Teaching an 18 month old to swim

[Plarka]

We go to the pool once a week and my daughter loves it.  She kicks and moves her arms and I don't know what to do next with her!  I figure the Doman book isn't relevant as it starts from infancy, so what book could I get that would apply to an 18 mo old?   Can a baby her age actuall learn to swim or is it really just learning to float for survival?

[DomanMom]

Yes, eighteen month olds can definitely learn to swim, and very well actually! She probably won't be able to swim with her head above the water yet, but swimming underwater is still a splendid exercise for both body and brain and will speed the time before she is able to swim above the water.

Doman's book How to Teach Your Baby to Swim covers birth through six years, so she is not too old for it. I bought it several months ago for my then two-year-old son, and plan to use the techniques with him this summer (he will be four). The program would have to be adapted to suit the abilities of your child, but the techniques are still nonetheless very useful.

For example, last summer when I used it I used some of the exercises in the two- to four-year-old section, some of the exercises in the one- to two-year-old section, and even some very adapted exercises in the six- to twelve-month-old section. He was not ready for all the exercises in his actual age group (two- to four-year-olds) but I just used what he could do and left out what he couldn't.

The Doman program is really a great book as it covers all the important aspects of swimming and gives you a clear, yet adaptable program to follow to take your baby/toddler/preschool from a splasher to a confident and capable swimmer. It's true that it's designed to start at birth but, like I mentioned, it is easily adaptable.

[dreffa]

Hmm very interesting... wish there were classes for my 18mth old.. any ?

[cassidy336]

My son has been taking classes since he was about 6 months old, he is now almost 2.  He goes underwater by himself to dive for rings now.  He is not at all afraid of going under but sometimes it still freaks me out. 

[christinc21]

Check out:
http://www.infantswim.com/
and see if they have a local teacher in your area. They do not in mine just yet, but I did add my son to a waiting list and they are supposed to notify me when someone comes here for teaching. I think it is a great opportunity. They teach them to hold their breath, float and to swim.

[mhaasini]

A 18 months kid who is swimming is wonderful ....

[iLusion]

I have enrolled my son for the swim classes starting next month. I will post my exp. of how that goes here.

[Aadeshkumar]

Can somebody give a tip as to how to train the child at home

[luckymommy1307]

How should I teach my son to hold his breath? I bought I baby swimming pool and a neck float for him to swim at home and he enjoys his daily swim. How should I do it? Should I get the book? Thanks

[Cristofori]

I toolk my kids to a place called Saf T Swim when they were babies.  I've seen hundreds of baby swim lessons through the one way mirror.  [They take kids ages 3 mos and up.]  From the first lesson, the instructors would count to three and gently blow in the baby's face so that the baby would hold her breath and then put her underwater.  Not a dunk down, but a forward pulling motion underwater.  When the baby came up, the instructor would smile and praise.  Usually it was well received, but some babies will not like it and will cry and receive some comforting (patting on the back and calming) before it is attempted again.  From my observations, it is always attempted again and again!

Another technique they always seemed to work on was to place the baby onthe pool edge and -- while holding her -- submurge her in the water, turn her body to face the wall while still underwater, place her hands on the pool edge while still underwater, and then she will pull herself up somewhat (or you should help!) and teach her to go hand to hand to move to the stairs.  This is taught in case the baby should ever fall in while unattended.  It it happens, the baby will hopefully instinctually turn around underwater, grab the wall, and make their way to the ladder or stairs.  With repetition, it works very well.

They also put swimmy arm bubbles on the arms and have them "float" independently.  It is  great way for them to learn balance in the water.  As they get better at it, deflate the bubbls so that the baby is closer to the surface of the water.  That way, the baby will not get used to being high above the water, which one is not when swimming.

[KL]

Do you have instances where the child, anticipating she is about to go under and trying to avoid it, lifts up her head and looks up (trying to keep her face out of the water), but in doing so, makes it worse cos in that position the water gets into the nose very easily?

does anyone have young kids/toddlers enrolled in class currently?

[AadiShankar]

I like to enroll my kid in a swimming class ...

[Cristofori]

Do you have instances where the child, anticipating she is about to go under and trying to avoid it, lifts up her head and looks up (trying to keep her face out of the water), but in doing so, makes it worse cos in that position the water gets into the nose very easily?

does anyone have young kids/toddlers enrolled in class currently?

My kids didn't do that, but I think the protocol was to put some pressure on the top of the head to prevent it.  Needless to say, if a child is so hysterically upset that she is flailing around, it is not a good time to work on this technique.  This is not to say that if the baby doesn't like it you should never push forward.  The instructors who got the best results had big hearts but kept going through the tears.  Not every parent will be able to suffer through the rough spots.  [And I really think it is the parent who suffers more than the child.]

Lessons are sort of over now -- my young kids now swim on a team.  [They still work on stroke development there, though.]

[trinity papa]

I think there is alot of video on youtube showing how to teach babies to swim ..... i started on mine when she was 5mth .... dip and hold breath ....and trying back float ..... and using the neck float ..... of course she likes swimming just not the dipping .... no baby swiming course here .... so we made our own program and do it on our own .... hubby wife together .... alot of encouragement and love .... so she know we are not torturing her but that we would be by her side and she wil know its for her own good .....

But its winter now ... will wait till May again to restart the second stage ... hopefully she is not afraid of water ... at home shower /bath we try to immerse her once a while .... by 17m (in may) i would go more intensively .... hmm more on teaching her to float on back .... dipping and probably would be tossing her to ... see if she will kick in her instinct to turn on her back to float ... yes its more of a survival course than swimming course ... but i do see 3-4 yr olds screaming when they get near the water ... and they have floats around their chest, arm and sitting on a floatation device ..... such swimming classes would probably be teaching them to kick class after class ..... i think first step is to get them not afraid of water, how to survive if they feel exhausted, how to back float, and how to breath under water .... which i see according to most videos shown ... the swimming, kicking part i think will come in after 2.....

in any case i was a swim captain and knows CPR even for infants so ...... do brush up on your first aid before attempting it on your own ....

[littlemamapuz]

My son just started today taking a 3-week refresher course through Infant Swim Resource www.infantswim.com   He had his first lessons last year when he was 6 months old where he learned how to float.  Now he will learn how to swim, float, swim.  If anyone has any questions about our experience, feel free to contact me directly.

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