How old were your dc when they could swim?

[Greencordpinkflower]

Just wondering how old children tend to be when they can swim independently (I don’t mean you’d let them in the pool alone but when you don’t have to hold onto them!)

Mumsnet kids are advanced don't you know😉

Most children I know are around 5/6 when they learn to properly swim.

DS1 3.5 years old but that comes with a massive caveat that he's been in swimming lessons since he was 12 weeks old with the exception of covid lockdown breaks.

I think most children are about 5 or 6 but possibly even later now due to lockdowns and pools closing

My youngest is 9 and in stage 3 lessons - she has a 10m badge and is working towards swimming 25m in all the different strokes. This is the first summer I’ve let her swim independently (watching from the sidelines).
My oldest was through all the stages and doing triathlon and Rookies at the same age - but my daughter missed a couple of years due to Covid.
I’d want them swimming independently (25-50m confident front crawl) by the end of primary. My daughter hasn’t had any lessons with school due to funding cuts, oldest went from Y3-Y6 in addition to lessons we paid for. 🤷‍♀️

I always think when reading about children's achievements on Mumsnet, it's a good idea to add a year or two or subtract a grade/level or two........

DD is 5 and can swim from one end of the pool to the other on her front or back, although I wouldn’t categorise it as a proper front crawl/back crawl yet. I think we stopped holding on to her when she was about 4?

My dc is five, just moved to stage 2 but that doesn’t involve much swimming independently, still reliant on floats. Very much average age in class. Did baby swimming but then stopped for a while as I worked full time, started again around 4 when weekend classes were available.

They could swim a little bit by 3 but confidently at least 10m
without swim aids about 6!

Mine is 2.5 and can kick across the pool with a pool noodle alone. No aid and they sink.

But the class varies massively as mine is completely confident dunking head under but others will cling to their parent and hair is still dry at the end of the lesson. I think its like anything that children do in their own time. Nephew could ride a proper pedal bike before they were 4. Niece just mastered it at 6.5.

My daughter is 7 and still can't swim despite attending lessons since she was 3. But we haven't been swimming for fun much as her brother is autistic and hates swimming, so she only ever goes for thirty minutes each week which probably isn't enough.

Dd is 22 and can't swim.
She flatly refused swimming lessons.

I always think when reading about children's achievements on Mumsnet, it's a good idea to add a year or two or subtract a grade/level or two........

Cheers for that. Happy to report that yes I gave a truthful description. Why would I care about bigging up my kids to total strangers.
It's learning to swim 25m not brain surgery.

With respect I'd say It's a good idea to ignore the negativity of comments like yours, seems to be a habit.

It depends what you mean by ‘swim’. Mine did classes where they were taught to swim properly with heads in water. So they were stuck at the stage of learning to breathe without putting your feet down for absolutely ages. I would say they could swim properly aged 7 ish.

I really think it's not worth worrying about. Unless you have particular circumstances where swimming is essential, the whole "life skill"
malarkey is just marketing for insanely expensive swimming lessons.

Obviously we have different priorities also, as I think it is 100% life skill regardless. How blasé you are.

I insisted mine learnt to swim to a decent level. About the only thing I put my foot down about with out of school stuff.

Water sports, beach, canoeing, paddle boarding, surfing etc all depend on it and subsequently they do all that stuff. And I don't worry about them.

Died of boredom taking them to lessons obviously and I agree they are over priced but that's another thread.

My son is 5 and just about to pass stage 2. He can swim 5m but it is not very stylish! He swims better underwater and is super confident but I wouldn’t say he could swim independently yet

I wouldn’t say I was worried about it but I feel I’m spending a lot of money (for a baby sibling as well as 3 year old) and if the lessons aren’t very good I’ll look at private ones.

@sunglassesonthetable "Water sports, beach, canoeing, paddle boarding, surfing etc all depend on it and subsequently they do all that stuff. And I don't worry about them."

Not even Mumsnet children do these things at 3!

Incidentally, I am not blasé. We are one of the families I mention who have special circumstances which make early swimming essential.

Not even Mumsnet children do these things at 3!

Yes you seriously thought my kids did those things at 3?

Being competent swimmers allowed my kids to loads of stuff as they grew older. It's an entry.

And any circumstances mean that kids should be armed with swimming as a life skill. Not just yours tbh.

Mine was about 8 I think. I never took her to lessons, we just mucked about in a pool now and again before that and then we practiced loads one holiday.i don't consider it a particularly vital life skill for small children unless you as a family are really into that way of life. Other than puddles or the bath, DD was rarely around water in her formative years.

6 months into private lessons, one has SEN so it took a but longer, they had done baby swimming so we’re confident but lacked skill.

The other one had been in the pool half a dozen times.

@sunglassesonthetable "Yes you seriously thought my kids did those things at 3?"

No. But there is plenty of time to learn to swim before you need it for water based activities. So the pressure for early learning is just an additional unnecessary stress for parents.

My child was on the waiting list for 2.5 years for swimming lessons. She got her 5m badge at 6.5 after 12 lessons (she started in stage 2) Now in stage 3 where I expect she will stay for a while. She's not the eldest in her class so 6 and 7 in stage 3 seems average I would say.

Being able to put their heads in the water makes a big difference, if they won't do that then much harder for them to progress. DD was not bothered by water in her face at all so taught herself to swim underwater to begin with just messing about in the swimming pool whereas DS was very resistant to putting his face in the water. When he finally did (with the help of goggles) he started to learn to swim underwater. He can't actually swim above water yet so I suppose I have to amend my previous answer but he can swim a few metres underwater anyway.

No. But there is plenty of time to learn to swim before you need it for water based activities. So the pressure for early learning is just an additional unnecessary stress for parents.

@CurlewKate
No I think it's like learning to drive. Even if you don't need to swim you have it in your back pocket so you can use it when you need it.

Someone says to mine, do you want to come surfing with us ?- they don't have to go off and learn to swim first.

Ultimately I think it's very short sighted not to learn to swim for safety reasons.

Who knows when your kids will need it? You don't.

There's lots and lots of stresses heaped on parents regardless. You pick which ones to respond to.

Four and five

Both learned at four.