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!)

Splashing halfway across the pool to get their 5m badge at the age of 4 isn't actually swimming though, is it?

My older two were probably 7 & 8 when they could properly, safely swim.
My youngest is 6 and the youngest in her Stage 3 class - that's the stage where they're actually at the point of swimming properly and independently - the others are 7-9ish.

Splashing halfway across the pool to get their 5m badge at the age of 4 isn't actually swimming though, is it?

What would you call paddling and kicking through the water and bringing their head up to breathe then?

DS1 was about 8 or 9. We are abroad and in year three at school they took them all for swimming lessons and then the ones that couldn't swim they took them for an extra term of remedial lessons and he learned.

DS2 is 5 and still can't swim. He hasn't been to any lessons except for a course I took him to when he was about 1 which got cancelled halfway through due to lockdown.

3yrs for DS1 but 5yrd for DS2. DS2 was a bit later partly due to COVID and also ds1 just loved water and swimming

My lb is young still (nearly 1) but I'm a primary school teacher and we take our kids swimming from y3 so 7yrs old. Most of them can't swim. Some of them have never been in a pool. Hence taking my lb every week as I don't want him to be scared of the water like the kids at my school!

Started lessons at 7, passed all levels and swimming 20 lengths in pjs for his weekly rookie life guard session warm up by 8.

I hate pools and didnt want to be going every week for years and after listening to various peoples experiences made the conscious decision to save and wait until a bit later and then blast the lessons and have 1-1s too. All done in just over a year and the 1-1 lessons meant he has an amazing technique, glides through the water.

Our school doesn't do lessons until later in primary and it is a waste of time as only 6 weeks in total.

Paddling about? Splashing around? They might be able to move a few metres with their feet off the floor but to independently 'be able to swim' I'd expect a child to able to safely swim with ease and not need an adult hovering within grabbing distance when they're out of their depth.

Personally I considered my children to be safe swimmers, able to swim, when they could comfortably swim a length of the pool without an adult next to them.
My 6 year old is learning to swim and can get herself 10m across the pool without putting her feet down but she isn't quite able to swim yet.

7 hours post birth was able to swim a length and then at 19 days old swam the channel despite 20 foot waves.

Do I win?

For the other end of the scale...
I didn't learn to swim until I was 27!

As a small child I apparently would constantly walk under water and not come up for air. From about 8 I went to swimming lessons most summers but could never get the hang of actually swimming. I always enjoyed the lessons and being in the water however.
I wouldn't worry about your kids unless your kids are scared of the water - then work on helping them over their fear.

At 27 I saw an adult beginners swim class advertised locally so thought I'd give it another ago. A few weeks in I managed my first ever length and I was so stupidly pleased about it that my mum and I had lunch to celebrate finally reaching that milestone. 😆

Haha yes! I don't know a single family in real life whose children were swimming freely without any flotation devices by age 4. Yet this thread is FULL of them...how extraordinary! And in the UK as well where outdoor pools or lake/beach swimming are less common due to the climate.

We're from a warmer country than the UK and most of our friends have unlimited access private pools from May-Sept (their own, grandparents etc). Realistically, most 4 years olds we know can swim lengths wearing arm floats. Many go to swimming classes but virtually none of them can swim to the point were you'd feel comfortable leaving them alone in the pool without any flotation devices.

Those same kids usually swim confidently by age 6-7. I honestly think 6 is still early by objective standards. I feel most kids only truly learn via school lessons, maybe age 9-10?

4

I would personally class that as swimming - DS was able to do 5-10m on his back, out of his depth, without a float in Reception. He couldn’t do it on his front, so I wouldn’t say he “could swim”, but what he was doing on his back was definitely proper swimming.

What OP is asking is slightly different though, it’s about safety, and DS was absolutely not safe in the water at that age.

So long ago but I think they could all swim at 7 .

About 5 I guess. But it was not until 6 that they could do proper lengths etc.

Mine has just started lessons at 5 so hopefully he will be able to swim soon-ish!

DS2 is only 18 months younger than DS1 so was/is always striving to beat his brother. This meant that he got his 50m badge at just turned 4. He is one of those freaky confident sporty kids though, and very competitive, so is annoyingly good at any sport that he tries. Definitely more of DH genes than mine!!

