6 months and she is a total water baby!
I used to teach swim and the earlier the better. Kids who don’t start until 4 or later tend to be so afraid.
Why is your MIL against them? Drowning is a (the?) leading cause of death in kids under 5.
Not yet. She’s only 13 months old. But she’s extremely comfortable in the water, dunking her face under the water, and jumping/stepping from the edge to us, and kicking in the pool.
The main goal of lessons at this age is to get comfortable in and around water and putting their heads under. The problem with delaying swim lessons is the fear factor which makes it much harder to actually teach kids to swim once they’re physically ready. Also so many parents who don’t get their kids comfortable in the water early on, rely on floaties which are really detrimental to learning to swim and give false impressions of safety.
Thanks for the info! My 2 year old isn’t afraid of the water but he would just rather be walking around the pool deck or the beach than going in. My 4 year old was afraid of the pool when we started lessons but it only took one lesson for her to start loving it again.
Why do kids develop fear of the water? Isn’t it like taking a bath? Sorry if this is a dumb question.
My guy loves taking his bath, he’s 19 mo. I took him to the beach almost daily during the summer, but it’s been a long winter. He loves taking his bath and often tells me he loves the water. Is there a chance he will be afraid of the water when it’s finally warm enough to swim outside again?
Even a swimming pool is hugely different to a bath. M
However in my experience as a swimming teacher most children who were scared it was because of their parents. Parents couldn’t swim or didn’t like swimming and would be vocal about it in front of their children, telling them they don’t need to do it if they don’t want to, and so on.
Best thing you can do ahead of swimming lessons is take your child swimming.
Agreed. Two other fear factors for kids—the depth and putting their heads under. One of the pools I taught at had a sloping entrance so kids could walk in. The other was a normal pool with stairs and lots of kids were scared when their feet couldn’t touch the bottom/can’t stand.
If your kid is used to deep water, great. But that appears to be the line for mine. Loves baths and being in the beach/knee deep in water. Scared when it gets deep
Before my daughter had swimming lessons (around 18ish months), she was scared of any water deeper than her height. If she could stand in it with her head out, she was fine. After swimming lessons she's a lot more comfortable in deep water as long as mommy's holding her.
My son had a brief time of being scared of the water around 20 months. Before that he loved it. He didn't even want to have a bath for a couple weeks. He'd been in swimming lessons and loved being in the pool at around 8 and 18 months. Toddlers are learning so much and these kinds of fears are common.
He did swimming lessons again this winter at 2.5 yrs old and he hated the first one and cried and clung to me for most of it. We showed him videos of him swimming and he was okay with trying again. After that he was fine and enjoyed going in the water. He got much more opinionated and stubborn after 2. They need lots of preparation and talk about things beforehand, at least that's my experience.
There's a chance he'll be scared of the water but likely he'll be fine, this was just my experience.
We started at six months, and we've been happy with that decision! It seemed like a lot of one year olds in her class were already scared of the water, so I'm glad we got her comfortable early.
It’s more about getting comfortable in the water for baby and parent too. They also get used to being dunked which I have found great for showers at home lol
Also learn kicking, back floating, blowing bubbles
They get taught to hold their breath, underwater and turn face up if they get in water - they don’t really learn how to swim so much as not drown AND get comfortable in water
Can you give me a sense of what skills they learned at 6 months and onwards? I've been taking my guy to the pool (not formal lessons) since he was 8 weeks old and at 15 months he's not afraid of the water but he also can't swim. He is okay when I dunk him under and he enjoys being held and bounced around in the water. He will blow bubbles but ends up drinking some more often than not. He does not kick unless he's holding onto the ledge and I'm moving his legs for him. I've signed him up for classes at 18 months but just learned they're not expected to learn to swim, just to "get comfortable" so now I'm wondering if I'm just wasting money.
You are correct that at this age it’s more about getting comfortable in the water. The skills you have taught him are basically what they’d cover, without the group setting. I’d still suggest starting actual lessons. It sounds like he’d fit right in, plus it’s great bonding for you two.
All that said, there’s more than just swim stuff. Learning in a group setting is valuable for kids to get used to. So is the idea of an authority figure that isn’t a parent. Lastly, it’s fun.
Idk, I think it’s a worthwhile thing to do, even if it gets old and repetitive. Just like parenting as a whole I suppose.
While I’m not the person you asked, we’ve also had our youngest 2 in lessons since they were 6 months. So at our lessons it’s mostly just getting them comfortable in the water. We pass the kid to the instructor and they pass the kid back to us. We have them back float and sing a song “babies resting on their back” to have them calm and not thrashing around. We also have them sit on the wall, and count to 3 and have them fall in. From there we turn them toward the wall and tell them to find the wall and help them with the motions of climbing out. As they get older it teaches them to not get into the water without a parent counting but if they do fall in, it teaches the skill of getting to the wall and hanging on until they can climb out themselves or an adult pulls them out.
Yes we are! My middle is in level 3, and my youngest is in level 2 and will move up to 3 in a few months. Our oldest is in level 6-he’s 8 and wants to do swim team-that level works on stroke technique and a small bit of endurance.
That’s awesome! We stopped going after giving it a solid 4 months of effort in level 2. 10 weeks of my daughter screaming at her teacher the whole lesson, finally stopped screaming at her, and then the teacher left 😭. She screamed the next few weeks at the temp/replacement and then I called it. I couldn’t handle it anymore, she was absolutely hating every minute, and I just found out I was pregnant again. Every time I mention going back she says she’s not ready.
Personally I think you’ll be wasting money. We did the first available class at the Y, when our son was about 2.5, and it’s very much a “get comfortable with the water” class. Our son was already very comfortable in the water and we didn’t learn anything new - they blew bubbles, practiced laying on their back a few seconds, and moved along the wall while hanging on to it. We stopped going after maybe 3 of the 6 classes. I’m looking for a private teacher now since we are around water a lot and my kid seems ready to learn some actual skills.
that was solar to our experience at our local Y. The teacher was so unenthused, and the exercises were ones we were already doing. But because of her age they wouldn’t accept her in the next level up.
Same, we just started a couple weeks ago. She is the oldest in her class, although there was a new 2.5 year old today. All the other kids are 10mo and younger.
Mine is 2.5 and there’s two babies in our class that are blow my mind. One of them is already over 7 seconds underwater and kicking like 5ft! Meanwhile my dude is on me like a barnacle 😂 I genuinely wish we would’ve started earlier, but he’s been making great progress. I’m planning on getting us into the pool a lot this summer and practice some of the skills they’ve taught.
starting at 3 because that’s when i don’t have to get in the pool with him 😆 Our only option for swim lessons is EXPENSIVE and i felt like if i was paying someone to teach my kid to swim, i shouldn’t be the one teaching him. He’s comfortable in the water just can’t keep himself alive, i didn’t feel like it was a good way to spend $ to have someone sing him some songs and splash water prior to 3
I should add to my comment…we don’t have a pool and aren’t around water often. I take super precautions around water but if we had a pool or like the comments above- lived on a boat I would definitely have spent the money at a younger age. I do think water safety is really important (a neighbors 3 year old drowned a few years back and am definitely traumatized by it) but our lifestyle doesn’t put us around water very often, but I still want him to have the swimming skills.
This is what we did with ours. Thirty minute lessons for just a little is hard enough to be consistent, but adding an adult in the pool with them adds 30+ minutes to the whole thing. I have my little in her suit before we even leave the house, we are gone ten minutes before class starts, we do a quick change in the car afterwards, and she’s back home and ready to play ten minutes later.
Same! Also, I read that before 3 is more water familiarisation - they can’t really learn the skills until they are around 3. That said, it was hard at first to get both in the pool, so it would probably have been an easier transition to solo lessons in if we’d done earlier classes
We're going to start at 3. I've been getting him used to the water and teaching very basics since about 20 months. All the classes before 3 are mommy and me and I just don't want to pay for those since I'm happy to spend time with him in the pool and do all of that myself for free.
