Swimming lessons should be essential!

[PipersSeaSalt]

Inspired by the other thread.

As a nanny of over 25 years, I've always said that if you can only afford one class for your baby/toddler then make it swimming (unless, of course you are able to teach them yourself).

I've heard so many times that "We didn't put child in lessons because he was fearful of the water" and that attitude absolutely blows my mind! That is the EXACT reason why you should get your child enrolled in swimming lessons!

Why wouldn't you want your child to be safe in and around water?!

I know that not everyone can afford lessons. I know that. Many people can and just don't because they don't want to upset their child.

I agree with PP that the evidence that learning to swim reduces drowning is very unclear. Most children who learn to swim will never swim well enough to be able to get them out of dangerous situations - falling into cold water, getting caught in a tide, etc. Most people drown because they are over confident in their swimming and take risks they don’t understand. People who know they can’t swim and are nervous around water are much less likely to drown.

Of course swimming is a lot of fun and it’s good that children learn from that point of view. But from a safety point of view it probably just increases risk.

We grew up near the sea and several rivers. My mum put us in swimming lessons as early as she could. I’m not a strong swimmer but can float to survive and can swim. It always blows my mind when adults can’t swim and never learned. My mum was terrified of water and when we were in swimming lessons she was reading her book in the spectating area. She was determined we’d not be the same and would be able to cope if we ended up in water. Although I know at least one girl who drowned in early adulthood in a fast flowing river trying to save her partner, who got in trouble trying to save their dogs. So those reasons would probably not help in severe conditions.

Not only we learnt to swim as children, we also went on a life saving course and learnt to swim in clothing etc. Its an essential skill that should be learnt, those on UC benefits can often get reduced cost sessions as well.

My DD has SEN & it’s been an uphill battle to get her in the pool let alone have lessons. I think it’s great if you can swim as you can join in with any water based activities but I personally don’t think it’s an essential life skill. As others have said many people that drown CAN swim but overestimate their ability in unpredictable conditions.

There needs to be much, much more investment in swimming pools and subsidised lessons to enable children to learn to a basic level. One thing I didn't realise before having children was just how much money it would cost to put children through years of lessons. They are on a council waiting list and have been for years. They learn at a private pool atm and it's £16.50 per half an hour group lesson. We pay it of course but that kind of pricing is simply out of reach for a lot of families.

And the national curriculum needs looking at properly. They should be learning to swim during PE lessons at school. It's a much better use of time than learning how to play hockey, football, gymnastics etc when the majority of children will not use those skills after leaving school. Our school offers about 3 swimming lessons in year 6.

I remember reading about a child who drowned on holiday because he took his arm bands off to eat his lunch and then ran back in the pool forgetting they weren’t on. Awful.

Most likely and it will happen again.

DH and I both learnt to swim with school lessons - it was a bit of a surprise to find that school lessons these days aren't anywhere near as long or as good.

I had years of going in primary and secondary - my primary kids got a term if that - or three weeks in a block of everyday.

Then we weren't near a pool though make effort did try lessons with DD1 at younger age - they were awful and actually put her off. So it had to wait till we were near a pool and lived somewhere with decent lessons and doing three kids at once was very expensive.

Clearly you can learn to swim any age - there are adult beginner classes out there - and if but the sea or lakes or in location Australia where pools are common I'd place more of an emphasis on it as a skill.

However in many areas it's not cheap to do private lessons - most of the kids who couldn't swim by secondary here were from much poorer households ie on breadlines thus had different priorities to most to many on MN.

I think there needs to be more education around water safety personally. Swimming is a great skill but alongside that kids need to understand how to keep themselves safe, especially around open bodies of water.

Even if you can swim and you fall into cold or fast flowing water, it doesn’t guarantee you will be ok.

See I’d say the opposite and that swimming lessons for babies/toddlers is absolutely not worth the money. Kids under 3 lack the muscle strength to swim properly. Now if you’ve got plenty of money going spare and you enjoy it then of course crack on, it’s certainly not harmful and can be a fun social way to meet other mums. But swimming is an essential skill for children, not babies and toddlers. I think 3/4 is the ideal age to start, depending on the child and what lessons you have on offer locally.

When I went to Malta with DH for our honeymoon, we learnt that over there the parents throw their babies into the sea and they instantly start swimming, because babies are actually born with the ability to swim but lose it if it isnt practiced.

