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Comment by wkearney99 | Hacker News Reader

We had our 9mo child take 'Infant Swim Rescue' courses, basically anti-drowning lessons. The concern being the waters near us are cloudy and it'd be impossible to see someone if they went under. Classes went well.

At a neighbors party a 2.5yo fell into the pool. I saw it happening and the little girl just SANK LIKE A STONE. With a panicked look on her face. Little feet hit the bottom, let out a blurp of air and did nothing. Her Dad was already in the air diving into the water before I could get up. The child was fine, thankfully. Her folks immediately asked about the classes I'd mentioned before.

I can still see the complete bewilderment on that child's face. She just had NO IDEA what to do and would have drowned had it not been for quick actions.

My point here is lessons are absolutely worth considering starting MUCH earlier than you might guess. This isn't learning to 'swim', it's learning how 'not to drown'.

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We had our 9mo child take 'Infant Swim Rescue' courses, basically anti-drowning lessons

Can you expand on what that included? Was it focused on parents identifying children in distress, or did it in some way help train kids on what to do if in distress?

They teach the kids to seek out the edge of the pool, to try to turn towards the edge and grab it if they fall off the edge, and to try to get at least an elbow up on the edge of the pool. I suspect a lot of it is a preamble to learning to swim at a later age. By exposing the children to water at a very early age, they learn to accept it without a lot of fear. It preconditions them so they are more successful at actual swim classes when they're a little older.

We have two kids. I kick myself for not getting our youngest (3) started earlier. He didn't start classes until he was about 20 months. We all had a lot of health problems after he was born (all unrelated!), so his first year was a bit of a rollercoaster. Our oldest (5), we started at about 10 months, then had about a year and a half long break before starting him again. There's a stark difference in their comfort level in the water, even comparing how the 5-yr-old acted when he was 3, versus how his younger brother acts now. Yet they are the complete opposite regarding risk-taking behavior on dry ground.

The AAP says: "infants younger than 1 year are developmentally unable to learn the complex movements, such as breathing, necessary to swim. They may manifest reflexive swimming movement under the water but cannot effectively raise their heads to breathe. There is no evidence to suggest that infant swimming programs for those younger than 1 year are beneficial."

The evidence for swimming lessons before 1 year is discussed in this article: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/summer-is-here-and-infant-s...

My niece has had swim lessons since she was 6 months old IIRC and she is an awesome swimmer now at 3 years old.

That doesn't necessarily indicate whether or not she's a better swimmer than she would be if she'd started later than 6 months old, though - maybe the first months were entirely pointless or maybe they're why she's so great already at 3.

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