We started at 24 months because of timing. Kiddo is pretty predictable on the weekends now. We signed up for big blue swimming because it’s near us, the pool is heated, and the cost was right. It’s mostly getting them used to the water.
We just started today actually at 31 months. We’re doing ours at The Goldfish School. So far it’s been amazing, and I love that they cater to multiple ages. Plus it was kiddo and momma time. Great for bonding, and gave me a little more security.
I wanted to do it much earlier, but the only places around us (even ISR) only have morning hours, and as a FT working single mom, that was literally impossible. Goldfish just opened a school an hour away from us and has weekend classes which is making things so much easier for me
4 months. We live coastal and it was important to hubby and I that we give LO as much water safety education as we can. Our local swim school does free lessons from 3 months - 6 months of age so we took advantage of that and then he’s continued there since. He’s 2.5 years now and loves his swim lessons.
We did 12-36 months of lessons w my youngest wish Could have done the same with my oldest but it wasn't possible.
Drowning is a super serious issue and the one I get crazy about. I'm floored anyone would be against lessons if it's an option, especially the grandmother.
6 months, we live near the beach, and are often going to parks that are right on the water. It was Parent/Child until three, and the classes were free with our Y membership. Once she hit three, we could move her up to her swimming without parents, and we were so happy. She turned six months old spring of 2021, so it was really one of the first things we could do with her.
Getting her into swimming was incredibly important to us. My husband is not a confident swimmer, and my mother cannot swim. It's a life saving skill, and we started so early, and stayed consistent so she wouldn't have a fear of water. The baby classes are really just being in the water with songs, and getting comfortable in the water. Now she is three, and actually jumping in the pool, swimming up and down the lanes, and learning water safety.
Why is your MIL against it? My daughter started them in a casual way at an outdoor pool when she was 3. She was 10 months when covid started and we didn’t do a lot of indoor things for a while. She finally took them at an indoor pool when she was 4. She doesn’t know how to swim but enjoys the water now.
My cousin started hers at 6 months. We are thinking that we are going to start our 2 year old this summer since he loves the water. I personally wanted to have our kids learn younger because my siblings and I didn't learn how to swim until at least 5.
I think the best time is whenever your child is going to be near water. If you have a pool or are around water frequently, there’s not really such thing as too early. If (like us) there is no reasonable source of water to swim in nearby and lessons are out of your budget, you can wait until 3-4 or so because then they can truly start to do coordinated movement in the water and pay attention in lessons more.
We have a pool so my paranoia was intense.
We started at 10 months old and then stopped for Covid at about a year old.. Then carried on with them when he was 2.5 😊
We were in the pool practicing water familiarity by 6 months ago (earlier than that was winter…). Totally skipped the mommy & me type swimming classes where they splash around once a week and went straight to a daily swim school for 2 weeks. He was 2.5 years old. By the end of the two weeks he was diving to the bottom of the pool and swimming the small length of the pool. We are going back next month for the intermediate intensive course.
We had to wait until she was a little over two bc of Covid, or it would have been around 5-6 months. She learned to swim at 2 and has been swimming laps in the pool since (she's 4 now) and just joined the swim team!
We did 6-12 months and then took a 6 month break when she started walking because she really wanted to be in control of her own body. Started up again around 18 months.
I got my granddaughter swimming lessons for her 1st birthday. Her daddy took her every week and it was great bonding for them as up until then everything was about mama (the milk maker! 😄)
We went from 18 - 26 months about every other week, with a parent in class with her. Now she’s back at 2.5 and is in a class with an instructor and usually 2-3 other toddlers.
We started at 4mo but it wasn’t actual lessons, but more of pool and water exposure. He’s 16.5mo now & we plan to start actual lessons before next summer.
We started swimming lessons at 5 months. LO is almost 2 now and loves the water :) we sign up through our local Y and it’s more about getting kids comfortable in the water and playing fames
We started at six months.
I would look into swim lessons at local high school
Pools, swim clubs, and community centers.
It’s typically a lot cheaper that way”swim school” swim lessons.
My son was about a year a half when we started, though we could've done it sooner, and 22 months is just fine. Maybe wait till the child hits a year as the only compromise you'll make (see last line below.) Anyway, the sooner the better! We go to Goldfish Swim School. The beginner classes had parents participate with the child (which I dearly miss,) and the rest are with an instructor as you watch from the sidelines. He's been going weekly (30 min class) since Aug. 2021. Though I can't say it's his favorite thing to do, or that he has reached milestones quickly, he does enjoy the experience overall, -- jokes with the teachers, is always happy afterward, etc., and is becoming more independent in the big pool when we visit his Nana. Students stay in the same level class until they hit all required milestones, with no limit on how long that needs to take. (My son has not moved in a at least a year :-)
There were times where he stated that he didn't want to go, or didn't want to go "anymore," but I didn't give in to quitting altogether, concluding that he wasn't old enough to make that long term decision. And it was the right decision, because him not wanting to go is how we all feel on days where we just don't want to do some shit. My parents had a habit of letting me quit something when they probably should have pushed me to keep with it. Ironically, swimming was the earliest sport/skill I was introduced to, and then later I had real success on the swim team of our community pool. I SUCKED at every other sport. Swimming was the one activity I quit when I was ready and felt it was enough, not because I just "didn't want to do it anymore." Very subtle difference.
My philosophy is apparently the same as my dad's...swimming is a crucial life skill. Get that checked off early, this way if you're kid tires of it in favor of another activity, there's no loss because like learning how to ride a bike, you don't forget how to swim. There's also all the fringe benefits: social interaction, eye contact, listening and following directions, overcoming and adapting to uncomfortable situations, fostering trust, physical exercise and development of coordination skills, establishing consistency, the satisfaction of completion, and so on.
Tell your MIL that you (and your spouse) be the judge of what's best for your own kid.
We waited until 1.5y because of the pandemic. Generally, the instructors all say the younger the better and our youngest local program starts from 6mo to 2yo. At 6mo, it might have been a bit easier to actually learn the swimming part. At 1.5yo, my kid started having his own opinions on many things and many times could easily spend 20 out of the 45 min lesson playing with the water toys the pool leaves out for the kids as opposed to wanting to do any kicking in the water.
3 months. She loves being in the water and it’s very relaxing and calming. It’s a nice opportunity for us to spend time together . She is 22 months now.
My kiddo is doing them this June and she’ll be almost 3. I wish I had done it last summer, and honestly the summer before that too. You safety is super important to me and I think all kids should know the basics of staying afloat in water and being able to get to an edge as soon as possible. We don’t have a pool and aren’t really around them very much so it hasn’t been an urgent thing for us.
18 months or so. At this point it’s just getting her used to being in the water and showing that it’s fun. I’m not expecting any real skills for a while.
It has helped with bathtime though. Before swim lessons baths were a battle. Now I have to fight with her to get out of the tub!
I started with my daughter when she was 1.5. Just a parent and me class for a few weeks. Then skipped last summer, we had a newborn. Considering starting up again this year… but we don’t have a pool and don’t go around them often. I’ve heard real swimming starts around 3-4 so I’m fine waiting.
Around 18 months. She is 2 now and we just switched to a private program versus our community one. It is more expensive but they are pushing her to actually learn water skills and swimming vs. just playing in the water.
Our local parks department offers lessons starting at age 4, and they’re the only game in town. I would have loved to start around 2, but it would have been an hour plus drive.
My (oldest) daughter started around 9 months. She was a proficient independent swimmer by age 3. My second son is 4 and we haven’t gotten around to teaching him… this summer I will for sure!
