Should I continue on to a second term of baby swimming?

[aligriff]

Hi, my son and I are on week 8 of our first term of baby swimming. I have booked on to the second term but have been thinking about cancelling. My son enjoys most of the lesson but hates being dunked. Some weeks he has just gasped for breath and looked very annoyed but most weeks he has cried a lot and it has upset him for the rest of the lesson. I take him to the local pool and he really enjoys himself and doesn't mind his face being splashed. I'm just wondering if there is any point continuing with the lessons? At the start of the term the teacher said that the babies would be ok with being dunked by the end of the term, this hasn't happened. I don't want to put him off enjoying splashing in the water by persisting with dunking. What do you think?

Isn't dunking in water used as an element in torture ?

Why oh earth do they do it to small babies. I would HATE to be forcibly dunked.

What a con.

My Dd1 started swimming at 5 & is doing fine & my 3 year old has just started & loves it.

Let them learn when they can follow instructions & take them to the swimming pool for fun.

My DS was exactly the same - he hated being dunked. I didn't go back for the second term, instead I have since just been taking him to the local pool to get him used to the water. He's much happier.

Flitterygibetbaby swimming doesn't teach your baby any skills to use in the water, it just teaches the mother to dunk her baby... I just don't get it, especially when I hear that the babies don't like it.

That is complete nonsense!

The reasons babies and young children drown in 2 inches of water is that they panic when they are under water and inhale water and drown.

The lessons we went to taught the baby/toddler to relax underwater therefore not panic and inhale. We were taught to gently blow on the babies face which makes them hold their breath before they go under water. There was no t alot dunking. They were also taught to turn automatically to the side when they jumped so if they fell in the pool they would turn and make for the side of the pool.

"Isn't dunking in water used as an element in torture ?"

No, I think you'll find that's holding someone's head under the water until they think they're going to drown. At baby swimming they are under for less than a second when you start. Have you ever actually been to a baby swimming class?

Oh, and I have photos of all 3 of mine smiling underwater. Clearly they were hating every minute of it.

My sister has spent thousands of pounds on water-babies and teaching her children how not to swim!!!

IMO it is a big con - children of this age are not strong enough to swim - and do you think they really learn to 'relax' and not panic and inhale if they fell into the water ?

People making money out of a percived danger playing on parents guilt if you ask me. You would be better to spend money on road safety course from a danger point of view not as much fun but better for child safety.

How do you know they don't relax,if they are used to being happy and confident in the water Pippy. A friend of mine is a swim teacher. She has taught my dcs on and off since DD was 6 months and took my son for his Bronze Medallion. She has just won a lifetime award for her work with life saving so I think she would know what she is talking about. I don't regret a penny I have spent on swimming lessons for my children over the years and still go to advanced lessons myself.

Baby lessons are not about teaching them to swim they are about water confidence and safety and about having fun with your baby.

Just a quick update. We went to the last session in the course and things were worse than ever. Despite him being fine at the local pool bobbing up and down two days before, as soon as we started 'bouncing around in a circle' he knew what was coming and the lip came out. I tried to be happy and positive and just did one little splash on the first 'name ready go'. The screaming started and didn't really stop for the whole lesson. We spent the lesson at the side of the pool away from the others as they did lots of underwater swims, and I overheard the teacher telling the others that they should get these fancy goggles as in the next term they would be spending most of the time underwater! A lucky escape I think. We have been to the local pool again since and he really enjoyed it so no lasting damage. Thanks for your help!

I have done baby swimming - we never dunked our children - my daughter LOVES the water, but I just wouldn't push her under, it doesn't seem natural. I was a confident swimmer as a child and wasn't dunked - just taught be a very patient mother - held under my tummy, shown how to kick, how to paddle... and eventually off I went... ultimately I guess, if you and your child are happy being dunked then that's your bag -but never do anything to your child that feels strange - mother's know what is best!!

I have just used the parent and baby/toddler lessons at my local council pool since my boys were a few months old. My not quite 3.5yr old can swim independantly about 5 meters and my 5.5yr old (now in "proper lessons") can do well over 10 meters front and back. Both boys are happy to jump in at the deep end (6ft), turn round and reach for the side with out me doing anything (other than watch carefully!). Hopefully if they fell into water they would use these skills.
I have dunked them both from early on, however I was told by the teacher to limit dunking to 3 times a session and to always go down with them maintaining eye contact and smiling. We were also told that if they got upset to not do any further submersion in that session but to hug, kiss and praise them. I was also told that it was normal for children to go through a phase of not wanting to swim on their backs, but this will pass, just to let them to sit up but to pull them through the water backwards encouraging them to put their head on your shoulder and that eventually they would.
I think the skills my boys have learnt will enable them to enjoy other activities, eg water sports and will also keep them safe, (being taught from six months to enter the water slowly well holding on to the side hopefully will stop them running and jumping into a strange pool).
I think I have got a good return from the time and money (not a lot) I have invested in swimming with my boys.

I took my DS swimming for the first time last week; he's nineteen months old. I didn't avoid the classes because of worrying; we simply didn't have the money. It would have been nice to experience it I guess, but DS reacted wonderfully to his first time in 'deep' water. He loves splashing in his bath, but always squirms when we wash his hair. I was hoping that swimming would help that, now that I've finally been able to afford a swim suit which fits (damned boobs!).

He was quite nervous at first, but my dad was there as well as myself, and soon he was splashing merrily away with a small float. He 'fell' several times as he got a little too confident, and went partially under, swallowing a little water because he doesn't know to close his mouth, but otherwise coming to no harm. By the end of the session he seemed perfectly alright with the water going over his face (normally he doen't like this), and not long before we left, he was being over enthusiastic and went completely under for a moment. When he came up he looked surprised, but not at all bothered. I took him again today, though unfortunately to a different pool, so he was a little dioriented. He loved it again though after he got used to the place.

It doesn't seem to have made a negative impact on his time in the water that I didn't do the classes; he took to it like he was a natural, going flat on his tummy with his head up as I 'flew' him through the water. This week he even seemed to be trying a bit of doggy paddle!

I guess what I'm saying is that even if the classes do help the children who cope with them, if you don't, they aren't automatically going to panic in the water when you take them for the first time. And given your experiences, aligriff, I would definitely say you got out in time. You know your child, and if it makes him distressed, it certainly isn't worth it.

I did the classes for a short while with DD1.TBH I think they are a waste of money for parents who are competent swimmers however for parents who are perhaps afraid of water and not that comfortable I can see how both parent and baby can benefit. However i do believe that babies and toddlers prefer free play in the water. I would recommend going swimming on a regular basis, we go once/twice a week bring balls/ floats/ woggles with you or ideally borrow stuff from the pool and the children will love it.My Dds love going swimming with us and they have learnt a huge amount from playing freely in the water.I love taking the girls swimming its quality time, my Ds3 who is 4 months comes along now and he just loves it too.