Swimming Lessons - League City, TX

I have been told that baby swimming classes are hooey. That there is some danger to them swallowing too much water and getting very sick. I do not know theese things to be fact. Talk to Doc before signing up.

I am in the middle of my pediatric clinicals for my RN degree. We recently covered swimming for infants and children. According to my instructors it is not advisable for children under 2 to take swimming lessons such as water babies due to the increased occurances of water aspiration into the lungs which causes increased occurences for pneumonia.

As a Certified Water Safety Instructor, you can start putting your babies in the water at 6 months. Both my father and I have been doing this for a few years, and last summer I took my 7 month old in the pool and he loved it. You can go under water with them, b/c they will automatically hold their breath, but it will startle them. Before you try to go under you want to try to get them to TAKE a breath. Now my father and I don't practice this at such a young age, but it states this in the certification books distrubuted at training by the Red Cross. Getting your child familiar with the water at an early age will ease the process later. By all means go for it. If you would like a private teacher, contact me and either myself or my father would be happy to help. (By the way he has worked with the Swim Shop and both of us have worked with Southside and were certified lifeguards)

J.

I have a 2 year old and a 8 month old and we are also doing swimming lessons. I would definitely recommend it. Of course, you would never leave leave an 8 month old (or any child) in the water unattended, but introducing them to the water is a great idea. My daughter loves the water...she puts her face in like her older brother and will kick around to get to a toy. As long as she is enjoying it, GO FOR IT!!!

A.

At eight months, babies are too young to learn how to swim, but is good for them to get use to the water early in life. The mommy and me classes offered are really just 'play time' in the water. I'm all for it. Exposure is good for children. It stimulates them for development.

Since your daughter will be a year old by the time it's swim lessons time, it might be a good idea - I don't think it's ever too early to start. But start looking now - a lot of places don't have swim lessons for anyone under 3 - I was searching last year for my 2-year-old and couldn't find anything!

I started my daughter's swimming lessons at a very young age (she was a little over a year old) at a local college. The class was a mommy and toddler swim class where the parents were required to get into the pool with their child. The purpose of the class was not only to instill in the child, but also the parents so that they could continue the lesson outside of the class. Also, your child learns more from you than with a stranger.
We took the class for two summers in a row and now have moved to private lessons where it is just the teacher and 4 other children her age. Needless to say, she was swimming like a fish at 3 years old. Of course adult supervision is always present. I am also confident that if she would ever fall into our inground pool, she WILL know what to do and be able to survive. If you are the owner of any sort of body of water (pond, pool, etc.) I would recommend taking classes as soon as possible. Good luck and your daughter is very lucky to have a mom that is so concerned with her safety because she is irreplaceable and her life is priceless!

I think it's a good idea. If she likes the water, then it's a fun playtime, and even if she's afraid of it, it will help her learn to become more comfortable. With the infant and young child classes, you get in the water with the baby and they do lots of singing and games while teaching them some basics. It's a lot of fun!!!

YES! If your child is crawling then please get him or her aquatic self rescue lessons as soon as you can. Drowning is the #1 cause of accidental death for children up to 5 years old in the United States. Infant Swimming Resource is the safest provider of these lessons and you can locate a highly trained ISR instructor in your area by going to www.infantswim.com. For these specialized swim lessons in the clear lake area please vist:
www.clearlakeisr.com
www.mychildcanswim.com

The Mommy and Me type classes are perfect to start at this age. This helps kids have fun in the water, without fear.

Check out babyswim.info first, or baby swim app for iPad users is available. Avoid any type of infant classes that cause trauma or force children against their will! Learn to swim should be fun for baby and parent.

Hello my niece took swimming lessons when she was about that age, she's 3 now. My sister-in-law would highly recommend it. I think its a great idea.

It has been my experience (as mom of 4 and now gramdma, too)that if you have access to a pool, time spent with you and your child playing in the water is fun AND provides them an opportunity to see that the water can be fun. Do I want my small child thinking they are a good enough swimmer to take on any pool? No. But, learning to swim through summer hours spent playing in a pool grew my kids from little babies who had fun with me in the water, into adults who swim like fish. Would I pay for lessons for an 8 mo old? No, I would play at bath time and make it a point to have fun in the pool over the next few yrs. Good luck on your growing family. Enjoy them being tiny while you can. Tomorrow - they will be all grown up :) Or at least time seems to have flown that fast.

we had our daughter in swim lessons at 6 mo.; she loved it! Pur peditrician was totally supportive, though he said the Ped. Assoc. thinks it is a bad idea b/c if the infant enjoys swimming it may lead to drowning b/c they will seek out pools, etc. He felt this was a ridiculous theory as do I in that if you are a good parent you will always watch your child around water, etc.
The confidence and enjoyment our daughter got from it was so worth it. I think I worried more than she did the first time she went under water-she laughed when she came up! I totally reccomend you put her in swim lessons; if she hates it that much you can always withdraw from the class. Good luck and I hope you guys enjoy it as much as we did!

J.,

I think it is great that you take your baby swimming, but you don't need to take her to "swimming lessons" yet. My husband taught swimming lessons and I taught "Mommy and Me" gymnastic classes. We were teenagers simply telling mothers how to play with their own babies and getting paid for it.

If you have money to burn, there is certainly nothing wrong with it, but they won't teach you anything that you wouldn't do playing with your kid in the pool on your own. Just go to the pool, have a good time getting used to the water, and put the saved money in your daughter's college fund.

My oldest started swimming lessons for the first time at age 5 and by the time the sesson ended, she could confidently swim the width of the city pool unassisted. She wasn't at any kind of a disadvantage because I waited to put her in formal lessons because we went swimming at the pool on our own.

Best of luck,
S.

J.,

I have a son that is almost 2-1/2 years old. When he was almost 1, I took him to his first swim class. It was very important to me that he learns to swim and does not have fear of the water. He ended up being the only student in his class, but it was a class specifically geared to his age range. It was a Water Baby class at Southside Swim Club in Shreveport. He learned to hold his breath and to jump in the water. He also learned not to be afraid because mommy was right there the whole time.

We continue swim lessons every summer that are appropriate for his age group. He will not develop the coordination for learning actual strokes until he is 4, but he can learn other safety factors.

I have learned that the Swim School has a toddler safety class that teaches the babies how to float, to give them that extra few minutes for someone to get to them if they fall in the water by accident. I plan to try the Swim School in Shreveport this year. They have a heated indoor pool that is open all year for lessons.

I have seen too many children who are kindergarten age or higher scream in terror because they were afraid of water. To me this is a SURVIVAL SKILL and living in Louisiana, my son needs to know all the Survival Skills possible.

In short, I think now is a good time to take you child to lessons, just don't expect him to be able to do any strokes for a couple of years. And if you and your husband can take turns in the water with you child, that will make it all the better.

S.

We started our little girl on Parent & Tot swimming lessons when she was 15 months old (mainly because that is when they were available). My daughter absolutely adores the water and probably would have enjoyed the sessions when she was younger too. There were younger children in the class we were in, certainly. I was nervous going into the water with her at first, but we had a good instructor, so I came to really enjoy the swimming lessons with her!