Unfortunately, we dont live near the sea so couldnt do this with our own children. But swimming is a life skill and every child should learn it.

School provides swimming lessons.

We live in Scotland, so close to the sea that dc1 often goes for a paddle on his way home from school. He's 9 and has never had a swimming lesson through school.

I put him on the council waiting list when he was at preschool. Thanks to covid, he's never been offered a place. We currently play £15 for 30 mins per child for private lessons for him and dc2. Small classes, sometimes it's literally one on one and he's learning so fast but I know it's out of the price range for a lot of people.

The problem with not being able to swim, is the confidence you don't have in the water, like not being able to touch the bottom with your feet - so floating would be impossible for total non swimmers . It's really hard to explain to swimmers what the fear triggers are.

Sure, the earlier they learn the better - for swimming skills. Parents are limited in resources (both time and money) and some will prioritise something else, which is fine.

The other thread OP refers to is about a mother who put her 4.5 year old beginner in lessons and he was then expected to doggy paddle the width of the pool unaided in lesson two, which is clearly ridiculous.

It's not great to allow your child get to secondary school without a level of swimming that would keep them safe in an emergency (or allow them fun things like water slides on holiday!). A child starting primary school unable to swim is absolutely fine, they're still tiny at that age and have plenty of time to learn.

We took our children swimming as babies/toddlers to get them used to it. We tried lessons with our oldest but found them to be a waste of time. Too many kids, many not listening, messing around. My child did listen but the instructor just didn't have time to help each child properly. I didn't bother with group lessons for youngest.

When our kids were 5, we booked 1:1 lessons and they were both swimming within a few weeks.

So no I don't think lessons essential as babies and toddlers.

You never know at what age you are going to fall into water.

As a baby/toddler/young child they shouldn't be unsupervised around water.

Lessons when they're very young are good for water confidence though. My older DD had lessons when she was a baby but the younger missed out because of Covid and their water confidence is dramatically different.

Yep...

The lamest thing I heard was ‘I’m not sending my daughter to swimming lessons because she gets chesty. THEY LIVED IN A COMPLEX WHICH HAD A POOL!
I’d rather a sniffly child than a dead one. Swimming is a life skill, and should be government funded for those who can’t afford it.

I don’t agree lessons are essential for babies and toddlers. Once school age, absolutely and definitely before the compulsory y4-6 ones offered in school.

Spending time in the water is enough when they are babies and toddlers. My children had both hit stage 2 in their second term of group lessons at 5 years old (dc1 is now 7 and working towards stage 6). They had no swim lessons before but we swam regularly as a family so they were ready to take instruction as soon as they started.

Starting them younger would have been months of giving a crying child to a swim instructor because they did not want to get in the pool without me - I’m delighted to have skipped that phase

Absolutely agree. And even one that can swim will likely panic and not know what to do if they fell in without warning or water is cold.

I agree. Cycling isn't essential but swimming is. This is what I've been telling myself this week as I have no energy to teach him how to cycle or chase him with a infant hanging down my boob but I'd happily take him to his weekly swimming lessons that he's started during the summer holidays. He's only 5. He had some lessons last year but between having Hg during pregnancy and giving birth we stopped and restarted this summer.

My DD tried it at 4, screamed every second she was in the water and clung to me. Restarted this summer hols, aged 7, and she's whizzed up to the second stage and is absolutely loving it now. On the other hand my 4 year old DS is stuck in a pre-stage 1 class because he can't touch the bottom and I'm not convinced he's really getting anywhere fast and isnt particularly enjoying it. Swimming is very important but sometimes waiting until they're ready and receptive is when they make the most progress.

It's just not an option for us. £25 per child for 30 minutes, with a 3 year waiting list. Our council pool never reopened after lockdown, and the next nearest is a 50m drive (assuming it's not rush hour, when it's nearer 90).

Even if we could have got them off the waiting list and actually into the pool, I simply don't have £50 a week to spend on swimming lessons (plus the fuel costs getting them there and back). I'd struggle to find £50 a month.

My children, now 10 and 12, are able to swim reasonably well thanks to school swimming lessons in Y5 and 6, and have been taught water safety since they were tiny. We've done the best we can. Not being able to afford swimming lessons does not make us neglectful parents, despite the numerous threads on MN.

Yes this. Lots of people can't afford swimming and lessons/pools are not nearby.