Teaching your baby to swim!!

Wow..

I never heard of this....

http://www.infantswim.com

Babies have a natural reflex that keeps them from inhaling when underwater. So, they make pretty good swim students.

Pretty cool, huh?

My two boys went through the infant swim program, and my baby girl will be doing it in about a month.

The first few lessons are the hardest; your kids look at you like you've abandoned them!

Glad we did it though as both of my boys have fallen in the pool a few times each...

I think that video is of a child with their "aquatic survival instruction". If a child with no training fell into a pool face down I would have guessed it would probably stay that way and drown. To my eye the child performs some rote single leg kick to roll face up. The topic itself, early childhood swimming training, seems sound and proven as its common here in Australia with some saying the younger the better.

I taught my child by building his confidence in the water and slowly letting him take control of his own movement through the water.

I wouldn't let my child fall into a pool in order to teach them to swim. I also wouldn't take my child away from his mother and stick him in a crib in a separate room to teach him whatever that's supposed to teach children. I'd be willing to bet this infantswim program gets the same results as any other swimming program except it probably traumatizes the child in the process.

My boys weren't traumatized. They both love swimming.

They didn't love the lessons at first, but once they got the hang of it, they did fine.

I think if my parents had been given the option of "traumatized" they would have thought it was worth the risk. Children with any access to water should be taught to swim (or made to be terrified of going near water!) as soon as is possible.

I thought it was a well-known fact that what you should do with your newborn baby is take it to a pool and throw it in...

They will always instinctively swim!

I've always really wished my parents had been brave enough to do it with me...

I am not a great swimmer and if I fell into some deep water it's not inconceivable that I might drown...

What wouldn't I give to have been subjected to that moment of 'cruelty' when I was a few months old?

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but the Infant Swim Resource doesn't throw the baby in on the first lesson.

There are several lessons where the swim coach is assisting the baby to kick their leg when they fall into the water to turn them onto their back and float to the surface. The instructor carefully guides the infant through weeks of lessons (which are 10 mins per day); it's not cruel or traumatizing at all.

The video you saw posted by Jestor is of a well-trained toddler that has gone through weeks of the program.

Hope that clears up any misconceptions or at least gives a different view from a believer in the program

This is very helpful for them. When I was a kid then we often go for swimming and I learn it there.