To not bother with swimming lessons for DS yet?

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DS has just turned 4. Had a couple of swimming lessons a few months ago but the teacher left and we couldn't make the alternative time offered (too late in evening).

He's been on a waiting list for weekend lessons since. He's now been offered a place but it's for the 8am class. Sometimes he's awake really early but sometimes he's still asleep at 7, so feel like it would often be a battle and a rush to get there. I also have a baby DD so me or DH would have to take DS, and the other entertain DD at home, meaning neither adult could have a lie in.

But he's 4 and can't swim, so don't know if I should be concerned about this and do whatever it takes to get him into lessons?

Or is it ok not to bother until a more convenient time comes up? Or maybe when he's in school just do some intensive courses? And in the interim just take him swimming for fun?

AIBU to say no to the 8am lesson?

We are in a similar boat, it’s a bit of a pain but we all go. I do the lesson with DS and DH takes baby DD and goes to get a sausage sandwich. DS is 3 and we used to go on a Friday morning but can’t now due to the baby. I miss those days, it felt so much more relaxed!

Ds has been able to do life saving swimming (roll over, float and kick to the side) since he was 2, swimming is really important to me.

However 9 times out of 10 I wouldn't make it to an 8am lesson because ds would be too sleepy/crabby. So I would wait for a better time.

Just do swim for fun. I never had lessons growing up but learned to swim around age 5 and always had confidence in water. I couldn’t swim in any competitions though!

Mine are 8 and 11.

Oldest started lessons in a good swimming school aged 6, small classes, excellent teachers. Completed all stages and extremely competent by 10 (competing).

8 year old started at 6 and a half. Following a similar trajectory.

I’m a shit swimmer (sort of Bob about)…

I firmly believe the quality of the lessons/ small class sizes is more important than the age they start. I’d rather save my pennies when they are very very little (thus progress more slowly) and put the money into good quality classes once they can really get going, they understand and can put instruction into practice so much easier. The

As someone who can't swim because my mum fell out with the teacher and pulled me out of the classes 6 weeks in, I think swimming is very important and I was upset when DS was a baby that I couldn't get him into baby swim due to Covid closures.

However, DS is 4 now and doing lessons. They basically get pulled up and down the water while wearing a pool noodle and about once a lesson they float like a starfish, blow bubbles in the water, and jump in the pool from the side. It seems to be more about building confidence than actual swimming skills.

So I don't think they're missing much at this age that you couldn't do by just going to public swim at a time that suits you.

It really depends whether there’s water around you or not. Swimming is an essential skill. I live in a coastal community, backyard pools are common, creeks and rivers are everywhere. If you’re somewhere without pools/creeks/ etc it’s not as time critical - still important as when kids don’t learn they often don’t as adults.

Kids drown. Adults drown. Non-swimmers drown far more often than good swimmers. Kids drown quickly and quietly. Always keeping your eyes on the kid is good in theory - works less well in practice. We’ve had at least 2 child drownings in my community recently. You don’t hear about the near drownings that can have life-long consequences.

I’d say take the lessons. 8am is a horrible time, but swimming is essential. Your kids will likely be in lessons for years. But if they fall into water they need to know how to float / get to the side until there is help. They need to not panic. They need lessons to get there - and 8am is what is on offer.

I’d keep looking for later classes though and switch if something comes up.

Start saving the money now you would be spending on years of group lessons and spend it on 1-1 lessons when he is 7-8.

Thats what we did. Just under year of swimming lessons then rookie life guard was more than enough, dont know how parents manage to sit through them for years and years on end with little progression and keep their sanity.

We do an 8am swimming lesson for DD aged 5. It's early for her, she wakes at 7am and eats breakfast on the way. But we chose that time because we spend time as a family at weekends so we often book theatre show or concerts (which start at 10.30/11am), travel to a museum or some other attractions which is far enough and interesting enough to fill the day. Sometimes we'll have a birthday party too- it's guaranteed never to clash (I know some other dcs in her class have had to turn down party invites because of weekend classes they have booked for the term). So it works really well for us.

We do a family leisure swim as well on a Sunday - but she would not have made the kind of progress she has just splashing for fun. Her lessons are 1:1 or 2:1 - and it's far more detailed than simple water confidence and blowing bubbles.

4 is a good age to start lessons and the more confident and able a child is in swimming the better. You will have more fun on holidays, at pools and of course of course it’s safer! 8am is a bad time I agree, maybe try it for a bit. Or find a different school.

but no sport or hobby is as crucial as swimming and believe me that you will be so relieved when you have a confident swimmer.

I'm not sure I'd be rushing to get to an 8am lesson! Mine did water babies when they were very small, then stopped altogether for a few years due to Covid and a few other life stressors. They started again about 6 months ago, 2 children to 1 teacher. My 7 year old has really come on in the past few weeks, and although clearly not as good as other younger children I see swimming, she's definitely getting there. The younger one has a bit further to go, but I'm sure they will get there too.

