To stop 33 month old swimming lessons?

[Melissae]

I’ve been taking ds to our local swimming pool since he was 9 months old and started lessons when he turned 16 months.

He Initially loved the lessons but the last 3 lessons it’s been a nightmare. Doesn’t listen and wants to try to swim off alone. It’s a parent and baby class so I have to hold him. He will not be held and wants to do his own thing. He’s very confident in the water. Today is his lesson and I have anxiety about taking him incase there’s another tantrum like the last lessons. He seems to be the only one who does it.

Clearly haven’t read my update
I said 33 months because the swim school refer to lessons as 18-36 months.
Pathetic comment

Absolutely loves going swimming just me and him. Does so much independently in the wager like doggy paddle , climbing out and jumping in, holding onto the side. Swims well with a swim vest

That’s the thing I enquired about him starting the next stage and the teacher won’t allow until he turns 3.
I just cannot carry on in this class now because he does not want to be held

I did not bother with baby swimming lessons.

I took them to the pool myself regularly with (shock horror) old school inflatable arm bands. We practised swapping the arm bands for noodles a lot at age 3. For both, swimmimg head down for a few metres with no arm bands clicked at about 3 & 9/10m. They then went in swimming lessons without me from age 4.

Both are good swimmers now.

I just cannot carry on in this class now because he does not want to be held

Of course he doesn't, hes nearly 3.

Just take him swimming yourself with arm bands or a noodle. Don't put him off swimming

To be honest i wouldn't bother at 3 either. Start at 4 when they can learn properly with good technique. Its really a waste of money doing it before 4 or 5 - the children who start then catch up the ones who've had baby swimming lessons in half a term.

Define “swim”

children may be able to propel themselves through the water, but recognisable strokes are rare as the head is relatively large and limbs short.

lessons before 5 are all about water confidence and generally ease of movement.

I’m a swim coach. I regularly have parents tell me their dc can swim, or even “swims like a fish” but when I do a trial they aren’t safe out of their depth, and swimming is really gasping doggy paddle for short distances. We have a diving club at our pool and I still get children regularly referred to me as their parents had stated they could swim, then they jumped into a 5m depth pool and sank….

Ha ha this was my son from the age of two
He's 8 now and very obedient in his lessons so it does change

Swimming lessons vary so much! I took mine to a similar lesson (the screen shot you posted makes me wonder if it's the same chain). At that age the teacher had them all in armbands and encouraged them to swim independently e.g. parent walks backwards in front of them and they swim towards you, jumping in independently. They then went to lessons without a parent at 3yo. Interesting that some people say armbands force their heads down, as one of mine basically 'swam' in a standing up position in his armbands!

How much notice do you have to give to cancel? He might be almost 3 by the time anyway.

DD1 was swimming lengths in a 33m pool by the time she started school just after her 4th birthday.

i had to work out how old 33 months is in real
money! Almost 3, so why not put him into proper lessons? Mine left water babies (which they had done since 4 or 5 weeks old) aged 3 and went into normal swimming lessons. They could both ‘swim’ independently a width or two of the pool (obviously not proper strokes, but face-in doggy paddle coming up for breaths when needed), so went into lessons to learn the proper strokes. I took them to the door of the changing rooms and then met them there after their half hour lessons.

It’s like a mental maths test. I thought people just did it as a a joke.

is it Water Babies? If so I’d stop with them as they don’t actually teach kids to swim, are so expensive and actually made my son afraid of water with their forced dunkings and underwater photos.

We joined our local sports centre’s swimming lessons. It’s £32 a month, DS has one lesson every week, with a teacher in the pool with him and then an instructor on the side telling them what to do. He can now swim a width forwards and backwards and is so happy and comfortable in the water now - happily putting his face in the water and now trying to swim underwater.

There are only 4 children in his class too. I highly recommend it.

I know it's old but 33 month old 😂😂😂

Try a toddler class?

the original post was three months ago, so he is three now, and presumably OP has resolved the dilemma in the meantime.

Hi everyone!

Just an update here. So my son turned 3 now and we’re currently seeing a speech therapist and waiting to see paediatrician because there’s concerns to do with his concentration and attention span. This explains why I had so much difficulty with structured lessons. We did stop swimming lessons after this post.

We have carried on taking him swimming for fun, with a swim vest and he’s so confident, trying to put his face under the water while swimming. Very soon I’ll try taking off the vest to see if he can practice doggy paddle. I would love to do those lessons where you drop them off but I don’t feel he’d be able to cope with that right now. It’s something to think about for the future