Hellobee Boards

We have taken our kids swimming on average every other week their whole lives (indoor and outdoor).

We started DS1 on swim lessons about a month before he turned 4. We bought a house that had a pool and wanted him to be more skilled in the water, for safety purposes. The first set of lessons was a 6 week session. It didn't go very well. He protested going in every time and refused to go in at at more than one visit. But the lessons were free through our YMCA membership. I made him go every week and if he chose not to participate he had to watch.

We then enrolled him in lessons for the next two sessions - the Y did 4 week sessions this summer but TWICE a week, and I put him in a slightly higher level. He loved it. I'm not sure if it is because we were swimming all the time in the pool, or he was more comfortable going 2x a week, or he liked the level he was at. But the lessons ended a week ago and he keeps asking us to go to lessons again.

We enrolled him again in the fall, but it's back to once a week. We kept him at the same level he was at this summer - you've got to be able to swim the width or length of the pool (I can't remember which) unassisted. Which he can actually now do the width unassisted at home, but I wanted to keep him at a level he would be comfortable with and then see what his teacher thinks about his abilities after this next session. I'll keep him in lessons all year at this point.

DS2 is 20 months and he'll be starting mommy & me lessons next month as well. He definitely is comfortable in the water and can swim happily with a puddle jumper but I want him in the routine of going to lessons every week so that when he is old enough to do lessons without me, it is not a struggle.

We did mommy and me for two summers once a week. He was 1.5 and 2.5.
Now at 3, he is enrolled in a learn to swim program at a large swim center. We go one a week. They have 8 different stations until they graduate from the program. He is in station 4. He is doing so well. I think 3 is the perfect age for swim class to start.

We tried swimming lessons for the first time this summer at 3.5. With DH and I both WOH I found them very hard to schedule. We did one session that was 4x a week for two weeks. It took LO a few days to warm up to it. It was the first class of any type where I wasn't participating with her. I think that threw her off. I ended up liking the 4x a week schedule but I would have struggled to keep it up more than one session since I was ducking out of work early.

The lessons were at a pool we belong to so DD and I were able to swim after the lessons for 30 min or so before picking up LO2. I think that helped a lot. After the session we went swimming every day for two weeks. After we stopped going daily LO started to regress. I'm not sure how much will be retained through winter/spring.

Our standard YMCA lessons don't start until age 3, so we did a session this summer (LO will be 3.5 next week). It was M-Th for two weeks, so pretty intense and hard to be there every day, but it was really great for LO. The teachers were super patient and silly and he loved it. We will probably sign up for lessons one day a week for a couple sessions (5 weeks at a time) in the fall. I would like for him to be in lessons until he can swim independently, but cost is definitely a factor. Our YMCA lessons are not free with our membership.

LO took a swim class with dh this summer, I think it was like 8 weeks or so? She's 2. It was great! I only went to one class (I used the time they were gone for "me time!" ) but lo definitely became MUCH more comfortable in the water, and I saw it extend to bath time (she used to REFUSE to lay down in the bath, and now she'll lay on both her back and stomach, and pretends to swim--"reach and pull!"--in it) as well as at the splash pad. So I'm def a fan and we'll keep trying to get her into lessons (on a wait list for the fall, classes fill up fast here!)

My daughter is starting lessons in October and she will be just shy of 1 year old. It's a 6 week course at a price of $45. I would have started them sooner but it was hard to get her into a weekend class! She loves the pool so I'm sure she'll love the lessons. I think it's really important to start kids while they're young.

We didn't do any with DD1 until she was almost 4. She made minimal progress in the once-a-week sessions we did, but did get more comfortable with the water and learned some safety stuff. After she turned 4 (this summer), we did 3 sessions of weeklong, accelerated lessons where they went every day for a week. She made huge gains in her abilities and form -- I think a combination of being older and going everyday.

We did a couple once-a-week sessions with DD2 this past winter, but until they are older, the classes are parent-child and more focused on acclimating to the water (less about actual skills). I thought it was fine as something to do, but we likely will just take her to the pool to play and stay comfortable with the water....and not do actual lessons again until she is 3ish.