Our son is five, and is taking a swimming class as part of his after-school program. We've been to the pool and beach a number of times, but this is the first time he's going to take a formal class!
Our daughter is three and there's no easy way to have her take a class. Maybe this summer, we can take some classes at the local pool! She loves the water, and I think she'll love being able to swim.
Are your kids going to take swimming classes?
bananas / 9229 posts
We have a place near us that starts swim lessons at 4 months. I loved swimming as a 2 year old or so and then somehow psyched myself out and forgot how to swim. I didn't learn again until I was 11 maybe? I refuse to put my child through what I want through! Kids are terrible sometimes. I also don't want her to have any sort of fear of water. I'm debating signing her up at 4 months just to get her use to water in general. I might end up waiting until later, who knows, but she'll definitely take swim lessons!
coconut / 8234 posts
LO will take classes at the YMCA. She did it last summer. This time around we may continue indefinitely instead of just taking the summer class.
admin / wonderful grape / 20724 posts
@mrsjazz: Definitely curious how much kids learn in swimming class! How comfortable was she swimming after a summer of classes?
grapefruit / 4584 posts
DD1 started "real" swimming class around 2 - at 2.5, she's a pretty reliable swimmer. She's been in the water from about 2 months with one of us, and I plan to do the same re: lessons with DD2, although at 9 months she's had a lot less exposure to beaches/pools since we moved from a tropical climate to the Northeast.
coconut / 8234 posts
@mrbee: She's younger than Olive, the class she took was a parents/baby/toddler class. They just played games in the water and she learned how to kick her feet. She became comfortable in the water and said she could "swim" but it wasn't actually swimming. I think this year will be different since she's older. The only thing is that the water was really cold.
admin / wonderful grape / 20724 posts
@mrsjazz: Ah interesting about the temperature. Even the outdoor pools feel a bit chilly when we first go in!
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
Yes, N started when she was 3.5 and now she can float, and swim a short distance without assistance. She is learning how to backstroke now.
watermelon / 14206 posts
Yes. Our local university has swimming lessons every summer. This summer will be his 4th year. M starts when hes 3.
coconut / 8234 posts
@mrbee: We have a friend whose daughter will be 4 in September and she takes weekly classes at the Y. At that level she is taking the classes without a parent (they start at 3 w/o parent) and she's a pretty good swimmer. She's learning backstroke now, I believe.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
She will take swimming lessons, but not sure when she will start. We take her in pools sporatically so hopefully she will continue to be comfortable in the water until then.
cherry / 168 posts
Yes DS has been doing lessons year round at the local indoor pool since he was around 5 months old. We live in NZ, so on an island so its very important children learn water safety early on. He absolutely loves it, we have a Sat morning class so my husband can do the class with him - its their special thing 
Its amazing how confident he is in the water, he is 19months and will dive off the side into the water on his own (with my husband there of course). We can't keep him out the sea either, he loves swimming!
pineapple / 12053 posts
Yep. She was in the pool at 6 months, lessons at 13 months (mommy and me) and last month at 24 months, which was just an instructor and 3 kids. She doesn't know how to swim but is very comfortable and happy in the water. Hoping to find a place soon for her to continue lessons.
bananas / 9357 posts
Yep, he just started 2 weeks ago at 2 years old. He loooooves the water. He cried through his first lesson but did great at his second one!
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
Yes! we started at 6 months old at the YMCA. He's almost three and has really gotten a lot out of it the last two sessions (that are 8 weeks long each). He can now swim with a flotation device, put his face underwater, climb into/out of the pool, etc.
I try to get him in every session now - and we get a substantial discount for being members, but we missed this session.
cantaloupe / 6687 posts
Yes! I'm not a strong swimmer and I really want LO to enjoy being in and around the water. I enjoy it but I have a lot of fear/anxiety too and I don't want that for her
We started going to parent-tot time at the pool when she was around 16 months and just went regularly so that she would enjoy being in the water. My husband watched toddler swim instruction videos on YouTube with LO and they would practice the skills at the pool together. It gave her a lot of confidence watching these little babies and toddlers going underwater. By 2 she was swimming with a noodle on her own, could submerge and propel herself to the wall for short distances and would be comfortable going short distances bw me and DH. She can sit on the side of the pool and propel herself short distance to us. We did some swim classes at 2.5 and the teachers were great at giving us other "drills" to work on. We took a break this fall and winter bc of the health issues with A and have just started back. She's enrolled for classes again starting in March - when they're 3 they go to class alone and don't need a parent in the pool - yes!
hostess / papaya / 10540 posts
DS1 has been in a weekly, indoor class consistently for the last year and half. He's afraid of water for whatever reason and still doesn't swim solo. Getting to the point where it feels like maybe they aren't working as hard as they could be with him.
blogger / pomegranate / 3201 posts
Liam took lessons last summer and didn't learn too much, but did gain water confidence. A few of our friends did more intensive classes and their kids were completely swimming alone at just 2 years old - going under and everything. I would like liam to be at that place by the end of this summer.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
Probably not since we have a pool and dh is a really good swimmer.