Most of the kids in his class were 3 or 4 years older than him and everyone had lessons in primary school, so probably 6 or 7 is more normal.

Haha yes! I don't know a single family in real life whose children were swimming freely without any flotation devices by age 4. Yet this thread is FULL of them...how extraordinary! And in the UK as well where outdoor pools or lake/beach swimming are less common due to the climate.

And ?

How extraordinary you don't . I'd never leave a four year old alone in a pool regardless but mine were all swimming without armbands by then . So what?

Those same kids usually swim confidently by age 6-7. I honestly think 6 is still early by objective standards. I feel most kids only truly learn via school lessons, maybe age 9-10?

🤔🙄

Most kids don't only learn " via school lessons" around here.

The school lessons seem to pick up the outliers who can't swim. Most kids here can swim by then.

I'm in the UK. Have you heard of Surf Life Saving Club? Nippers etc. Its all over coastal areas. You'd see kids much younger than 9/10 running into the sea.

You know , kids without unlimited access to pools.

Honestly I can never get over posters who can't get over a scenario that's different to what they're used to.

There’s not much in it. I learnt to swim in a cold outdoor pool and dc learnt in warmer indoor one

Middle dc was by four

@sunglassesonthetable i honestly don’t want to police the thread here but it’s getting really argumentative.

I have two children and they’ve both been swimming since babies, my eldest is 3 soon and can’t swim independently and tbh isn’t even close. I thought this was normal but then another thread made me wonder if it was snd if my expectations for the lessons are too low. That’s all.

It isn’t a dig at poor children as their parents can’t afford lessons but equally we don’t need a massive argument!

Mine's 9 and only just starting to swim properly. After the pandemic the place she'd started learning at didn't reopen and then the main public pool has also been closed for the last two years. It was impossible to fit in other lessons with dancing/music/school commitments although she did have a block of school lessons which didn't achieve much when she was 8. She's now going privately for 1-1 lessons at a fancy hotel pool which is a lovely environment so hopefully it won't take too long. None of us are bothered about swimming as a 'fun' activity - I loathe public pools and have vision issues anyway so she doesn't get massive amounts of exposure to the water.

I have two children and they’ve both been swimming since babies, my eldest is 3 soon and can’t swim independently and tbh isn’t even close. I thought this was normal but then another thread made me wonder if it was snd if my expectations for the lessons are too low. That’s all.

I expect there's a wide variety in ages in learning to swim. Pretty much mostly to do with circumstances beyond parents control. Like access to pools being the main one.

Your kids sound totally normal. At that age they probably get alot just from playing in the pool. Can't speak for the quality of the lessons obviously.

Apologies for getting aggy but I can't understand this whole snarky implication that posters would be on here making things up, " Mumsnet child, how extraordinary " etc as if theres only one way anything happens and its that poster's way.

Probably pretty similar to the the thread that prompted your OP.

@Greencordpinkflower

I have two children and they’ve both been swimming since babies, my eldest is 3 soon and can’t swim independently and tbh isn’t even close. I thought this was normal but then another thread made me wonder if it was snd if my expectations for the lessons are too low. That’s all.

That’s great, DD went through a phase of being terrified of even taking a bath between 2 and 3! You’re doing a lot just by keeping their water confidence up.

Also, whilst I don’t doubt that there are some kids that can swim properly very young, especially if they’re from costal areas, I’ve seen seen a fair few toddlers, including those in DD’s 3-4YOs classes, whose parents claim that they can swim but really they go max 5m face down between 2 adults- can’t do a stroke, can’t come up for air, can’t manage a full width of a pool. Whilst they’re obviously well on the way to learning which is great, it’s not what I’d personally class as ‘swimming’. So it’s entirely possible that some people have a different definition to you. As long as the lessons are half decent then no doubt your DC will be swimming by 5-6, I wouldn’t overthink it!

Both DC started lessons in stage 1 aged 4.
Eldest DC has just stopped lessons this year in stage 5 at age 10. He is now a confident and competent swimmer.

Will do the same for DC2 unless he shows a real talent for it and enjoys it then maybe club swimming.

My son swam in the womb. Does that count?