5 Year Old Has Fear of Leaning to Swim

Your letter could have been written by me! Lots of people I have asked told me to try private lessons at the Dolphin School. They said that their scared kids built confidence when they bonded with and trusted the teacher, and they not only stopped throwing a fit but even learned to put their heads in the water! Afterwards they were able to go to regular group swimming lessons (cheaper, of course). We start in 3 weeks...we'll see how it goes!

We did Infant Swim Resource for our kids, and it was the best time and money ever spent. Although he is a little old, I know the lady we used would have still seen him. He may not ever like to swim, but given your lifestyle, he absolutely needs the skills and confidence to be safe around water.

I have no affiliation with this company-just saying we had a great experience. Here is a link: http://infantswim.com/home.html

Good luck!

Can you put him in private lessons? Also maybe he also needs a goal, like if he learns to swim, he can do this other big boy thing in the boat or on the wave runner. I have a 5 year old daughter, who from her own words is happy being the baby, to the point where she still wants to use the floaty boat for infants in our pool. Well I told her this year she has to learn because they have holes in them. LOL I guess we will see how that goes, sooner rather than later since Thurs and fri are supposed to be triple digits already!

You already did the right thing, he got in with you holding him tight. The next time you get in hold him tight, then bounce up and down, or turn around in the water and make him laugh. Laughing will help him get over his fear. I am a grandmother and got children over their fear, making them have fun.

The other thing is to tell him that when he learns to swim, he will feel better. Let him know that he will learn not to feel fear because you are his mother and wouldn't let anything happen to him, which you probably already did. Lessons are out until he is ready.