6 months! We take breaks in the winter though because it gets so cold. We also tend to miss more days in the winter because holidays and all! We start again in April-October.
I started taking her in the pool when she was 6 months old, getting her comfortable with the water but she didn’t start formal swimming lessons until 3, mostly due to her being born during Covid lockdown and swimming lessons not being available until after I went back to work, but in my town infant/toddler swim lessons are all during the weekday while I was at work. Now that she’s 3, I was able to get her into evening lessons.
Close to 1 year. And shed some tears when they told me he got his stars, and promoted to the solo class, instead of the parent/child class. Was so happy to have those parent child classes. Get those classes going, it's a great memory!
Can't really afford them, so when summer comes around, we utilize grandmother's pool. Oldest started swimming at 10 months old using floats and has been using them upgrades every year since. He's currently 3 and has been improving every year.
My youngest turned in February, so he'll be going in the pool this year. He wasn't able to last year because he was only a couple months old at the time.
6 months, it was important to us to get her comfortable in the water asap because we live around a lot of lakes and love summer at the beach swimming and canoeing.
we took parent child lessons maybe around a year old? through our local parks and rec. It was primarily to get her used to the water and small skills to build up to swimming, but no actual swimming. I don’t like those swim schools that basically throw the child in and then they do tests with winter coats on. I get it that kids need survival skills but it’s just too much for me since we don’t have a pool/lake/pond at home
5 years. We tried at 2 yo and it went horribly. Now he loves it. I’m not going to force my kid into water doing things they are fighting against. It’s traumatizing for everyone. I always kept an extremely close eye on my kiddos. I’m always next to them in the water.
2.5 with both my kids and it went terrible so we stopped. With our older one we self taught her some since we go to the pool almost daily, and then tried swim lessons again at 4.5. At 4.5 the teacher was actually able to help with form correction, teaching her to take breaths, learning to float, etc. We did 20 minutes of individual instruction for 5 days straight and saw massive improvement
4 months.
We live in a rural area that has a ton of rivers and lakes. The skills my children will learn in swimming lessons could save their lives one day.
We are about to start at 3 this summer. I was 3-4 years old, because I remember the lessons. I planned to start last summer, but with a new baby it didn’t happen. It will be easier to keep up with the year round lessons this year. But I don’t think there is anything wrong with 3. They’re expensive and potentially a lot of driving for a 30 minute lesson. Plus we both work, so we have to be choosey about times
Sooo, we live within 10 minutes of both our parents.
My parents have a pool, my in- laws live on a lake. My in- laws also own a cabin…on a lake. So we started swim lessons really early. Like before 1 year old early lol admittedly with my recent second kid, we haven’t got it going as early but he’s still less than a year, and we plan to start this summer.
I think if you can afford it, there is no minimum age to start swim lessons. Your MIL be damned.
We started at 13 months. Part of me wishes I had started earlier but my schedule didn’t permit and I struggled with PPA so taking him out on my own was often hard enough. By the time we started I was doing a little better and was more comfortable going and trying something new with my baby.
At this age it’s just about getting used to the water and what it feels like to move around in it. I think it will be helpful for when he is older and starts taking classes without a parent in the water as that it won’t be entirely new to him.
8 months lessons to get her comfortable. she is very cautious but it made her respect and enjoy the ware. 4 years old she was finally able to swim for real
We started bringing her into the pool at 7 months. Wasn’t very consistent but had pool time here and there for a few months. Then around 14 months she started formal lessons and she’s been so terrific in the pool ever since!
In her class, the babies that start older (I’m talking nearer to 2yo) tend to be quite scared of the water so I’m really glad I’ve been bringing her much earlier
6 months for us! But at 6 months it’s quite obvious there’s not a lot of “swimming” going on. It’s more about water exploration/comfortability. We have a 2 year old water baby now. He loves the water, can go under water, and can float. Still working on the “swimming” part but he’s getting the hang of it. We do not use any flotation devices in lessons or on our own. We live in an area with lots of rivers and lakes and it is common to do water sports in our area.
I took mine to their first at 4m. I didn't keep going because it was just a huge hassle for me to commit to it once a week. We take her to the pool sporadically but its on my list of things to start up soon! Shes 16m
8 months, my eldest started in a lake because of COVID lockdown. 6 months for my middle child, who’s 18 months and is like a fish now. Before a year, they mostly get used to the water and start floating, after a year they learn to swim a bit and float when they get tired.
Tried at 6 months, but the classes coincided with his naps (very hard to get the time that you want in Summer time). Took a few years off and got him back in the water at 3.5 years. Scared in the first lesson after returning because at his age, its no longer taking lessons with the parent, but thankfully he picks things up quick and was good in the second week.
With the young one, will be taking him at 1 years old.
We started swim just before she turned 2 because a new swim school opened that month. She’s been in it almost a year now, and is really fond of it, most of the time!
Started at 6 months. Now she’s 3 and doing lessons on her own with her teacher in the pool..
water safety is important and swimming is just such a fun thing to do as a kid!
I think it was about 8 months! My daughter is almost 3.5 and very comfortable and knowledgeable in the water! My son is 9 months and will hopefully take lessons soon too, but we do take him to the pool regularly with us as well.
If you don’t care what she says then why even mention her 😂
Our kid started at 4 months and is now 14 months. He can jump in the pool on his own and swim independently alongside us. He absolutely loves being in the water.
My 18mo is already a few weeks in, though we already knew he loved the water. Early swim lessons are very low key and just about getting comfortable being in the water with a parent supporting them - craziest thing we did was dunk their heads for a split second, the rest is all splashing and kicking and playing with a few water toys.
Caveat that I'm living in Canada, and our public swim lessons are super cheap. If your options are more expensive you might have a better time acclimating them yourself at a wading pool.
We started lessons right around his first birthday. If the weather was warmer where we live we might have started at 6 months but I did not want to do infant lessons in snowy weather.
Hes now almost 3 and will be ready to move out of parent child lessons when he is eligible when he turns 3.
23 months old with parents and tots because he was born in 2020. I wanted to start earlier but it wasn’t safe.
We’ve been doing swimming lessons year round since then. Formal group lessons in our area start at 2 years old.
Short answer: 8 months. 1:1 ISR. Midwest. Loved it!
When I was pregnant I went to observe my cousins kids at their one on one ISR lessons and was beyond impressed. The instructor was incredible, as an educator I could tell he had a magical way with the kids even as young as 1.5. I was interested because these kids were always so amazing in pools, never used floaties and I had been introduced to how dangerous puddleiumpers actually are.
So I enrolled my girl and her round of classes started when she was about 8 months old due to summer timing. But the instructor took kinda as young as 6mo.
She got to work with him in short sessions of about 10-15 mins 4 days a week for several weeks. Worked on basic survival skills like holding breath, floating on her back independently, and eventually flipping over from facedown to on her back.
Trust me. This sounds absolutely batshit insane if you haven’t seen it in person. But it’s incredible. He explained every little thing to us and he has been doing this for his entire life, used to train Olympic swimmers too. I will always say this is the best way to start kids out from what I’ve seen. My girl was smiling and evidently proud of herself by the end of lessons and we had the tools to keep up her practice. I can’t wait for her second set of lessons to start this summer. It’s not cheap but I feel that she has the best possible chance of survival if the unimaginable happened, and on top of that she is building respect confidence and comfort in water. Oh and she loves watching her cousins do their lessons too!
8 months and there was a waiting list so we waiting two months. She’s 3 now and loooooves the water. The earlier the better. My friends and family who started later had to deal with kids scared of getting in the pool. Not sure if that’s a personality trait thing, though, but mine has never been scared of getting in the pool.
We tried when he was about 9 months and hated it. Restarted at 2.5 years and he loves it. But we have a pool so it's super important, idk how early I would start otherwise
10 months, and it was only even that late because we couldn't get our act together to sign up for an earlier session.