@mrsjazz: good to hear that dd is on point with someone who's taken lessons!
@sandy: the YouTube videos are a great idea.any specific ones he liked? I would like dh to concentrate a bit more on instructions this year than just water play. He's a great swimmer but has never taught a tot to swim so it might be nice to have some pointers.
honeydew / 7916 posts
He's signed up for an indoor class that starts when he'll be 10 months. A lot of our neighbors have pools and spend summers at the Shore so knowing how to swim is a must!
nectarine / 2765 posts
Absolutely. We spend a lot of time at the lake & in the boat so it's very important they learn to swim. They've already spent a lot of time in the water & love it. Even if we didn't spend a lot of time at the water, I think learning to swim is a pretty basic important skill.
pomegranate / 3595 posts
@mrbee: We started lessons with LO last summer at age 2.5. She went for two 10 week sessions. We went from her not wanting to out her face in the water to being able to kick and breathe across the pool (a small pool). We are resuming in March.
We have a pool in our complex so we tried to practice with her when we went during the week. We also live in a place with a lot of pools so it was a safety issue for me.
@sandy: I am the same way. I learned to swim eventually but I still don't love it and I want LO to have a better experience.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I used to be a certified water safety instructor, I never remember a time where I couldn't swim.
Now, my son is 4. I've brought him to pools, tried lessons, we have a pool in our backyard and the kid refuses to go into the pool. He finally decided last year, in OCTOBER to go in, the weekend we closed the pool.
Learning to swim is really important to me, but my son isn't cooperating and I am not going to force it, because I don't want to turn him off from the water completely.
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
We started swim lessons at an indoor, heated pool when he was 14 months for 6 months and took a break since it was summer time and we got a lot of water time outdoors. We're in the great lakes state and DH and I are big fans of the water, swimming is a must in our family!
We just started a few weeks ago (he's just over 2 now) and he's doing great! He is swimming alone now with the instructor instead of us going in the water with him.
He's learned a lot of skills: blowing bubbles, going underwater, wading, kicking, floating on back, monkey crawling across the pool edges, jumping in, etc.
He's always loved the water and even though the parent/tot classes were tedious sometimes (repetitive if you're in one level too long), it was worth it for us!
nectarine / 2262 posts
Definitely and as soon as possible, i.e. as a baby. We're in south FL and everyone has a pool, canals/lakes everywhere, the beach, etc. so I think from a pure safety perspective it's very important to know how to swim. There are stories about toddlers/young kids drowning here on a too frequent basis 
honeydew / 7504 posts
D starts the parent/toddler class at the YMCA in a couple weeks and I can't wait! I can't remember a time when I couldn't swim, and being in the water is like 2nd-nature for me. I took swim lessons for many years, was a very strong swimmer, and then did synchronized swimming for 10 years. So it's really important to me that D learn to swim. I wish we could have started him sooner, but we couldn't afford the Y where we used to live!
pomelo / 5469 posts
I'll sign her up for classes once she gets to around 2-3yrs, but if she doesn't like it we won't force her to continue. I was enrolled in swimming classes but hated it until I was around 8yrs old! I don't want my LO to feel like I did.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
Yes, she will take swimming classes every summer (not in the off season) until she is a good enough swimmer for a swim team. Even then she may still take lessons to learn new skills. We'll see.
Last year she took a swim class and while she didn't learn to swim, she got used to the water and was willing to jump into the water and put her head under on her own. If nothing else, it teaches them confidence in the water.
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
She will, but right now I feel like all the classes for her age are more of a "get used to the water" type thing and she does just fine in that regard. She will blow bubbles, go under, jump to us, ect. so if I'm going to spend the money I want the class to actually teach her how to swim not just play.
persimmon / 1396 posts
LO is 3 and is taking them right now at the YMCA. She loves the pool and the winter is a slower time for us. She is taking them with a friend from school and really loves it.
coconut / 8861 posts
We did a swim class last summer before his second birthday. This summer, we'll probably do another one. Today, I just signed him up for herdball (soccer) to burn energy on Saturdays during the spring/early summer.
kiwi / 637 posts
Yes, absolutely! She did a few rounds of swim lessons before she turned 1 and we will get her back into them next fall. We are moving to a small island in July and DD will need to be a strong swimmer with all the beach time she will have growing up!
cantaloupe / 6687 posts
@regberadaisy: finally got a chance to ask DH about the YouTube videos. It's called uswim but he says there's lots of good ones out there. They have a series of videos that progresses through several levels and it's easy for LO to watch
kiwi / 575 posts
LO started his first swim class at just over 8 months. We've missed a semester here and there but we're usually in some kind of swim class for him.
bananas / 9118 posts
Yes! Both of mine have been in swim since they were 2 months old. We have a local swim school and it's our weekly family activity. My 3 year old and 11 month old are little fishies! They both do well under water and are gradually picking up swimming skills. My 3 year old can float on his back on his own and my 11 month old climbed out of the pool on his own yesterday!
Just like @sandy: I'm not a strong swimmer and not very comfortable in deep water, so I want mine to be good swimmers- especially since many people have pools here in AZ, there are too many drownings year round.
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