Anyone Tried Infant Swimming Resource? Infant Swim Lessons

My 18 month old son is finishing up with ISR and I couldn't be happier. We are friends with the 17 month old boy, Vinson, and his mom, Christine, shown on the segment last night. My son can do the swim float swim fairly well by now. If he were to fall in without me knowing I feel confident that he would get himself into his back float with no problem which is critical as babies don't thrash about as one might assume when they fall in. His skills would give me critical time to realize something has happened. He has been tested with full summer clothing and winter clothing. As they said in the segment, ISR is not a replacement for close adult supervision. The other plus is how comfortable my son is in the water in general and the respect he now has for it. He used to want to run and jump in without me. Now he knows that the water can be fun, but it requires work and Mommy, Daddy or another adult. It is pricey but my child's safety is priceless. We will be doing a 2 week refresher next spring before the swim season starts. Robin Bates is an excellent instructor and I highly recommend her. Your baby at under 12 months would be taught to get into a float which is the most important thing. The web site is www.infantswim.com. The local website is www.israustin.com. If you have further questions feel free to contact me. I've done some research and I feel this is by far the best program out there.
One of your responders incorrectly states that there are six 10 minute lessons. WRONG! There are daily 10 minute lessons for 4 to 6 weeks depending on your child. They don't learn from verbal cues they learn from instinct and prompts in a learning environment much as they learn to crawl or walk. They are praised for their accomplishments. It is so different from any other kind of swim lessons. You can check out many videos on www.youtube.com of ISR taught infants. There is no teaching of "blowing bubbles" or any of the traditional methods. I urge you to visit some sessions. ISR welcomes it.

My 7-month-old has been in swim lessons for the past two weeks, and I'll be honest, it was a waste of money. He's just not old enough to understand blowing bubbles in the water and other commands like "kick", which he already does on his own fortunately, and "stretch your arms out like a super hero", which sounds like "blah blah blah blah blah" to him. The lifeguards said that at his age, it's basically just a way to get him used to the water. Well he's already used to the water because his grandmother swims with him several times a week! So I basically paid a very expensive entrance fee for my son to play and splash in the public pool.

Maybe we just picked the wrong place to take swim lessons and perhaps other Moms with babies as young as ours had a better experience. But I will wait until mine is old enough to understand basic commands before I try again.

Good luck!

Hey A.!
I just finished a two week session of swim lessons with my just turned nine month old. It was more of a "mommy and me" class and the instructor moved at your babies pace. I felt that there was no pressure to submerge my infant in water if I didn't want to. I am way too nervous. I enjoyed because I could swim with him. It was comfortable and we both felt safe. It was $60 through the city (not sure where you live, but I know they are really common) and it was 4 sessions a week for 2 weeks.
Have fun!

Call Crenshaw's on Balcones Drive or our local YMCA.

I've looked into these lessons as well, and I didn't think it was worth the $700...they said it would average about six lessons lasting about 10 min each. Although, I'm sure the technique truly works...unless you have a pool in your backyard or if your child will be around a pool often, then there are many other options that you may want to consider...like try private 1:1 swim lessons (usually $15-$25 per 30 min session). Of course, if the $600-$700 cost of the ISR class is no big deal to you, then go for it.

I think the class you are referring to is Infant Swim (www.infantswim.com). Is that correct? They are like no other swimming class that I have ever seen. I wanted to do this with our son, however there was nothing in Austin (only in Dallas/Houston) so we were unable. I heard about these from a friend (in Phoenix) that took his daughter (before she was 1 year) and they really loved it. They actually are about to take her again and just turned two.

Good luck, and keep in mind that not all swim lessons are the same!

The Northwest branch of the YMCA offers infant and Mom swim lessons at a much cheaper price. I would look there first.