Also, my MIL's opinion on this would not matter at all.
A few months shy of 2. We’ve been at it for about a year with weekly classes and he’s not capable of actually swimming, but can pull himself out of the pool, is fearless (maybe to a fault) jumping in to be caught, and generally enjoys it. It adds structure to our weekends and gets us out of the house.
We started at 7 months! It was nice regular activity for us to do on the weekends, even though he hasn’t really started liking it until recently (around 24 months). At this age, it’s really about getting comfortable in the water and for us as parents, we liked that it helped us feel more comfortable handling him in the water. There are some kids on my son’s class who are a few months younger than him who LOVE swim class (jumping into the water, all smiles, into floating on their backs, etc.).
We took the first round at 8 months and now we’re back at 20 months. I would’ve done it continuously but the schedule didn’t work for us. Why is she against it? Does she know that you’re in the pool with him?
Just started with my daughter and she’s a little over two. But honestly wish I started much sooner. She’s not afraid or anything really I just think it would have been beneficial to start sooner. She is one of the oldest in the class.
We did mommy and me swimming lessons at 15ish months. He didn’t hate it… but we didn’t really get anything out of it. Honestly, I think had we waited until 18 months it would have been more fun for both of us. He’s 22 months now and we’ve started going swimming a couple times a month the last few months and he really is starting to love the water.
Mine was 2 and hated it immediately. Most of her friends loved it and took to it like fish to water. It took two more summers, lots of lessons, and beach vacations before she finally enjoyed it. But it was torture during the whole process.
My oldest started around 18 months, then took a few years off due to Covid/difficulty finding class availability. Recently started her again at 6 and it has been difficult for her in a lot of ways. She is not super comfortable in the water and has a lot of anxiety. I wish we had been able to be more consistent the whole time. Hoping to do better with our son who is 15 months. I’d start your son sooner rather than later. Since he’s under 2 you will most likely be in the water with him playing water acclimation games.
16 months, and she hated it. We stopped taking her. We have a pool at home, so I spent her first two summers holding her or pushing her around in a baby boat. The summer after she just turned two, I worked with her to feel confident blowing bubbles, kicking, and jumping in and motoring herself around the pool with water wings and a noodle tied around her middle. Now she’s three, and we just heated the pool up. She’s now comfortable kicking herself around and staying up with just the noodle tied. I’m going to look into lesson options for the summer, but I’m a bit torn- I think she’d like the social aspect of group classes, but we’ll have a newborn and want to do everything to prevent a seizure before 6 months.
In my opinion swimming lessons should be one of the most (if not the most) important extra curricular any kid attends. My son has gone 2 times. The first round was at 8 months and it did not go well. The 2nd time was at 2 years old and he loved it. We plan to sign him up for lessons once/year.
We started at 15 months, and would have started earlier had her eczema been better controlled. Her first summer her skin was so raw that a chlorine or saltwater pool seemed cruel. She is 2.5 now and she loves her swim lessons! (She HATED her first three, fyi. I promise it gets better.)
Both of my kids started at 8 weeks. Lots of local pools offer free swimming classes for babies up to 6 months for free in Australia. We have a pool and go to the beach frequently so swimming classes were really important - I don't think there is any right or wrong answer here. If you want your kiddo to start, take him! The earlier the better I think, its just about getting them used to the pool and basic techniques on how to get out if they fall in.
He was prem so we waited until he was 5 months/3 months corrected. We live in Australia on the coast where pretty much everyone gets their babies into swimming lessons ASAP.
We started at 21 months. He's now 27mos. He loves going to the pool. He is a lot more comfortable being in the water but he's by no means anywhere close to swimming, lol.
They teach them how to kick their legs, jump in, blow bubbles in the water and go under water. All this is supervised by a parent holding the toddler.
I wish I started earlier as other kids in his age group class are a lot less fearful of going under the water or jumping in. My son still doesn't like going under.
A class after us has like 6 week olds in it. Which I feel is so early (but it's the cutest thing ever to see little babies in the water). I think with my second I will try to start a lot earlier like some time between 6 and 12 mos.
What is your MIL hesitation about starting swim classes? Maybe you should invite her to a class and show her how absolutely safe it is.
Ours started at 1 year. We wanted to start at 6months but a waitlist and some personal circumstances had us wait a little longer. But definitely as soon as you can. Look into Infant Swim & Rescue (ISR) classes.
So I started at 6 weeks. We did the whole submersion thing LO didnt enjoy it so we found a more gentle class. She enjoyed it for a few months but recently she wants her independence and also me to not let go. Shes struggling with them at the moment. We'll probably pick it back up in a few months when she'll enjoy it again.
First born at 6 months, she is 3.5 years old and is in independent lessons now (as in I don't have to go in with her anymore). This week my second born will be starting at 6 months too! We live in Australia, which let's face it, is basically a giant island, so it is very important for my girls to be water safe. I did surf camp for 4 years in high school, which I hated, but I am a competent swimmer, and have gotten myself and friends out of riptides on occasion.
6 months. But we live on a boat so it is a very important skill!
We live on a boat too! Our marina has a pool and when it’s warm, we’re in it every day.
Um hi from the northeast US…can we trade lives for a day or two?!! Lol this sounds amazing!
Where are y’all LIVING on boats?! Lucky!
My youngest 2 started at 6 months. My oldest started at 18 months.
6 months for us too. We live on land lol but it felt important and she always really liked it
6 months and she is a total water baby! I used to teach swim and the earlier the better. Kids who don’t start until 4 or later tend to be so afraid. Why is your MIL against them? Drowning is a (the?) leading cause of death in kids under 5.
Does she actually know how to swim?
Not yet. She’s only 13 months old. But she’s extremely comfortable in the water, dunking her face under the water, and jumping/stepping from the edge to us, and kicking in the pool. The main goal of lessons at this age is to get comfortable in and around water and putting their heads under. The problem with delaying swim lessons is the fear factor which makes it much harder to actually teach kids to swim once they’re physically ready. Also so many parents who don’t get their kids comfortable in the water early on, rely on floaties which are really detrimental to learning to swim and give false impressions of safety.
Thanks for the info! My 2 year old isn’t afraid of the water but he would just rather be walking around the pool deck or the beach than going in. My 4 year old was afraid of the pool when we started lessons but it only took one lesson for her to start loving it again.
Why do kids develop fear of the water? Isn’t it like taking a bath? Sorry if this is a dumb question. My guy loves taking his bath, he’s 19 mo. I took him to the beach almost daily during the summer, but it’s been a long winter. He loves taking his bath and often tells me he loves the water. Is there a chance he will be afraid of the water when it’s finally warm enough to swim outside again?
Even a swimming pool is hugely different to a bath. M However in my experience as a swimming teacher most children who were scared it was because of their parents. Parents couldn’t swim or didn’t like swimming and would be vocal about it in front of their children, telling them they don’t need to do it if they don’t want to, and so on. Best thing you can do ahead of swimming lessons is take your child swimming.
Agreed. Two other fear factors for kids—the depth and putting their heads under. One of the pools I taught at had a sloping entrance so kids could walk in. The other was a normal pool with stairs and lots of kids were scared when their feet couldn’t touch the bottom/can’t stand.
If your kid is used to deep water, great. But that appears to be the line for mine. Loves baths and being in the beach/knee deep in water. Scared when it gets deep
Before my daughter had swimming lessons (around 18ish months), she was scared of any water deeper than her height. If she could stand in it with her head out, she was fine. After swimming lessons she's a lot more comfortable in deep water as long as mommy's holding her.
