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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Does anyone know what's the earliest a child can properly start swimming?

69 replies

Thomcat · 24/02/2008 08:55

I've been taken DD2 swimming since she was tiny, booked her onto a swimming course called Born to Swim. She's now 2 (in Dec) and I feel we're just going over and over the same things on this course. She's so super confident int he water, happy to go under, happy, in fact estatic to jump in from the side and so on. We don't seem to be moving past this stage. Perhaps there is a very good reason for this which is fine if there is. But I don't want to keep going and wasting my money if at 2 yrs old she can be doing more.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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Littlefish · 24/02/2008 17:06

Oh Lottiejenkins - what a star your ds is. Does he get to go swimming with school as well? I should think he swims a lot better than a many of children there.

My dd has swimming lessons with a lovely little girl who has very complex needs - she's a fabulous swimmer, and swimming lessons at school are her chance to absolutely shine.

Littlefish · 24/02/2008 17:06

See you on the G&T thread Duchess

Bouncingturtle · 24/02/2008 17:12

Congrats to your ds, lottie - you are right to be very proud of him

TheDuchessOfNorksBride · 24/02/2008 18:04

bouncingturtle - sorry, no idea what babies wear to lessons! but bumping...

lottie - well done your DS!

LadyMuck · 24/02/2008 18:31

If you are interested in getting her to swim then I would look at some one to one lessons - usually 15 mins a week is fine with these (as they are fairly intense). I didn't really do any of the baby swim lessons but both dcs were swimming fairly quickly after some 1-1 lessons - ds1 after his 3rd birthday, ds2 before.

Interesting the different guidance that is given about ages though. The only age one that I've heard is that they should be doing butterfly stroke before 6 (apparently neck muscles not strong enough?), so would be interested to see if that is a common "rule". Given that the lessons for this seem to involve strapping their ankles together, and looks fairly close to water torture I am assuming it is more to do with child or teacher protetction issues!

newgirl · 24/02/2008 18:46

the kids i know were first able to swim at 4. the earliest kid i know was nearly 3 - he is a very strong child physically.

i think height/weight ratio is what its all about rather than an inate sportiness

IlanaK · 24/02/2008 19:06

Just to answer the what should babies wear question -

Most public swimming pools are not that well heated. Little babies who are not moving about much in the water get cold very quickly. You can get little wetsuit type things for babies to keep them warm, but they are expensive.

SpringSunshine · 24/02/2008 19:09

My ds is incredibly confident in the water but until about 4.5 could not coordinate arms and legs together. He could swim fine with one or the other but not both

He has been swimming since about 6mths in various classes (as others said it made us go) and has always loved it. The difficulty was getting him above the water to learn the strokes!

What also did the trick for him was going to lessons where he was out of his depth as otherwise he used to put his feet on the floor all the time and bounce!

K999 · 24/02/2008 19:09

Waterbabies is fantastic!! Have been taking dd2 since 8 weeks. She has so much confidence in the water. Its really important for kids to learn to swim imo.

Surfermum · 24/02/2008 20:29

Bouncingturtle - dd just wore a swimming nappy with a cossie over the top, but a swimming nappy on its own would have been just fine. And her first dip was in an open air pool in Newquay!

Have a hooded towel or dressing gown ready for the minute you get out of the pool as that's when they get cold. It can be really chilly going from pool to changing room.

lottiejenkins · 24/02/2008 20:29

Ds swims every week with school hes at the royal school for deaf children in margateand they have a lovely pool there.

lottiejenkins · 24/02/2008 20:31

Forgot to add am going to get him one to one lessons in a private pool with someone i know for the summer, he gets distracted in a public pool...............

Hulababy · 24/02/2008 20:34

At the pools near to us children can't start proper swimming lessons, without an adult going in with them (the water confidence classes), until they are 5 years old.

chopster · 25/02/2008 07:48

wow, lottiejenkins that is amazing. My ds1 has dyspraxia and he lvoes swimming but he doesn't have the co-ordination at all. It's great to hear your ds was able to overcome that.

lottiejenkins · 25/02/2008 08:00

Thanks Chopster. I'm hoping the private lessons will help him improve his strokes, i have dyspraxia too and have little upper body strength in my shoulders so i'm hoping he isnt the same.

trixymalixy · 25/02/2008 08:25

I think the waterbabies lessons are great too. I have taken DS swimming on my own, but had no idea what to do with him in the water. Plus there's no way I would go every week if I hadn't booked a class.

DS absolutely loves it as well and gets so excited before we go in the pool.

DS wears a paper swim nappy under a happy nappy (neoprene swim nappy) and sometimes a baby wetsuit depending on the pool temp

There · 11/03/2008 10:14

No time to read all the messages, so sorry if it's been said before:

I?ve been going to the pool with dd1 since she was 8 months old, in an organised group. Most of the children she started with were swimming from about 2 years old. Technically swimming is moving in the pool (head under water), lifting head for breath and carrying on. Not many of them were doing this at 2, but are starting to now, from the age of 2.5. I consider swimming though at this age as moving on their own in the water, irrespective of how elegant it is or whether they can come up for breath.

As to changing groups, I don?t think children at this age need tuition: dd1 was initially quite happy to put head under water. Then after 6 months, she REFUSED to put her head under the water, but loved going ?swimming?. This carried on for 1.5 years, until about a month ago she decided she WANTED to swim, and like with everything, when a child wants something, they get it! She just copies what the other kids are doing around her, she doesn?t need to be told what to do, apart from the odd obvious prompt like ?kick your legs?. Two props though that she uses: a hula hoop ring (to swim through) ? this gives the child something to aim at and it?s amazing how much it helps and a board (to help her get horizontal in the water before she managed to do it without a board.) In the space of a month, she?s now as good as swimming (in my sense of the word!).

suedonim · 11/03/2008 12:33

We knew a number of Australians when we lived in Indonesia and their 18mth/2yo's swam like little fishes, I was astonished to see them darting around in the pool, while 6yo dd2 was too scared to even get her feet wet.

cameroonmama · 11/03/2008 18:02

dd swam on her own at about 2, and is now a fabulous swimmer aged 6 but then we did have our own pool and we are in the tropics, however ds1, was plunged into same pool from 6 weeks old, and is now just 4, can't stand swimming inspite of lessons galore and endless bribery fun.

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