We took our son swimming when he was nearly 3 for about 9 months. I saw no progress at all and my son was just stubborn about it and didn't want to do it. Pulled him out of it, he wasn't enjoying it and the instructor wasn't right and it was a waste of money.

He will be 5 this year and I've just booked him on a 1 to 1 intensive swimming course over the Feb half term. Its expensive at £30 a lesson but the instructor reckons at his age she will get him to swim in about 10 lessons. So we will book again for April holidays and see how that goes!

I wouldn't fancy a lesson at 8am though, I think that is too early

I think it probably depends on how likely you think you are to need it. I was a later swimmer (9yo) but my mum put me in 1-1 classes for a few months and within a year I was an excellent swimmer and was taking part in school galas. We hardly ever went on holiday though and didn’t live near the water. That being said I’ve literally just today started Water Babies with my 7 month old, but my in laws have 2 holiday homes, both with swimming pools with no barriers and no shallow end and we spend a lot of time there in the summer so we want him to be confident in the water as soon as possible for peace of mind.

Just take him swimming yourself when it's convenient?

I would go but stay on the wait list. But also, parent who goes can take baby along too, so other parent can get a lie in.
at 4, my DC could float, and swim about 5-10 m - that would get you out of a pool if you fell in.

Generally speaking, the beginners lessons do tend to be the first lesson in the morning, as there is a correlation -
Beginners tend to be youngest children.
Youngest children tend to be the early risers.

So the odds are that all the beginners lessons are going to be the early starts.

Could you not wake him up rather than rely on his natural waking time?

I'd take the 8am. Gets it over with and doesn't screw up the rest of the weekend. If he is not at school, you will be grateful for freeer Saturdays.

Can you not take the 8am lessons and ask to be put on a waiting list for a more convenient time?
My son is 4 and almost swimming without armbands (had lessons for a year), so I’d be inclined to keep them going. Unless you intend to take him swimming yourself regularly to keep his up his confidence in the water.

Wouldn't worry too much about starting yet but I think I'd def be looking to have lessons in place between age 5-6.
If you start them too early it seems to just be a year or two of blowing bubbles and building confidence which frankly you probably don't need. It also depends on your child. I'm gobsmacked by the posters that have said they didn't bother with lessons. Neither of mine have been natural swimmers and it's been a long slog of 1:1 and group lessons to get them to be half decent swimmers.
My eldest has stopped lessons now but we still take him for regular swims as he forgets! Thankfully his school have a pool and also offer lessons.

You don't need formal lessons (at least yet). You can just go swimming and later enroll them in a class if you want/need

At 4, it's nice to have lessons for fun and water confidence, but a lot of children aren't ready to learn to swim properly at that age and progress can be slow.

I've got a 10 & 13 yo in stage 7... they've both been going since Foundation at age 4. I've viewed it as weekly exercise anyway, but it wasn't the most efficient route.

If the lesson time is going to be an aggro, I'd hold out for something more convenient. 6-7 are ages where most children have more co-ordination to learn more efficiently.

I don’t think you should worry too much about having proper lessons until he is 5 or 6. You could just take him to the swimming baths for fun and to gain confidence.
However I very firmly believe that learning to swim is an important life skill and could one day save his life.

Same. Saturday morning first activity with DC1 is at 8am, second activity with DC2 at 10am , third activity with DC2 at 10.30am.

Sunday morning DC1 activity at 9am and DC2 different activity at 9am.

We devide and conquer and no lie ins...

And both DCs go for swimming, it's a life skill after all.

You've got time to wait for a more convenient slot. Anytime in the next year or two is fine.

Could the parent going swimming take the baby too, giving the other parent a lie in? Alternate who gets the lie in each week.

I would stick with the 8am session whilst being on the waiting list for a later one.
PPs have given anecdotes about their DCs being late to start but who have progressed quickly and caught up. I have also seen plenty of DCs start later and be very slow to progress because they lack water confidence. It can be a much harder barrier to overcome the older you get - the extreme end of this is the adult beginners' class, where it can take a really really long time for them to even put their faces in the water.
IME starting young didn't equate to a prolonged period of little progress and hours wasted. DD1 completed the learn to swim program at 8yo (everything but fly was passed at 7.5yo, but it took another 6 months to get the strength to consistently swim 25m of 'Swim England Standard' butterfly, as judged by a very strict teacher). She's 9.5yo now, and about to compete at Counties this weekend for the first time. DD2 is 7.5yo and on the cusp of finishing level 7 (just the synchronised swim routine to go!), so DD1 wasn't a complete fluke!

Definitely not worth disrupting sleep and routine for swimming lessons for an only just 4 year old in my view.