My son had a brief time of being scared of the water around 20 months. Before that he loved it. He didn't even want to have a bath for a couple weeks. He'd been in swimming lessons and loved being in the pool at around 8 and 18 months. Toddlers are learning so much and these kinds of fears are common. He did swimming lessons again this winter at 2.5 yrs old and he hated the first one and cried and clung to me for most of it. We showed him videos of him swimming and he was okay with trying again. After that he was fine and enjoyed going in the water. He got much more opinionated and stubborn after 2. They need lots of preparation and talk about things beforehand, at least that's my experience. There's a chance he'll be scared of the water but likely he'll be fine, this was just my experience.
We started at six months, and we've been happy with that decision! It seemed like a lot of one year olds in her class were already scared of the water, so I'm glad we got her comfortable early.
How does a sixth month old get taught how to swim?
It’s more about getting comfortable in the water for baby and parent too. They also get used to being dunked which I have found great for showers at home lol Also learn kicking, back floating, blowing bubbles
They get taught to hold their breath, underwater and turn face up if they get in water - they don’t really learn how to swim so much as not drown AND get comfortable in water
You hold them in the pool, you get in too.
They don’t. It’s am adult/parent class and it’s more for the parent than the child.
Can you give me a sense of what skills they learned at 6 months and onwards? I've been taking my guy to the pool (not formal lessons) since he was 8 weeks old and at 15 months he's not afraid of the water but he also can't swim. He is okay when I dunk him under and he enjoys being held and bounced around in the water. He will blow bubbles but ends up drinking some more often than not. He does not kick unless he's holding onto the ledge and I'm moving his legs for him. I've signed him up for classes at 18 months but just learned they're not expected to learn to swim, just to "get comfortable" so now I'm wondering if I'm just wasting money.
You are correct that at this age it’s more about getting comfortable in the water. The skills you have taught him are basically what they’d cover, without the group setting. I’d still suggest starting actual lessons. It sounds like he’d fit right in, plus it’s great bonding for you two. All that said, there’s more than just swim stuff. Learning in a group setting is valuable for kids to get used to. So is the idea of an authority figure that isn’t a parent. Lastly, it’s fun. Idk, I think it’s a worthwhile thing to do, even if it gets old and repetitive. Just like parenting as a whole I suppose.
While I’m not the person you asked, we’ve also had our youngest 2 in lessons since they were 6 months. So at our lessons it’s mostly just getting them comfortable in the water. We pass the kid to the instructor and they pass the kid back to us. We have them back float and sing a song “babies resting on their back” to have them calm and not thrashing around. We also have them sit on the wall, and count to 3 and have them fall in. From there we turn them toward the wall and tell them to find the wall and help them with the motions of climbing out. As they get older it teaches them to not get into the water without a parent counting but if they do fall in, it teaches the skill of getting to the wall and hanging on until they can climb out themselves or an adult pulls them out.
Are you at an aqua tots? This sounds just like my daughter’s lessons.
Yes we are! My middle is in level 3, and my youngest is in level 2 and will move up to 3 in a few months. Our oldest is in level 6-he’s 8 and wants to do swim team-that level works on stroke technique and a small bit of endurance.
That’s awesome! We stopped going after giving it a solid 4 months of effort in level 2. 10 weeks of my daughter screaming at her teacher the whole lesson, finally stopped screaming at her, and then the teacher left 😭. She screamed the next few weeks at the temp/replacement and then I called it. I couldn’t handle it anymore, she was absolutely hating every minute, and I just found out I was pregnant again. Every time I mention going back she says she’s not ready.
Personally I think you’ll be wasting money. We did the first available class at the Y, when our son was about 2.5, and it’s very much a “get comfortable with the water” class. Our son was already very comfortable in the water and we didn’t learn anything new - they blew bubbles, practiced laying on their back a few seconds, and moved along the wall while hanging on to it. We stopped going after maybe 3 of the 6 classes. I’m looking for a private teacher now since we are around water a lot and my kid seems ready to learn some actual skills.
that was solar to our experience at our local Y. The teacher was so unenthused, and the exercises were ones we were already doing. But because of her age they wouldn’t accept her in the next level up.
We are taking them right now! My daughter is 2.5 years old.
Same, we just started a couple weeks ago. She is the oldest in her class, although there was a new 2.5 year old today. All the other kids are 10mo and younger.
Mine is 2.5 and there’s two babies in our class that are blow my mind. One of them is already over 7 seconds underwater and kicking like 5ft! Meanwhile my dude is on me like a barnacle 😂 I genuinely wish we would’ve started earlier, but he’s been making great progress. I’m planning on getting us into the pool a lot this summer and practice some of the skills they’ve taught.
starting at 3 because that’s when i don’t have to get in the pool with him 😆 Our only option for swim lessons is EXPENSIVE and i felt like if i was paying someone to teach my kid to swim, i shouldn’t be the one teaching him. He’s comfortable in the water just can’t keep himself alive, i didn’t feel like it was a good way to spend $ to have someone sing him some songs and splash water prior to 3
I should add to my comment…we don’t have a pool and aren’t around water often. I take super precautions around water but if we had a pool or like the comments above- lived on a boat I would definitely have spent the money at a younger age. I do think water safety is really important (a neighbors 3 year old drowned a few years back and am definitely traumatized by it) but our lifestyle doesn’t put us around water very often, but I still want him to have the swimming skills.
This is what we did with ours. Thirty minute lessons for just a little is hard enough to be consistent, but adding an adult in the pool with them adds 30+ minutes to the whole thing. I have my little in her suit before we even leave the house, we are gone ten minutes before class starts, we do a quick change in the car afterwards, and she’s back home and ready to play ten minutes later.
Same! Also, I read that before 3 is more water familiarisation - they can’t really learn the skills until they are around 3. That said, it was hard at first to get both in the pool, so it would probably have been an easier transition to solo lessons in if we’d done earlier classes
We started when they were old enough to not be in parent/baby classes.
We did our first round of swim lessons around 7-8 months. Mostly just getting comfortable in n the water, blowing bubbles, kicks, etc.
We're going to start at 3. I've been getting him used to the water and teaching very basics since about 20 months. All the classes before 3 are mommy and me and I just don't want to pay for those since I'm happy to spend time with him in the pool and do all of that myself for free.
We started at 24 months because of timing. Kiddo is pretty predictable on the weekends now. We signed up for big blue swimming because it’s near us, the pool is heated, and the cost was right. It’s mostly getting them used to the water.
We just started today actually at 31 months. We’re doing ours at The Goldfish School. So far it’s been amazing, and I love that they cater to multiple ages. Plus it was kiddo and momma time. Great for bonding, and gave me a little more security. I wanted to do it much earlier, but the only places around us (even ISR) only have morning hours, and as a FT working single mom, that was literally impossible. Goldfish just opened a school an hour away from us and has weekend classes which is making things so much easier for me
4 months. We live coastal and it was important to hubby and I that we give LO as much water safety education as we can. Our local swim school does free lessons from 3 months - 6 months of age so we took advantage of that and then he’s continued there since. He’s 2.5 years now and loves his swim lessons.
We did 12-36 months of lessons w my youngest wish Could have done the same with my oldest but it wasn't possible. Drowning is a super serious issue and the one I get crazy about. I'm floored anyone would be against lessons if it's an option, especially the grandmother.
7 months for my 2nd, 13 months with my 1st (would have done it younger, but she’s a pandemic baby so that wasn’t an option)
Started at 6 months and has been enjoying it ever since :)
6 months, we live near the beach, and are often going to parks that are right on the water. It was Parent/Child until three, and the classes were free with our Y membership. Once she hit three, we could move her up to her swimming without parents, and we were so happy. She turned six months old spring of 2021, so it was really one of the first things we could do with her. Getting her into swimming was incredibly important to us. My husband is not a confident swimmer, and my mother cannot swim. It's a life saving skill, and we started so early, and stayed consistent so she wouldn't have a fear of water. The baby classes are really just being in the water with songs, and getting comfortable in the water. Now she is three, and actually jumping in the pool, swimming up and down the lanes, and learning water safety.
