When Did Your Child Begin Swimming?

June 12, 2008

When is it time to get wet? Though the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend beginning formal swimming lessons until kids are at least 4 years old, many parents take their children for a dip before then. From mommy and me classes to private instruction — when did you first teach your tot to swim?

Source

Poll Swim Lessons

18 Comments

Bonne 4 years 49 weeks

4!? That's seems a little late for water safety. I also teach swimming lessons. I had a parent who took their toddler (about 18 months) to Disney. Their toddler was standing by the pool and an older kid accidently pushed them in when they were walking by. The toddler was able to paddle, turn back to the wall and climb out. Yes, he was scared - but without practicing his skills - it would have been worse.

kikidawn 4 years 49 weeks

My nephews have been in the pool since they were about 2 & 1. They had lessons last summer (5 & 6). They, of course, are always supervised and this year is their first year to go without arm floaties or ring floaties :) They were pretty happy and excited!

kikidawn 4 years 49 weeks

lms 4 years 49 weeks

I believe my daughter was around 2 when she got formal lessons. We have our own pool and she had been in from long before with her dad. She is eight now and I just finished another week of lessons with her to improve her form.

ShePirate2010 4 years 49 weeks

I was three......i cannot believe so many kids started before they were a year....wow.....

JessNess 4 years 49 weeks

I learned how to swim when I was 6 because I wanted to be an Olympic swimmer. My kids (whenever I have them) will learn early for safety reasons. I almost drowned when I was 5 because I reached for a toy that had fell into the pool. I slid into the pool and no one heard me. Luckily my mom saw me floating (I am very buoyant).

Aphrosette 4 years 49 weeks

I recently saw a segment on the today show where they were teaching infants survival swimming. The scary part of it was that the infants at one point were fully clothes and flipped feet over head. So so scary to watch. Then I talked to my mother and apparently this is no new concept. Before much was known about dry drownings it was common practice to teach infants to swim specifically "survival swimming" as I was in a class at 5 months this was round about 26 years ago. My mother swears I learned a lot and did it with my second sister as well (but not the youngest more info on dry drowning stats in infants were starting to surface by then.) Our children will spend a lot of time around water. There is a creek at the bottom of our neighborhood, and both sets of parents have backyard pools, so I might look into survival swimming, but we'll see.

Aphrosette 4 years 49 weeks

meandtheo 4 years 49 weeks

I voted under 1 but my 8 month old does not know how to swim...she just goes to the pool all the time. I take her in and swim with her, but she can not actually swim. I love going to the pool with her. She can sit and play in the baby pool while I chat with other moms and enjoy the summer. I too have heard there is really no need for formal swim lessons until after age 3. I plan to wait until then and just give her the best "lessons" I know how to.

meandtheo 4 years 49 weeks

I voted under 1 but my 8 month old does not know how to swim...she just goes to the pool all the time. I take her in and swim with her, but she can not actually swim. I love going to the pool with her. She can sit and play in the baby pool while I chat with other moms and enjoy the summer.I too have heard there is really no need for formal swim lessons until after age 3. I plan to wait until then and just give her the best "lessons" I know how to.

schnappycat 4 years 49 weeks

Ugh, I'm obviously going to teach my son to swim and be safe, but man, I dread it. I can swim myself, but really hate public pools and the whole swimming environment (I do like beaches). I'm just not looking forward to whole experience. I already have a friend with older kids who is excited for me to go to the pools with them in the summer and I'm just not looking forward to it.

lickety split 4 years 49 weeks

my 2 typically developing daughters have both been on swim team since age 4 and could dog paddle by 3 1/2. my husband is a distance swimmer so swimming is a pretty big part of our family time. we spent a lot of time at our club (for lack of a better word) where all the kids swim. they loved the water and we spent HOURS in the pool before they took their first stroke alone. for both of them, they started to swim the day they could touch the bottom of the pool, so i think it was a confidence thing. but i think it's good to let the child say no to something like swimming if they want to. forcing them isn't going to make it fun or help them learn to swim. every year at the pool (this year included) there is at least one parent that throws their child in the water because they get tired of having the only kid that won't go in. and every year the child freaks out and they never come back. pointless.

lickety split 4 years 49 weeks

my 2 typically developing daughters have both been on swim team since age 4 and could dog paddle by 3 1/2.my husband is a distance swimmer so swimming is a pretty big part of our family time. we spent a lot of time at our club (for lack of a better word) where all the kids swim. they loved the water and we spent HOURS in the pool before they took their first stroke alone. for both of them, they started to swim the day they could touch the bottom of the pool, so i think it was a confidence thing.but i think it's good to let the child say no to something like swimming if they want to. forcing them isn't going to make it fun or help them learn to swim. every year at the pool (this year included) there is at least one parent that throws their child in the water because they get tired of having the only kid that won't go in. and every year the child freaks out and they never come back. pointless.

faerymagick15 4 years 49 weeks

My oldest around 3. We really didn't have access to a pool until around then. My youngest, being special needs, doesn't know how to actually swim. If he goes into a pool someone is always right there with him regardless. I would love to get him private lessons just for safety reasons though.

Kimpossible 4 years 49 weeks

My oldest 2 started around 2 years old. My son started around then but didn't actually learn to swim until he was 5, our youngest is still testing the waters (no pun intended). She is 5 and she still has some fears so we're taking it slow with her, but she does go in the pool (supervised obviously) and likes to sit on the steps and play, or walk in the shallow end, she will venture out into the deep end with her life jacket or floaty but she's not quite ready to do the swimming thing yet.

Renees3 4 years 49 weeks

my cousins could swim as soon as they were toddling along. They had a pool in their yard and it was important for them to learn early

ElizabethRae 4 years 49 weeks

No kiddos for me yet, but I did teach private lessons for about 6 years.I taught a lot of kids under the age of 4. It's not for all of them, but some of them can learn to swim pretty early on! I think the most important thing they learn though is holding their breath and general water safety.Just my $0.02.

ElizabethRae 4 years 49 weeks

No kiddos for me yet, but I did teach private lessons for about 6 years. I taught a lot of kids under the age of 4. It's not for all of them, but some of them can learn to swim pretty early on! I think the most important thing they learn though is holding their breath and general water safety. Just my $0.02.

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