail in a pool and I want my kids to learn the basics of swimming so that they don't just sink.

Stephanie said...

Allie loves it when I bathe her and put water over her face. :)

The Westerfield Family said...

Good advice. I failed Alyce. She was our little fish, so I didn't think she needed lessons. Then, she busted her chin open and had to get stitches and keep her face out of the water while we were in Hawaii. Now, she is terrified of getting her chin/face wet. I took her lessons (she was 2.5 years old) and screamed in terror the entire time. It was so frustrating because I know how much she used to love the water. I'm definitely going to take Noah to lessons and the pool sooner and more often. Thanks for the advice! ~Sarah W.

kelly ens said...

I've seen that video before about ISR. scary at first, but also really neat. I still have hopes of putting our Taeya in swim lessons, but i know she won't be afraid! She LOOOOOOVES the water in her baths, and will often pour water over her own head/face :)
but thanks for the tip on starting the water on the face early - i'll make sure to consciously do that with the next one!

Anonymous said...

aww Megan thanks....I can't wait to get whatever it is that you are sending me, I'm sure I'll love it :0) Have a nice day and tell Taeya that I uploaded some more songs on my page :0)