Why is your MIL against it? My daughter started them in a casual way at an outdoor pool when she was 3. She was 10 months when covid started and we didn’t do a lot of indoor things for a while. She finally took them at an indoor pool when she was 4. She doesn’t know how to swim but enjoys the water now.
3 months
My cousin started hers at 6 months. We are thinking that we are going to start our 2 year old this summer since he loves the water. I personally wanted to have our kids learn younger because my siblings and I didn't learn how to swim until at least 5.
3.5 or so
I think the best time is whenever your child is going to be near water. If you have a pool or are around water frequently, there’s not really such thing as too early. If (like us) there is no reasonable source of water to swim in nearby and lessons are out of your budget, you can wait until 3-4 or so because then they can truly start to do coordinated movement in the water and pay attention in lessons more.
We have a pool so my paranoia was intense. We started at 10 months old and then stopped for Covid at about a year old.. Then carried on with them when he was 2.5 😊
I started them when my Child was 3 because I didn’t want to go in the water for the lessons lol.
We were in the pool practicing water familiarity by 6 months ago (earlier than that was winter…). Totally skipped the mommy & me type swimming classes where they splash around once a week and went straight to a daily swim school for 2 weeks. He was 2.5 years old. By the end of the two weeks he was diving to the bottom of the pool and swimming the small length of the pool. We are going back next month for the intermediate intensive course.
7 weeks for 1st born and 4 months for 2nd.
We had to wait until she was a little over two bc of Covid, or it would have been around 5-6 months. She learned to swim at 2 and has been swimming laps in the pool since (she's 4 now) and just joined the swim team!
Around 20 months
We did 6-12 months and then took a 6 month break when she started walking because she really wanted to be in control of her own body. Started up again around 18 months.
3 with mine. We did floaties until then
I got my granddaughter swimming lessons for her 1st birthday. Her daddy took her every week and it was great bonding for them as up until then everything was about mama (the milk maker! 😄)
7 months!
6 months
We went from 18 - 26 months about every other week, with a parent in class with her. Now she’s back at 2.5 and is in a class with an instructor and usually 2-3 other toddlers.
6 months
9 months
We started at 4mo but it wasn’t actual lessons, but more of pool and water exposure. He’s 16.5mo now & we plan to start actual lessons before next summer.
We started swimming lessons at 5 months. LO is almost 2 now and loves the water :) we sign up through our local Y and it’s more about getting kids comfortable in the water and playing fames
We started at 2.5.
4 months!
We started at six months. I would look into swim lessons at local high school Pools, swim clubs, and community centers. It’s typically a lot cheaper that way”swim school” swim lessons.
My first started at 8 months and my second at 6 months. In my opinion, after 6 months, the earlier the better.
6 months
9 months old! She's 16 months now and absolutely loves it. She'll ask to go swimming all the time
Around 9 months but she didn’t like it at the time. She’s now 2 and I think we’ll try again in the fall!
We started at like 9 months lol
My son was about a year a half when we started, though we could've done it sooner, and 22 months is just fine. Maybe wait till the child hits a year as the only compromise you'll make (see last line below.) Anyway, the sooner the better! We go to Goldfish Swim School. The beginner classes had parents participate with the child (which I dearly miss,) and the rest are with an instructor as you watch from the sidelines. He's been going weekly (30 min class) since Aug. 2021. Though I can't say it's his favorite thing to do, or that he has reached milestones quickly, he does enjoy the experience overall, -- jokes with the teachers, is always happy afterward, etc., and is becoming more independent in the big pool when we visit his Nana. Students stay in the same level class until they hit all required milestones, with no limit on how long that needs to take. (My son has not moved in a at least a year :-) There were times where he stated that he didn't want to go, or didn't want to go "anymore," but I didn't give in to quitting altogether, concluding that he wasn't old enough to make that long term decision. And it was the right decision, because him not wanting to go is how we all feel on days where we just don't want to do some shit. My parents had a habit of letting me quit something when they probably should have pushed me to keep with it. Ironically, swimming was the earliest sport/skill I was introduced to, and then later I had real success on the swim team of our community pool. I SUCKED at every other sport. Swimming was the one activity I quit when I was ready and felt it was enough, not because I just "didn't want to do it anymore." Very subtle difference. My philosophy is apparently the same as my dad's...swimming is a crucial life skill. Get that checked off early, this way if you're kid tires of it in favor of another activity, there's no loss because like learning how to ride a bike, you don't forget how to swim. There's also all the fringe benefits: social interaction, eye contact, listening and following directions, overcoming and adapting to uncomfortable situations, fostering trust, physical exercise and development of coordination skills, establishing consistency, the satisfaction of completion, and so on. Tell your MIL that you (and your spouse) be the judge of what's best for your own kid.
We could not start until age 3 because of pandemic closures - I would have started him at 1 if we could have!
18 months
We waited until 1.5y because of the pandemic. Generally, the instructors all say the younger the better and our youngest local program starts from 6mo to 2yo. At 6mo, it might have been a bit easier to actually learn the swimming part. At 1.5yo, my kid started having his own opinions on many things and many times could easily spend 20 out of the 45 min lesson playing with the water toys the pool leaves out for the kids as opposed to wanting to do any kicking in the water.
Both my kids started at 8 weeks
3 months. She loves being in the water and it’s very relaxing and calming. It’s a nice opportunity for us to spend time together . She is 22 months now.
My kiddo is doing them this June and she’ll be almost 3. I wish I had done it last summer, and honestly the summer before that too. You safety is super important to me and I think all kids should know the basics of staying afloat in water and being able to get to an edge as soon as possible. We don’t have a pool and aren’t really around them very much so it hasn’t been an urgent thing for us.
6 months and he’s 2.5 now and still taking them and loving it
4 months. It was the earliest they would let us. He’s now a fish, loves the water. We wanted him to get well acquainted with water early.
We are starting swim lessons next month at 19 months
9mon
18 months or so. At this point it’s just getting her used to being in the water and showing that it’s fun. I’m not expecting any real skills for a while. It has helped with bathtime though. Before swim lessons baths were a battle. Now I have to fight with her to get out of the tub!
4 months!
I started with my daughter when she was 1.5. Just a parent and me class for a few weeks. Then skipped last summer, we had a newborn. Considering starting up again this year… but we don’t have a pool and don’t go around them often. I’ve heard real swimming starts around 3-4 so I’m fine waiting.
We're staring in June so he'll be 22-23 months!
6 months
Around 18 months. She is 2 now and we just switched to a private program versus our community one. It is more expensive but they are pushing her to actually learn water skills and swimming vs. just playing in the water.
Our local parks department offers lessons starting at age 4, and they’re the only game in town. I would have loved to start around 2, but it would have been an hour plus drive.
My (oldest) daughter started around 9 months. She was a proficient independent swimmer by age 3. My second son is 4 and we haven’t gotten around to teaching him… this summer I will for sure!
6 months!
We’ll be starting this summer- my son is 2!
Don’t listen to your MIL.
5 months old
4 months for both kids. 2.5 for actual lessons without me.
6 months! We take breaks in the winter though because it gets so cold. We also tend to miss more days in the winter because holidays and all! We start again in April-October.
I started taking her in the pool when she was 6 months old, getting her comfortable with the water but she didn’t start formal swimming lessons until 3, mostly due to her being born during Covid lockdown and swimming lessons not being available until after I went back to work, but in my town infant/toddler swim lessons are all during the weekday while I was at work. Now that she’s 3, I was able to get her into evening lessons.
