Mommy and Me Swimming Class

I am taking a class with my youngest child – a Mommy and Me Swim Class.

Let me tell you up front that I am not a lover of water what-so-ever – I don’t like swimming pools, ocean or even the beach.

Youth thrown in Water

I had a traumatic experience when I was a young child.  Don’t know who came up with the idea of just throwing your child into a pool – swim or sink concept.

Anyhow, of course I sank to the bottom of the pool floor before frantically emerging out to the surface of the pool flapping my arms and trying to gasp for air – I thought I was going to drown.

My father, along with my older brothers, laughed at my traumatic experience.  I cried to my mother in the locker room, and she gently assured me that I was okay and everything would be alright.

Well, there was a huge “fight” in my house when my mother finally confronted my father’s swim lesson technique (in the privacy of their bedroom), and grounded my brothers for a week for laughing at me.

You have to remember that I was only eight at the time, and I was already scared of the water – so this swim or sink concept totally didn’t work with me. 

On the other hand, my two older brothers swam like a fish – I think they are part fish anyhow (with their small brains and all – LOL) – hey, I can pick on them since they laughed at me at the pool.

After such bad incident at the pool I refused to go into the water until I was in late teens – I think I was 17 when I finally had the guts to reenter the water at my friend’s swim party.

Even though I entered the water with my friends I stayed very close to the edge of the pool, and made sure that no one was too close to my proximity (just in case they start throwing people, including me, in to the water).

I have taken couple of group swimming lessons for adults, and some private lessons, but I am still very uncomfortable with swimming.

So, in order to avoid such fear in my children I made sure that they started taking swim lessons at early age – my two oldest ones took their first swim lessons when they were 3 years old.

However, with my youngest one, I decided to take a Mommy and Me Class together – it makes me face my fear of water, and help develop my child’s kin relationship with the water – a win/win scenario. 

Baby Under Water

Today’s parents are keen of the idea of introducing their children to water at young age, and it has been estimated in 2000 that 5 to 10 million infants and pre-schoolers participate in some sort of water instruction programs in the U.S. 

However, American Academy of Pediatrics of Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness and Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention claims that “generally, children are not developmentally ready for swimming lessons until after their fourth birthday (Swimming Programs for Infants and toddlers).”

Downing is the leading unintentional injury and death in U.S., and highest among children between 1 through 2 years.  Even though aquatic safety programs, such as Mommy and Me Class, are great for initial introduction to swimming, it does not decrease drowning risks.

Actually, it has “… reported medical risks to infant and toddlers that involve being in the water include hypothermia, water intoxication, and the spread of communicable diseases (Swimming Programs for Infants and Toddlers).”

Moreover, “… a study published … demonstrated that chlorine byproducts common in treated summing pools can cause airway changes that predispose children to asthma later in childhood (Teed).”

Alright, with that said, I don’t know if I should still continue on with the lessons – my child loves the water, and maybe I am instilling false sense of security in my child’s head with water.

So, I don’t think I am going to continue with the lessons – a personal choice, and wait until summer time.

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Source:

Swimming Programs for Infants and Toddlers (2000).  AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: Committee of Sports Medicine and Fitness and Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention.  April 2000 vol. 105 No. 4.  Retrieved from http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/pediatrics;105/4/868.pdf (1/27/09).

Teed, N. (2008).  When are kids ready for swimming lessons?  March 30, 2008.  Retrieved from http://www.parentdish.com/2008/03/30/when-are-kids-ready-for-swimming-lessons/ (1/27/09).