Esta entrada esta disponible en Español: ¿Por qué estoy empezando las clases de natación antes de su primer cumpleaños? Y tú también deberías hacerlo.
Why I’m starting swimming lessons before his first birthday – and you should too.
Thanks to Goldfish Swim School for sponsoring this content.
However, all opinions are my own.
Ever since I learned we were pregnant, I knew that our baby will receive swimming lessons early In life. What I didn’t know – and learned later – was that you can start them really young. You can even do water activities before their first vaccine!
“Every day, about ten people die from unintentional drowning. Of these, two are children aged 14 or younger. For every child who dies from drowning, another five receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries”
CDC Report on Unintentional Drowning
We live in Florida, therefore we are always around water. We love the water so much we even have a boat! because our definition of fun usually means boat+water.
Our weekends are constantly enjoying the Florida weather and
I asked a friend who is a swim
You might say that I am exagerating by putting Manny in swim classes before his first birthday, but I don’t think I am. I think the younger they learn how to be safe in the water the better. Swim lessons allow them to enjoy the water in a safe manner.
Am I expecting him to swim by his first birthday with these swimming lessons? Absolutely not. Am I expecting for him to be one of those babies that flip to their back on their own and swim to the surface? I don’t know much about this technique or the research behind its effectiveness in child safety. I’m open to this method if it will make him be safer or other methods of water safety techniques.
What am I expecting? I’m expecting to have the peace of mind that I am giving my son valuable tools for him to learn how to have fun and enjoy the water in a safe manner.
At 9 months, Manny took 5 swimming lessons with a private instructor.
During those swim lessons Manny has learned:
- How not to reach in into the water. A danger he could lose balance trying to reach out for a toy and fall.
- How to sit, STOP, and then roll to his belly and back into the pool.
- He started understanding the concept of playing in the stairs and the concept to kick while being supported to reach a toy.
- He started to learn and trust to float on his back – although he still needs a lot of work with this. He still gets very scared.
Manny might have a long way to go, and repeating the same exercises over and over again might be boring to me, but I understand the importance of this repetition for him to get comfortable with the concepts.
If you choose the right class setting, your kids will take these classes as a fun activity vs. a torture event. Manny cried for three classes and I quickly realized that he needs me inside the water with him along with the instructor. He is still very little to be with just the instructor.
When to start swimming lessons? my answer would be as soon as they get out of the womb!
The sooner they start getting comfortable with the water the better. From playing in the
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If you would like to follow our journey as I share his milestones and what he learns, I will be sharing our progress through my social channels: Instagram, Facebook, and
I WISH I had started swimming lessons as a kid early on (it would have saved my mom many panic attacks lol) but I certainly plan to do this with my own children someday!
lol that’s too funny! I caused a few panic attacks but I think that’s because we used to play lifeguard so we would scream “help help I’m drowning” I remember after a few times the game got banned.
I’m so happy to see this. I started my daughter when she was about 4 months old swimming in our pool. They are naturals at this age.
I think that makes it easier, they are born loving the water
I was a swim instructor for a year or so teaching babies and toddlers to swim, it was such a fun experience! I think all parents should consider swim lessons, especially because it teaches them swim safety!
wow that had to be so much fun!
Even I am planning to start this weekend.
Lets see.
Thanks for sharing.
I started my children’s swimming lessons as very young toddlers and glad I did. Thanks for a great read.
That makes me feel good about my decision 🙂 thanks for sharing
Swimming is a great physical activity too. All the best to you and your little one for the days ahead. ?
Thank you! we are excited!
My kids (except the last) all started lessons at the earliest available lessons locally… at 4 months old. It was a great experience, and such an important skill. My eldest went through till just before the lifeguarding courses, and my youngest two are still young and learning new skills.
wow that’s amazing! such an inspiration
This is great initiative. Swimming is one of the best exercise and it is good to learn swimming from childhood. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for stopping by and reading. I think living in Florida it should be a must for everyone.
Good for you! I’ve read about this before and also saw some documentary pieces. It’s the best time to start 🙂
Thanks! I’m glad I’m on the right track. Do you remember the documentary name?
this was actually very informative! lovely pictures 🙂 i just want to pull his cheeks!
lol you made me laugh! he does have pullable cheeks lol
9 month + is a good age to start. Our kids loved it
It makes it easier since they love the water, to begin with.
I couldn’t agree more! It’s so important for little ones to know how to swim, but most importantly understand safety around water.
Yes! safety for me is so important especially living with a house pool.
That’s awesome and the pics are really great. Blog with pics make sense for me and I love reading your blog.
I think photos put a face to the story. Thanks for reading and commenting
They start swim lessons pretty here in Japan. Mommy and me classes start at around 1 year old and independent swimming around 3.
I learned (the hard way) that when they are young mommy-and-me style is the best.
Will do this for my future kids! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for reading! Glad to be of help to your future kiddos
It is amazing what kids can do and I’ve seen plenty of videos of kids younger than 1-1 1/2 swimming in pools. I think it is an important skill for them to know as early as possible because you never know what could happen.
totally agree! better safe than sorry
I totally think starting them super young is the best way to go!
Someone told me to either start very young or wait until they are three. So I decided on the first one, especially since we are always on the boat.
Life is a little bit too ironic for me whenever we talk about swimming. Firstly, I am from a tropical country, an archipelago to be exact. So we are surrounded by beautiful bodies of water. Secondly, I trained my brother how to swim. And where is the irony? Simply, because I don’t know how to swim. LOL.
OMG! that’s too funny! how did you teach him how to swim not knowing how to swim?
How adorable! My kids start training at age 3 or 4 and I’d say it’s really an advantage to teach your children to swim at a young age. Great job being a parent! 🙂