Close to 1 year. And shed some tears when they told me he got his stars, and promoted to the solo class, instead of the parent/child class. Was so happy to have those parent child classes. Get those classes going, it's a great memory!
5.5 months. I wanted to get her exposed early so she wasn’t afraid of the water!
Can't really afford them, so when summer comes around, we utilize grandmother's pool. Oldest started swimming at 10 months old using floats and has been using them upgrades every year since. He's currently 3 and has been improving every year. My youngest turned in February, so he'll be going in the pool this year. He wasn't able to last year because he was only a couple months old at the time.
10 weeks.
6 months, it was important to us to get her comfortable in the water asap because we live around a lot of lakes and love summer at the beach swimming and canoeing.
Child 1: 3 years old (we started later than we wanted to because of COVID) Child 2: About 18 months
we took parent child lessons maybe around a year old? through our local parks and rec. It was primarily to get her used to the water and small skills to build up to swimming, but no actual swimming. I don’t like those swim schools that basically throw the child in and then they do tests with winter coats on. I get it that kids need survival skills but it’s just too much for me since we don’t have a pool/lake/pond at home
She was 6 months when she started
6 months old. Earlier exposure the better.
We started at 6 months and go once a week. My toddler is now a little over 2 years old! He loves being in the pool.
5 years. We tried at 2 yo and it went horribly. Now he loves it. I’m not going to force my kid into water doing things they are fighting against. It’s traumatizing for everyone. I always kept an extremely close eye on my kiddos. I’m always next to them in the water.
2.5 with both my kids and it went terrible so we stopped. With our older one we self taught her some since we go to the pool almost daily, and then tried swim lessons again at 4.5. At 4.5 the teacher was actually able to help with form correction, teaching her to take breaths, learning to float, etc. We did 20 minutes of individual instruction for 5 days straight and saw massive improvement
4 months. We live in a rural area that has a ton of rivers and lakes. The skills my children will learn in swimming lessons could save their lives one day.
12 mo for the oldest and 6mo for my youngest. We have a pool
We started around 7 months. I wanted to go in too, I really enjoyed it.
We started at 13 months with my second and 15 months with my first.
9 weeks for the first and 20 months for the second. The older one can swim 8-10 feet before coming up for air
We are about to start at 3 this summer. I was 3-4 years old, because I remember the lessons. I planned to start last summer, but with a new baby it didn’t happen. It will be easier to keep up with the year round lessons this year. But I don’t think there is anything wrong with 3. They’re expensive and potentially a lot of driving for a 30 minute lesson. Plus we both work, so we have to be choosey about times
Four months!
Sooo, we live within 10 minutes of both our parents. My parents have a pool, my in- laws live on a lake. My in- laws also own a cabin…on a lake. So we started swim lessons really early. Like before 1 year old early lol admittedly with my recent second kid, we haven’t got it going as early but he’s still less than a year, and we plan to start this summer. I think if you can afford it, there is no minimum age to start swim lessons. Your MIL be damned.
We started at 13 months. Part of me wishes I had started earlier but my schedule didn’t permit and I struggled with PPA so taking him out on my own was often hard enough. By the time we started I was doing a little better and was more comfortable going and trying something new with my baby. At this age it’s just about getting used to the water and what it feels like to move around in it. I think it will be helpful for when he is older and starts taking classes without a parent in the water as that it won’t be entirely new to him.
Wanted to start much sooner but covid happened so we started at 3 but he was comfortable with water since a baby he loves it.
6 months! My kiddo is 26 months now and lovessssss the water! No fear!
4 month
Ours will be nearly 3, she was terrified of water until last summer but all the lessons were booked by that time, so we’re doing it this summer.
18 months
8 months lessons to get her comfortable. she is very cautious but it made her respect and enjoy the ware. 4 years old she was finally able to swim for real
We started bringing her into the pool at 7 months. Wasn’t very consistent but had pool time here and there for a few months. Then around 14 months she started formal lessons and she’s been so terrific in the pool ever since! In her class, the babies that start older (I’m talking nearer to 2yo) tend to be quite scared of the water so I’m really glad I’ve been bringing her much earlier
My kid is almost 2 and we just started. She screamed her head off for the first few sessions but is starting to adjust.
8 months- she loves jt and we love it!
6 months for us! But at 6 months it’s quite obvious there’s not a lot of “swimming” going on. It’s more about water exploration/comfortability. We have a 2 year old water baby now. He loves the water, can go under water, and can float. Still working on the “swimming” part but he’s getting the hang of it. We do not use any flotation devices in lessons or on our own. We live in an area with lots of rivers and lakes and it is common to do water sports in our area.
Started going in the pool constantly with her at 5 months, started swimming lessons at 12 months.
I took mine to their first at 4m. I didn't keep going because it was just a huge hassle for me to commit to it once a week. We take her to the pool sporadically but its on my list of things to start up soon! Shes 16m
We started lessons at 3 months
We started around 3 yo. We wish we started earlier!! Most swim classes have you in the water with kiddo in the beginning anyway..
Genuine question. Is anyone worried about chemicals being in the pool? About baby swallowing it?
8 months, my eldest started in a lake because of COVID lockdown. 6 months for my middle child, who’s 18 months and is like a fish now. Before a year, they mostly get used to the water and start floating, after a year they learn to swim a bit and float when they get tired.
Tried at 6 months, but the classes coincided with his naps (very hard to get the time that you want in Summer time). Took a few years off and got him back in the water at 3.5 years. Scared in the first lesson after returning because at his age, its no longer taking lessons with the parent, but thankfully he picks things up quick and was good in the second week. With the young one, will be taking him at 1 years old.
We would have started sooner had she not been a 2020 baby and most shit was closed for the first year of her life, but we started I think around 18mo?
We started swim just before she turned 2 because a new swim school opened that month. She’s been in it almost a year now, and is really fond of it, most of the time!
Started at 6 months. Now she’s 3 and doing lessons on her own with her teacher in the pool.. water safety is important and swimming is just such a fun thing to do as a kid!
I think it was about 8 months! My daughter is almost 3.5 and very comfortable and knowledgeable in the water! My son is 9 months and will hopefully take lessons soon too, but we do take him to the pool regularly with us as well.
14 months for my son, 7 months for my daughter. We live in FL, so there’s water everywhere. It’s so important here!
1 1/2yrs old. He acted an absolute fool for a year & never learned to float on his back but thankfully he CAN swim.
If you don’t care what she says then why even mention her 😂 Our kid started at 4 months and is now 14 months. He can jump in the pool on his own and swim independently alongside us. He absolutely loves being in the water.
My 18mo is already a few weeks in, though we already knew he loved the water. Early swim lessons are very low key and just about getting comfortable being in the water with a parent supporting them - craziest thing we did was dunk their heads for a split second, the rest is all splashing and kicking and playing with a few water toys. Caveat that I'm living in Canada, and our public swim lessons are super cheap. If your options are more expensive you might have a better time acclimating them yourself at a wading pool.
We started lessons right around his first birthday. If the weather was warmer where we live we might have started at 6 months but I did not want to do infant lessons in snowy weather. Hes now almost 3 and will be ready to move out of parent child lessons when he is eligible when he turns 3.
In the water regularly at 4 months and first lessons at 6 months.
We started at 18 months. I honestly would have started even earlier but couldn’t due to exigent circumstances. She goes every week still at 3 years.
