Baby Swim Classes?

[sk8boarder15]

Has anyone here done baby swim classes? M is only 4 months, but I'd like him to be comfortable in water and maybe learn to swim young (it could save his life). But I'm not sure it's worth the money... it would be 35$ a year and then 65$ a month on top of that for group lessons. In the summer we will have some access to water, but most of the year the only 

access to water we have is our big bath tub so just using someone else's pool and doing it ourselves isn't an option except maybe 2-3 months of the year...

Has anyone found baby swim lessons to be worth the money? I' really torn on this because we are trying to save money.... 

[mra]

I'm planning on doing the survival swim lessons. I think it is really important. In AZ, drowning is supposedly the leading cause of death of infants - 4 year olds.

This is from the website:

A baby from 6 months to 12 months will learn how to hold their breath underwater, roll onto their back and float unassisted until someone rescues them. A child over the age of 1 year will learn how to hold their breath underwater, swim head down, roll onto their back to float, rest and breathe; then roll back over to resume swimming. This is called the ISR swim-float-swim sequence and they will be able to repeat this sequence until they reach the side of the pool and crawl out. Since most drownings occur while the child is in regular clothing, all children will also learn how to perform these skills fully clothed.

Are you planning on doing the rescue swimming or regular swim lessons. If money is tight, I'd do the survival swimming.

[motherhendoula]

Our local Rec center offers classes for infants over 6 months old.   $135 for 12 weeks of classes (45 min long)   We start in April - i am optimistic that the classes will be worth the money, because my In laws have a pool - and they expect us to be in it most of the summer ...we also live at the beach. - Im hoping the classes will be good and this will eventually pay off!

[bcblondie]

I used to teach those classes. They are TOTALLY worth it if you tend to not swim for long anyways. (babies do get cold) for the sheer fact that the class is cheaper than the drop in swim rate. (unless maybe you buy a pass) plus you get the structure of having a teacher who can make swimming fun for babies. You can learn different holds and methods for getting baby's face  wet, etc. I dunked my son the first time we swam, at 4 months. :D

If you don't like the class you can drop out and i believe get your full money back if it's been less than 4 classes.

[mra]

I'm planning on doing the survival swim lessons. I think it is really important. In AZ, drowning is supposedly the leading cause of death of infants - 4 year olds.

This is from the website:

A baby from 6 months to 12 months will learn how to hold their breath underwater, roll onto their back and float unassisted until someone rescues them. A child over the age of 1 year will learn how to hold their breath underwater, swim head down, roll onto their back to float, rest and breathe; then roll back over to resume swimming. This is called the ISR swim-float-swim sequence and they will be able to repeat this sequence until they reach the side of the pool and crawl out. Since most drownings occur while the child is in regular clothing, all children will also learn how to perform these skills fully clothed.

Are you planning on doing the rescue swimming or regular swim lessons. If money is tight, I'd do the survival swimming.

I had to revisit this thread because I've been researching the ISR swim lessons and watching videos. They look really cruel! The babies are crying and the instructor is just dunking them and flipping them while the babies are crying. How horrible!

I guess we won't be going that route! I'm sorry I suggested it!

[annettemarie]

We've done a mama/baby swim class that was sort of like a waterlogged Kindermusik. I would absolutely not do an infant swim class with the expectation that it would save a small child's life. They're just not a substitute (or, to my mind, even a back-up plan) for careful supervision. And I agree, those ISR classes look dreadful!

[P.J.]

Wow, I had no idea those survival swim classes were like that! And here I was upset that I couldn't find one in this area.

We've been back and forth about swim classes. Max likes the water and DH is a water animal, so he would like to share that. However, there is a lake near us and between that and visits to public pools, I think we can do it on our own and have just as much fun.

[IsaFrench]

I paid for classes for my first born (at the time we had a wonderful ad on TV by a brand of mineral water with loads of babies doing Esther Williams type of things, it was both very funny and just slightly beliveable) ... and was very desappointed by the quality of the class & felt we were just paying for the water to be warmer than it is for general public use in the same pool, the staff in the water were really useless basically.

I didn't pay for baby swim classes for my other children & don't think that it made much of a difference in the long run about when they eventually learned to swim or their level of comprehension about danger => I would rather invest in swim classes  when they are older (6 or7) and just take them in my arm anyway as babies when I go to the pool to get them used to the water etc ...

[katelove]

I started swimming classes with my daughter when she was about 8 months old. And stopped after 2 lessons (the pool where we went offered a casual arrangement where you paid for each class you attended rather than the full term). For the most part we weren't doing anything in the class which I wasn't already doing with her in the pool at home. Except for putting her head under, which was really the main reason I went.

It. was. horrible. My poor little love tried so hard to be brave but she was always so shocked when she came up. And there were always tears. I told myself it would be worth it but it felt very wrong. And then I started to worry that she would come to hate swimming if every time we went in the pool I was pushing her under the water. So I did some looking online and decided that we would let her go at her own pace. Lots of swimming and water play but no pushing her under (and these were *not* ISR classes BTW). It is the way we approach everything else after all. And I apologised to her for pushing her under and making her cry. 

I am so, so glad I made this decision. And she is progressing, at her own pace. This afternoon DH and I took her swimming and she was walking up and down holding onto the side and she kept squatting down so her face went into the water up to her nose. Completely on her own. Completely happy. And my brother was playing with her and splashing her face and she was grinning away.

The class we went to did teach the jump in, turn around, swim to the edge and climb out routine and I do think that is valuable. But, she doesn't have the strength or motor skills to do it yet anyway even if she did have the presence of mind to try. As she gets older we will continue to practice that though.

I should also say that some of my friends' babies love being dunked and I have no problem with swimming lessons in general when they are a positive experience.Our experience wasn't in line with our gentle parenting philosophy so it wasn't right for us. I think it could be valuable for some though.

[Shannie77]

I did swim lessons with DD1, but after that we decided to just take the kids swimming until they were ready for a more formal class.  If you are trying to save money I would just take your LO swimming at the local pool.  Basically all our class involved was encouraging them to "swim" towards a toy, float on their backs, blow bubbles, and then we would dunk them.  With DD2 I just dunked her in the bathtub the first few times and now when I take her to the pool I try to dunk her once every time.  With DD1 I was too nervous to do it by myself - and she hated it so we ended up not doing that part.  With DD2 she likes being dunked. :P  She gets a big smile when I count to three and is always happy when she comes back up.  Anyways the bottom line is I don't think it is worth the money, unless you are looking for an activity to do to get you out of the house and meet other parents etc.