How to: Toddler swim lessons?

[JaySav]

Hey TFP, need some advice when it comes to teaching my little girl the basics this summer. She will be 3 in October and I will have her in the pool religiously this summer learning how to "swim", more so being able to jump in and paddle to safety. That is my ultimate goal by the end of this summer. Any advice/techniques/youtube videos that you guys recommend will be appreciated. Thanks

 

[JoyfulNoise]

You might check in your local community to see if Infant Swim Rescue (ISR) is available. It’s a valuable tool and well worth it if it’s offered in your area.

We always paid for swim lessons for our kids but we are lucky as there are many young folks on the college swim team here that offer services. That’s another opportunity too if there are any swim teams in your area.

If you do go ahead on your own, my advice is to take it slow and be patient. The biggest challenge and hardest thing to learn for a kid that young is to get their face wet and be comfortable going underwater. So you have to play games with them to teach them how to feel ok with putting their face in the water. Keep them on a ledge that is their height and tell them to blow bubbles like a fish. See how long they can do it for. Then keep making it longer each time. Also get lots of play toys like plastic rings and under water torpedoes and such. While learning to swim is an admirable goal, 3 years old is still a bit young for that. Teaching them to float on their backs, grab the coping for a safety-hold and pulling themselves up and out of the water is going to take a long time.

My youngest is 6 and has been in the water for 3 years. My oldest is 17. All of the kids are competent swimmers but it took years of practice and lessons to get them there. It won’t be done in one summer.

 

[magiteck]

You might check in your local community to see if Infant Swim Rescue (ISR) is available. It’s a valuable tool and well worth it if it’s offered in your area.

We always paid for swim lessons for our kids but we are lucky as there are many young folks on the college swim team here that offer services. That’s another opportunity too if there are any swim teams in your area.

If you do go ahead on your own, my advice is to take it slow and be patient. The biggest challenge and hardest thing to learn for a kid that young is to get their face wet and be comfortable going underwater. So you have to play games with them to teach them how to feel ok with putting their face in the water. Keep them on a ledge that is their height and tell them to blow bubbles like a fish. See how long they can do it for. Then keep making it longer each time. Also get lots of play toys like plastic rings and under water torpedoes and such. While learning to swim is an admirable goal, 3 years old is still a bit young for that. Teaching them to float on their backs, grab the coping for a safety-hold and pulling themselves up and out of the water is going to take a long time.

My youngest is 6 and has been in the water for 3 years. My oldest is 17. All of the kids are competent swimmers but it took years of practice and lessons to get them there. It won’t be done in one summer.

Second the advice of lessons from a student swimmer. My wife put out feelers on our neighborhood Facebook group, and we found (through her parents) a high school student who is on the swim team, lifeguards, etc, and she did lessons for our youngest as well as some of the younger kids my wife babysits. She did a great job and the kids were so comfortable being taught in their own pool.

 

[newdude]

third.

You need someone besides yourself. They listen and learn from a 'teacher' instead of 'buuuuut daaaaaaaayaaaaaad' (or mooooooo-ooooooom of course)

I had a friend who was a instructor for years and years, hire someone else.

We had already done swimming lessons at a private establishment before we got the pool. We have alot of water here so it's a big thing. It was not cheap and we easily could have found someone to come to our house for the same money.

 

[Foxer]

Great advice Matt. In preparation for our pool getting finished, my wife has been very nervous about our two year old drowning, so she's been doing Infant Swim Rescue lessons. Like you said, getting his face wet has been the hardest for him, but he's slowly getting the hang of it. The ISR lessons aren't cheap though - about $30 for each 20 min lesson, but ultimately I think it's worth it to keep my son safe and put my wife's mind at ease. Our older kids we've taken to teenagers/students in the area.

 

[Sleepydrum]

I am going to agree with the above statements on getting swim lessons. Both of my boys learned at the YMCA and my oldest now teaches swimming at our local natatorium. Swim lessons may look expensive but they are worth every penny when your daughter can enjoy the water safely. This is an investment for her entire life. The expensive part is when she decides she loves swimming and wants to join a swim team.

 

[Lineman7]

Let them have fun. At all cost, don't allow them to get spooked. Swimming is a wonderful moment they can establish trust with YOU. Let them hang on ya, help them float. Get one of these https://www.amazon.com/Stearns-Pudd...ocphy=9028595&hvtargid=pla-369713696121&psc=1

After they are extremely confidant in it, cut a slit in the mid section and remove the midsection foam. See how they do. They'll eventually ask you to cut the material out and then you have water wings. They'll eventually get ride of those.

At the end of last season, my 4yr old was in the water wing process. He didn't know how to swim prior to July 10th. They learn FAST!

 

[beakerlab]

We put each of our 3 boys through a swim program at that age. It was 1 hour a day for two weeks. Taught them the front crawl and rolling on their back to breath, and exiting the pool. Their graduation was crossing short course pool fully clothed and exiting. Kids learn fast at that age and are capable of saving themselves. Fast forward 12 years, one is in HS swim team, water polo, and all are in summer league swim teams. They swim circles around me.

 

[JaySav]

Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it. We looked into infant survival last season and all the “teachers” in the area (some not even officially certified) all wanted about $800, 30 min a day for 2 weeks). We passed on that, obviously my little girl is worth $800 but that just seems pretty high. She won’t be able to do the YMCA classes this summer because she won’t be 3 until October so just going to DIY this summer and see how it goes. Def getting her in the Y next summer which is like $200. A lot more reasonable IMO.

 

[magiteck]

Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it. We looked into infant survival last season and all the “teachers” in the area (some not even officially certified) all wanted about $800, 30 min a day for 2 weeks). We passed on that, obviously my little girl is worth $800 but that just seems pretty high. She won’t be able to do the YMCA classes this summer because she won’t be 3 until October so just going to DIY this summer and see how it goes. Def getting her in the Y next summer which is like $200. A lot more reasonable IMO.

For what it's worth, we paid $20/lesson. $800 for 10 30-minute lessons is insaaaaane!

 

[newdude]

I payed $30 at a 'place'.. anything else, like dance, was $20-$25 for a half hour and did not teach them life skills. The extra was worth its weight in gold.

 

[JaySav]

For what it's worth, we paid $20/lesson. $800 for 10 30-minute lessons is insaaaaane!

That’s exactly why I didn’t do it. Insane is pretty accurate.

 

[Mdragger88]

I taught both my kids to swim - we had the advantage of starting with a shallow pool & then upgrading as they grew. We didn’t have the puddle jumper things - just arm floaties. I used the same methodology as with teaching them to ride a bike.
Started out with 2 floaties- gain confidence, learn to float on your back if you get tired or feel like you are struggling etc. Then go with just 1 floatie- & alternate which arm it goes on. I always started out with a couple pointers/safety instructions then just let them have fun & watch for them getting tired. My main gauge was “can you swim to the steps/safety?” The struggle gets less & less. My son is 12 now & I still need to remind him to take breaks so he doesn’t tire out (cuz kids don’t want the fun to stop)
With the bike I would adjust the training wheels up after a little bit (so they don’t contact the ground as much), then when that goes well - remove 1 training wheel - let them go like that a while, then swap it. Eventually- no training wheels