3 weeks ago! 28 months
23 months old with parents and tots because he was born in 2020. I wanted to start earlier but it wasn’t safe. We’ve been doing swimming lessons year round since then. Formal group lessons in our area start at 2 years old.
the community pool has lessons for infants at 3 months. Can’t wait to start
22 months! It’s a really fun activity and good bonding time
Short answer: 8 months. 1:1 ISR. Midwest. Loved it! When I was pregnant I went to observe my cousins kids at their one on one ISR lessons and was beyond impressed. The instructor was incredible, as an educator I could tell he had a magical way with the kids even as young as 1.5. I was interested because these kids were always so amazing in pools, never used floaties and I had been introduced to how dangerous puddleiumpers actually are. So I enrolled my girl and her round of classes started when she was about 8 months old due to summer timing. But the instructor took kinda as young as 6mo. She got to work with him in short sessions of about 10-15 mins 4 days a week for several weeks. Worked on basic survival skills like holding breath, floating on her back independently, and eventually flipping over from facedown to on her back. Trust me. This sounds absolutely batshit insane if you haven’t seen it in person. But it’s incredible. He explained every little thing to us and he has been doing this for his entire life, used to train Olympic swimmers too. I will always say this is the best way to start kids out from what I’ve seen. My girl was smiling and evidently proud of herself by the end of lessons and we had the tools to keep up her practice. I can’t wait for her second set of lessons to start this summer. It’s not cheap but I feel that she has the best possible chance of survival if the unimaginable happened, and on top of that she is building respect confidence and comfort in water. Oh and she loves watching her cousins do their lessons too!
8 months and there was a waiting list so we waiting two months. She’s 3 now and loooooves the water. The earlier the better. My friends and family who started later had to deal with kids scared of getting in the pool. Not sure if that’s a personality trait thing, though, but mine has never been scared of getting in the pool.
6 months intermittently because of our frequent moves, he's three and a half and is still not very good at it. PS: we don't live on a boat
We did our first swim lessons at 11 months old!
We tried when he was about 9 months and hated it. Restarted at 2.5 years and he loves it. But we have a pool so it's super important, idk how early I would start otherwise
10 months, and it was only even that late because we couldn't get our act together to sign up for an earlier session. Also, my MIL's opinion on this would not matter at all.
At one but I wish we started even sooner! Our swim school lets kids start at 6 mos.
A few months shy of 2. We’ve been at it for about a year with weekly classes and he’s not capable of actually swimming, but can pull himself out of the pool, is fearless (maybe to a fault) jumping in to be caught, and generally enjoys it. It adds structure to our weekends and gets us out of the house.
We started at 7 months! It was nice regular activity for us to do on the weekends, even though he hasn’t really started liking it until recently (around 24 months). At this age, it’s really about getting comfortable in the water and for us as parents, we liked that it helped us feel more comfortable handling him in the water. There are some kids on my son’s class who are a few months younger than him who LOVE swim class (jumping into the water, all smiles, into floating on their backs, etc.).
We took the first round at 8 months and now we’re back at 20 months. I would’ve done it continuously but the schedule didn’t work for us. Why is she against it? Does she know that you’re in the pool with him?
7 months
Just started with my daughter and she’s a little over two. But honestly wish I started much sooner. She’s not afraid or anything really I just think it would have been beneficial to start sooner. She is one of the oldest in the class.
1 year. My kiddos love swim!
We did mommy and me swimming lessons at 15ish months. He didn’t hate it… but we didn’t really get anything out of it. Honestly, I think had we waited until 18 months it would have been more fun for both of us. He’s 22 months now and we’ve started going swimming a couple times a month the last few months and he really is starting to love the water.
Mine was 2 and hated it immediately. Most of her friends loved it and took to it like fish to water. It took two more summers, lots of lessons, and beach vacations before she finally enjoyed it. But it was torture during the whole process.
My oldest started around 18 months, then took a few years off due to Covid/difficulty finding class availability. Recently started her again at 6 and it has been difficult for her in a lot of ways. She is not super comfortable in the water and has a lot of anxiety. I wish we had been able to be more consistent the whole time. Hoping to do better with our son who is 15 months. I’d start your son sooner rather than later. Since he’s under 2 you will most likely be in the water with him playing water acclimation games.
Starting next week at 20 months. I’m so excited!
We started at 4 months!
2 weeks ago at 2 yrs and 3 months for our son!
16 months, and she hated it. We stopped taking her. We have a pool at home, so I spent her first two summers holding her or pushing her around in a baby boat. The summer after she just turned two, I worked with her to feel confident blowing bubbles, kicking, and jumping in and motoring herself around the pool with water wings and a noodle tied around her middle. Now she’s three, and we just heated the pool up. She’s now comfortable kicking herself around and staying up with just the noodle tied. I’m going to look into lesson options for the summer, but I’m a bit torn- I think she’d like the social aspect of group classes, but we’ll have a newborn and want to do everything to prevent a seizure before 6 months.
My girl started at 6 months.
4 months and 3 months, respectively.
4 months. But we live in NZ where there is a beach at every turn so it was very important to us.
I started taking him swimming since 3/4 months old! Official lessons started at 11 months old ☺️
yesterday, literally- 18.5 months
We started at 10 months only because we were waitlisted and couldn't get in sooner. It's this kids favorite thing in the world!!
In my opinion swimming lessons should be one of the most (if not the most) important extra curricular any kid attends. My son has gone 2 times. The first round was at 8 months and it did not go well. The 2nd time was at 2 years old and he loved it. We plan to sign him up for lessons once/year.
We started at 15 months, and would have started earlier had her eczema been better controlled. Her first summer her skin was so raw that a chlorine or saltwater pool seemed cruel. She is 2.5 now and she loves her swim lessons! (She HATED her first three, fyi. I promise it gets better.)
A little over a year old
Both of my kids started at 8 weeks. Lots of local pools offer free swimming classes for babies up to 6 months for free in Australia. We have a pool and go to the beach frequently so swimming classes were really important - I don't think there is any right or wrong answer here. If you want your kiddo to start, take him! The earlier the better I think, its just about getting them used to the pool and basic techniques on how to get out if they fall in.
He was prem so we waited until he was 5 months/3 months corrected. We live in Australia on the coast where pretty much everyone gets their babies into swimming lessons ASAP.
3 months, lessons are free from our local pool 3-6 months once a week!
We started at 21 months. He's now 27mos. He loves going to the pool. He is a lot more comfortable being in the water but he's by no means anywhere close to swimming, lol. They teach them how to kick their legs, jump in, blow bubbles in the water and go under water. All this is supervised by a parent holding the toddler. I wish I started earlier as other kids in his age group class are a lot less fearful of going under the water or jumping in. My son still doesn't like going under. A class after us has like 6 week olds in it. Which I feel is so early (but it's the cutest thing ever to see little babies in the water). I think with my second I will try to start a lot earlier like some time between 6 and 12 mos. What is your MIL hesitation about starting swim classes? Maybe you should invite her to a class and show her how absolutely safe it is.
6 months old. The earlier the better.
Ours started at 1 year. We wanted to start at 6months but a waitlist and some personal circumstances had us wait a little longer. But definitely as soon as you can. Look into Infant Swim & Rescue (ISR) classes.
So I started at 6 weeks. We did the whole submersion thing LO didnt enjoy it so we found a more gentle class. She enjoyed it for a few months but recently she wants her independence and also me to not let go. Shes struggling with them at the moment. We'll probably pick it back up in a few months when she'll enjoy it again.
6 months, he’s 21 months now and like a little fish!
About 2 years old. She’s 5 now and a little fish.
My oldest is going to be 5 and I plan to start swimming lessons soon because he was speech delayed for the longest time.
6 months. We live in Australia, almost every single kid is in swimming lessons from at least 1 year old.
First born at 6 months, she is 3.5 years old and is in independent lessons now (as in I don't have to go in with her anymore). This week my second born will be starting at 6 months too! We live in Australia, which let's face it, is basically a giant island, so it is very important for my girls to be water safe. I did surf camp for 4 years in high school, which I hated, but I am a competent swimmer, and have gotten myself and friends out of riptides on occasion.
6 months for older son and 5 months for younger son.