To ask at which age you told your children how to swim?

[Flyingfish2019]

?

They learned at school and are both competent swimmers

Great that your school offered lessons, ours doesn’t unfortunately.

Honestly? The summer just gone and he was 7 and his sister was 6. I feel like it’s something a child should know from a young age and I kind of feel embarrassed that I left that long. I will put more effort in this summer also and hopefully get them some professional swimming lessons! I have an uncle, who at 40 years of age, cannot swim but like to fish a lot!😕 his oldest son is 15 and none of the children in the family can swim at all! When the oldest went on a foreign school trip, he was the only one that couldn’t get into the pool with his friend!😞 after hearing that I was pretty shocked that his parents never even bother to learn them the basic’s. It should be mandatory in schools these days as it a skill everyone should have in case the worst happened.🙂

It doesn’t*

Mine swimming from 4 but trips to pool from v young.
My school do swimming lessons for a term at age 7. I can't imagine that's enough to go from beginner to competent.

My 5 year old can swim lengths, lessons for about 18 months, no fear of water, this makes a big difference to swimming. Swim instructors teach much much more than just swimming, don’t underestimate it. Water safety, float, tread water, enter pool and lots of different strokes, front and back.

Eldest started lessons at 5, is still having lessons at nearly 8, but is getting the hang of it - he's good at backstroke though. Youngest started going to baby swimming classes at 4 months and is still having lessons at 2 1/2 - he can swim ok with a fin but obviously not unaided yet!

I've been taking DS since he was a few months old. At 4 he can swim with arm bands. I've also taught 2 nieces and a nephew how to swim. Begin with blowing bubbles underwater to help them get used to the water on their face. Learning to float takes time but once they are comfortable with that the kicking and then arm movements are easy

Dd has had lessons since she was 3, she’s now 6, and unlike most mn children she has not got it. She still can’t swim at all really - can probably paddle about 5m on her back but that’s it- we have tried a range of lessons and taken her ourselves. We now live abroad and the approach is completely different so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that she’ll get it soon!

Mine didn't go as babies because I had them very close together and couldn't manage both in water at once. Later on DS1 was terrified of water, so we purposely waited until they were both old enough for the same weekly swimming class so he'd have his brother with him for courage (i.e. around 4 and 3yo). 3.5 years later, they both swim pretty well :)

I didn't teach my two to swim (8&5) I just took them to the swimming pool and now they can swim. All this jeff about terms and strokes rather complicates something very straightforward. Monkey see, monkey do, innit

My eldest now goes to lessons ( for the last year) because he likes swimming. He can do all four strokes. My youngest really isn't in to being told what to do so proactively makes sure she can do stuff before anyone gets it on their head to teach her. She's a great swimmer.

My advice would be, go to the swimming pool and let them get on with it. If they want to pursue butterfly and tumble turns take them for classes, they'll let you know if that is what is for them

You should get offered swimming lessons in KS2, isn’t it part of the curriculum?

I paid for lessons once they were both 4, I couldn't be arsed with baby lessons.

I couldn't have taught them on my own, and they listen to the teacher much more than they'd listen to me!

Eldest (9) has just stopped after deciding the competitive route wasn't for her. Youngest is building stamina still.

I took them to the local swimming pool as babies. It was quite hard on my own with two of them, as DH died before DD2’s first birthday. I put armbands on the two year old, and punted the baby around in a rubber ring. They were soon better swimmers than me, and would zoom off to the deep end without me!

I didn't exactly teach my kids to swim. They just kind of learned because we spent a lot of time in the water. When they got the basic hang of it I helped a bit with technique instruction. They're both strong swimmers but it's not because of innate ability, only regular exposure

DD learnt at 9, DS2's learning now at 7.

My 5yo and 3yo started lessons recently but the 3yo hates it. So I'll stop and start again when she's 5.

Just started lessons this week for my 2 oldest kids (6yo and 4yo). Combination of factors has meant I'm later starting than I'd have liked with the oldest [disabled youngest child, bad health myself and fact the 6yo is just getting to grips with a phobia of water in his eyes / face / hair]

Better late than never.

My 2 year old has been going since last January I think, and he loves it. He is learning basic strokes and confidence in the water, as well as safety. My 6 year old started when he started Reception so about 18 months ago, he can swim 10m front and back and is coming on loads at the moment.
I learnt when I was about 7, but then didn't go swimming for ages after I'd learnt so kind of lost it a bit. When I was 9 we lived abroad for a while and swam every day and i got pretty good at it.

Sorry, didn't answer the question: first kid was 4 months old (born in Australia, lots of warm weather and plenty of places to swim). Second kid at 5 yrs properly swimming (born in the Netherlands, fewer opportunities for spontaneous swimming until we were away for a few months)

We took DD1 swimming from 8 weeks and she has had pre school lessons from 3.5. She was a competent swimmer by 5.

DD2 has been going to Waterbabies from about 8 months. She’s now 1 and is extremely water confident, can swim underwater happily, kick up to the surface, grab on and climb out, but she can’t swim on the surface yet.

The main thing is they both adore their lessons and they really enjoy swimming.

I’m a good swimmer, but I would struggle to teach them. It’s not the same as being able to swim yourself, you need to know how to break it down into different skills.

I toon DD from 8 weeks. She’s only one so can’t swim but loves being in the water.

I only had lessons at school and what my dad tried to teach me occasionally. I can swim a length but never learnt the strokes properly and can’t breathe properly whilst swimming, etc

I taught both of mine to swim. Took them nearly every week, used a swim fin. Had loads of fun and they eventually got it. I watched a few YouTube videos on how to teach swimming.

I have put them in for lessons now though as I found it difficult to teach frog legs.

I think it’s easy for you to teach basic things like not being scared of the water simply by taking them often enough. But I’d have no idea how to teach my child to swim properly.

Started going to pool sparodically with baby from about 6 weeks old. Lessons from about one and a half. A year later there is some progress but no, he can’t actually swim.

I didn’t learn to swim properly until I was 8 or 9, I had lessons at that point and went on to become a vaguely competitive teen swimmer. However I had been in a pool on only a handful of occasions until I was about 7 - probably max 5 times, I had no water confidence so was learning from scratch.

So it’s great if you can swim at 4 but it won’t hold you back if you can’t - I’d also recoomend lessons if your children enjoy swimming because a lot of people have very poor technique when they just pick it up.

whynotnowbaby how refreshing to hear! My dd also 6 has been having lessons since she was 3.5, only in the last few months is she managing a width, my cousins dd who is sane age and started lessons at 5 swims like a fish!

My grandad taught me and I’m a strong swimmer with a good technique, swimming lessons are most productive at around 3-5 years. Take them regularly from babies to get them used to the water.