ISR- Infant Swim Resource Swimming Lessons

My baby went through the flotation/survival portion of the classes at 10 months in San Diego. Yes- she cried every day for the entire 10 minute duration of the lesson, which didn't make it easy for me to watch, but she did learn and could duplicate her skills at home without crying. This past spring, at 18 months, she went through the second portion- the float/swim/rest sequence she cried on some days and clearly enjoyed herself on others. Though the classes are a bit expensive, to us it was a matter of her safety and providing her the skills necessary to aide us in averting horrible accident. I would even drive her 35-45 minutes form Santee and Ramona to DelMar because we wanted her to be with a Master Instructor.

There is no substitute for adult supervision with children around water, but how many times have we heard of tragic instances where all it took was a minute or two of distraction for the unspeakable to happen? Not only that, but even with gates and all the other safety precautions we take, time after time, we hear of how the babies somehow or another still ended up in the water. Living in California, with all the naturally occuring bodies of water and the fact that so many families have pools, it is sooo important to protect our children for such a horrible possibility. If you go onto the ISR website, you can read testimonials from many parents whose children fell in accidentally and were able to save themselves by swimming to the edge or by floating long enough for the parents to get them.

If there is anything more you would like to know, I'd be happy to fill you in on what I know.

-I.

I wasn't as on the ball with this when my kids were babies as I should have been (although we don't have a pool so it wasn't top of mind) - anyhow, when I was a baby, my mother taught me to swim starting at 6 months. By the time I was 18 months, I could dive in from the edge, swim down and pick up pennies off the bottom of the pool (5 ft deep), and swim back to the edge. Mostly she taught me using games (like "submarine" where I'd be behind her, hanging on to her shoulders and we'd swim around underwater). So it's definitely possible to teach them, whether you do it or you hire someone to teach them. I think it's important to teach kids a love and respect of the water as young as possible if you have a pool in your yard! I wouldn't consider a child to be water-safe until they can dive in, swim across the pool, and climb out on their own though.

I'm just asking because I am curious: have there been any studies or even isolated incidents showing that if an infant trained in ISR falls into a pool, they have the cognitive ability to think to try to get themselves out? If so, I find this amazing.

Hi A., I believe in swimming lessons as early as you can do it. We had a pool when my daughter was born. I got her into swimming lessons at the age of 6 months. She is now 25 and an incredible swimmer. She taught swim lessons for awhile as well. I am not sure if Water Babies in Campbell is still around, but I highly reccommend AVAC in San Jose. They have a great swim school and teach year round. Good Luck

hi A.,

my sister enrolled her sons in a survival swim class in fl.
they are both swimming and jumping into the water after their first week of class(her son was 3 1/2 for the 1st session and her younger son just finished session 2 @ 2 yrs.5 months old)
it is intense, but she felt so worth it. similar to you, she has a pool with a locked gate etc. but still wanted her boys to know the basics.

good luck. i think its the best thing you can do for your children

P.

We didn't do ISR, but we did have swim/survival lessons in our own pool when our daughter starting at 8 months. We wanted her to be able to get to the side of the pool and get out on her own. She learned to "choo choo" around the pools edge and get herself to the shallow end steps. She worked on pulling herself out over the edge, but she had the toddler belly that just got in the way.

It was worth it.

We also, let the swim co. use our pool for other lessons. We were not liable (Every customer signed a release.) and they used our pool on certain half days and my daughter had free lessons.

Stephanie

I think the best thing you could do is start swimming lessons. There are no down sides to it. You will have peace of mind. I have done it with all my kids. We went to Debbie Meyer Swim School on Marconi. She doesn't own it anymore so don't know if it is the same, but worth checking into it.
Stac

I don't know much about the course, but I didn't like the video I've seen in which the infants are crying and clearly emotionally distressed as they are 'performing' the maneuvers.

We have a pool and our fence is around the entire backyard, so the pool is accessible to the kids anytime they're in the backyard. We simply taught our toddler to swim early on. She's 18 months now and can swim about 8 feet underwater to get to the side of the pool if she needs to.

We are, of course, vigilant about her not being outside unattended, but we do feel that if she were to fall into the pool, it's almost assured that she could splash over to the side and hold on, since this is what she does on a an almost daily basis when she swims. She knows how to leap into the deep end, turn and paddle to the side, for instance.

One thing that we felt strongly about was that we could not reliably keep her away from the pool, regardless of what fence or alarm was in place. So we felt it was imperative that she have some basic skills to protect herself in a worse case scenario. But her swimming lessons done by us at home have always been fun and stress free. There's no need to traumatize the kids, as they learn much better without.

The sooner you get them in the water the easier swim lessons will go as the get older. I started my son in mommy and me classes at two and still have trouble with him wanting to get his face wet and his back float is sporatic at best.

I have a friend who is an ISR instructor in another state. Recently, she found out that a baby she had taught last summer had fallen into the pool, turned over, floated and saved himself!

I haven't done these classes myself as my children are older and we don't have a pool at our home. But from everything I've seen and heard, if you can afford them, they are well worth it!

I signed my son up for ISR when he was 6.5 months old. He mastered the "turn over and float" in a few weeks, and was even featured in a news story on the program at 8 months. After the lessons were over we didn't practice much with him at home and then it was winter, so I wasn't sure if the lessons were worth it. Well, we went back this year in April when he was 18 months old and the first day back in the water with the instructor he was right back into the turning over and floating! I really believe in the program. We are practicing with him a lot at home and I do believe that if he ever fell in a body of water that he would turn himself over and float. Obviously, it's not meant to be anything other than a safety measure to give you a few extra minutes to get to your child should an accident happen. You STILL have to watch your kids around water! But it makes me feel better knowing that he has had this training.

My daughter took infanmt swim survival mommy and me classes at 10 mos old. I think it is very impoertant. We also had a fence but you never know for sure when someone might leave it open. She was fearless and would crawl out the dog door everyday onto the patio. Thankfully she never got into the pool anyway but at least she could turn over etc if she had.

Whether you take your little one to the swimming course or not the key point is that young children HAVE to be supervised around water. When young children fall into the water you CAN NOT depend they will think "it's ok I can swim". Usually they just float there, no splashing, no nothing. I had one of my four children fall into the pool when he was a toddler & "knew how to swim". I looked up just as he was in mid-air. I was amazed at how he just floated there with arms outstretched. I had him out of the water is less than a minute. There is no substitute for watching them & even then you are only human and can not really watch him every moment.

My son learned to swim at a year and a half. Nothing extraordinary, but he could pull through the water with his arms, float on his back to breath and climb out of the pool unassisted.

We didn't do ISR, though... I took him to Dolphin Swim School. He did lessons there again for a month a year later to refine his swimming. He's 3 now and a great swimmer (can out-swim most kids twice his age at our pool) and never developed any of those weird swimming habits like doggy paddling or flailing around.

I don't see how ISR could hurt (unless it makes you think you don't need to worry about your kids around water). I'd say go for it.

T.