Behavior Issues During Swimming Lessons

You could pull her for a couple classes. Or take her to see everyone else having fun LEARNING. Something will get to her and open the door to letting her know she's not behaving properly.
When she claims she know how to do it, tell her "fine. But someone wants you to do it correct"
last resort would be get some basics instilled at home and then see if she's ready to conquer the world.

Let me just start by saying my daughter is 16 months old and we are also in a mommy and me swim "class". While a lot of these moms who are you giving you advice are not fully understanding is that these "classes" are not ridgid, formal events. The instructor is there to guide you and give you suggestions to keep your child loving the water.

It may be tempting to throw in the towel right now, but please remember the reasons you signed her up for the class. Maybe it was to get her into the water and not be afraid of it, maybe it was to socialize with other kids her age, and maybe it is some other reason. I have had the days where my daughter doesn't want to cooperate, but most of the other moms understand. If there child has not been through that stage yet, most know it is coming for them too.

To help in these situations, I usually bring a small water toy that I can tuck into my daughters suit (or my own), and when she starts getting stubborn, I get the toy out and give it to her. We always attempt to do as instructed, but if it isn't working, we modify the activity to keep her happy in the pool. The key for us is to redirect her attention away from the tantrum she is beginning, and focus on something else that can be fun.

You know what you want to do, and you know the reasons you signed her up in the first place. If you are not meeting YOUR goals for the class, then by all means pull her from it. The last thing you want to do at this point is to make her hate the class and water. Good luck!

I'd suggest dropping it for now, for everyone's sake. You always have to pick your battles in parenting, and I think she's too immature. Build some real positive connections with her with other activities and just filling her emotional love tank, and try again in a few months.

You can calmly explain things to a two year old, they will listen. You can explain to her that you are taking her to swim lessons so that she can learn some new things to do in the water. At swim lessons, Mommie is there to help her learn what the teacher is explaining. If she cries, Mommie thinks she doesn't like the water or going to swim lessons and she will have to stop going to swim lessons until she is older and can enjoy herself at the swim lessons. Then, take her to one more swim lesson, if she starts crying reiterate all explanations and if she doesn't stop crying, leave the swim lessons until she is older. Good luck, swimming is great fun and good exercise.
V.

K. - your baby has just turned two......what do you want from her, to act like a teenager? Okay, swimming lessons aren't working for now - leave it 18 months or two years then try again. Find something else that's fun for you both to do - the park, a playgroup - if she's alread in daycare she might prefer to just have one on one time with you and not a whole crowd of people. Anyway, give her a break and remember she's only tiny and has so many things to learn right now. And maybe swimming is just not going to be her favorite thing. - good luck - Alison

She is still too young to be expected to listen to a teacher. I would wait a year.

Personally I would just pull her from the lessons. You can probably teach her pretty much the exact same stuff in the lake or your own pool. My kids never really got much out of swim lessons until they were around 4 yrs. old. Then they learned how to swim in a couple of weeks. 2 yr. olds are hard, I have one myself. You can't reason with them. Good luck.

I'd have to agree - it sounds like she's just not ready for a formal swim class at this time. Not to keep her out of the water- she needs to gain a comfort for the water and learn to respect it but maybe now is more for the "play" side of swimming and not so much formal lessons.

A year will make all the differnce in the world!

we did gymnastics with my son at 19 months.. he loved it.. but he didnt want to do what the class was doing he only wanted to jump on the trampoline..so I ended up physically restraining him off the trampoline.. his class was done with trampoline and had moved on to rolling and turning... I took him out of gymnastics after 3 weeks.. it was a waste of money and time.. he didnt want to cooperate .. I was getting frustrated with him but he was doing exactly what a child his age does...

If you have been to swim class 2 or3 time and it was awful stop.. maybe you can get a refund..It might make a big difference if her dad can take her to class. My kids are totally differnt for dad... she just might behave and cooperate...

Let me begin by first disagreeing with EVERYONE so far. I have been a pool professional for 18 years and am the assistant supervisor for a program right now. My oldest was swimming with a swim trainer (floatation only on the back) when he was 13 months old. He considers it play time. I make it like playtime. I also consider it learning a lifesaving skill, being used to the water and prepping him for regular classes between the ages of 3 and 4. It is similar to what most places call a Mommy and Me class, but it is open to anybody that wants to take a child starting as young as 6 months old to the pool. There is so many different things you can do and so many different routes to take depending on what your child is willing to do, and the place you take lessons at should embrace that. The classes you're in should just be a guideline, NOT any kind of formal lessons. And if your child wants to do a little something different, SO WHAT? That's perfectly fine and your facility should be ok with that. We are with our program; we always have some parents doing their own thing just to keep the child in and happy. The idea of a child under the age of 3 or 4 taking lessons is this: You want the child to get used to being in a pool and getting used to teachers. You want to start the IDEA of blowing bubbles and jumping in and things like that so that way when it comes times for lessons, they are familiar with the routine and won't have a problem with moving over to a class setting. I wouldn't settle for less wherever you go. If the staff makes you feel as if you should be in that one class and there is no bending the rules, then find another place. If you want your child to be a successful swimmer, swim lessons are simply GUIDELINES that a teacher must follow to involve the student to get him to do what he needs to do. And don't forget, most swim instructors who have been doing this for years (or are moms themselves like I am) are really bendable and can adapt THEIR program to YOU. Don't give up -- it will be harder the older your child gets.

All really cool people are stubborn -- they're the ones who aren't pushed around by irrelevant things like other people's schedules and other people's priorities. Usually, in adults it's called determination, or character. In children it's only inconvenient because it reminds us that they're whole people with minds of their own.

I'm always really worried about those poor little passive children who keep waiting and hoping that some day it will be their turn to have a say in something, or that someday someone will 'just know' what it is they're lacking and give it to them. Just because they don't look needy doesn't mean they aren't.

Swimming lessons are for kids to learn to swim, right? If she's not learning, then the approach is not working for her, the method doesn't match her learning style or no one is respecting her need for things to go her pace or according to her curiosity. Yes, I know that this is an impossible task for a class setting -- but what's that got to do with your sweet little girl?

Yeah: nothing.

A class can't have her going at her pace, just as it can't go at the pace of every other child there. Some of those quiet children may be quietly being traumatized, while yours is fighting back instead. Who will ever know? They're too young to talk about it and much too young to have any awareness of it.

What can you do about it? Respect her clear communication and do what your intuition is clearly telling you to do. Your question states that quite directly, so I won't repeat it here. I know you know what you need to do, and I believe you will do what is best for your family. Do you know that, too?

She's 2... I wouldn't expect her to sit and listen at the class.. can you just let her do what she wants to do in the class without being distruptive or will that not work?
I took my son to a parent/child gymnastics class and it was frustrating for him because he wanted to do certain things and not others. I just let him do the things he wanted to do and then we'd sit and watch the other kids do the other things. It got better as the class progressed.

I think for that age the classes should be do what works for you... a 2 year old really can't be expected to sit still and listen to the teacher.. BUT they can learn by observing.

My son wouldn't do a lot at gymnastics, but after the class was over he started doing the things at home... so he was picking them up!

I agree with the other moms, she is just not mature enough to be in a structured class, especially when she loves to play in the water. It's like waving candy in front of her and not expecting her to grab it. I say, just let her enjoy her summer in the water with her family and try swim lessons later. Also, I have read that swim lessons aren't really effective until age 4, they apparantly lack the coordination.