Toddler Swimming Lessons- ISR Day 1

This weeks has started as a week of "torture" for my son (and who am I kidding-- for me too!)... we signed him up for swimming classes.  But these aren't just any swim lessons... Mama is not in the water and he gets one-on-one instruction from his teacher for 10 minutes a day, EVERY day for 4-6 weeks until he knows how to swim, float, swim... its called ISR--  Infant Swimming Resource's Self-Rescue program http://www.infantswim.com/.   It's for kids 6 month to 6 years.

It's not cheap, requires a serious time commitment every day and it's tough to watch your baby and in the case of my kiddo-- yelling/crying for his Mommy while kinda being freaked out by the whole experience. 

Google ISR Swimming on You Tube and you will be amazing at the tiny kids that learn how to swim.  More importantly-- you can read stories for kids who took the class and has some kind of run-in with a pool or water and were able to save themselves because of what they learned in the class. 

So just like letting your kids get bumps and scrapes as they learn to crawl or walk or disciplining kids when it's not fun but what they need... that's why we're taking this class... for the end goal of having a kid who could live if he ended up in water and a kid that will eventually enjoy swimming (like my niece and nephew who are complete fish in the water and took the classes when they were young).

Here is a 20 month old after completing the class to give you an idea of what they learn and what someone my kiddo's age can do at the end...


Link

THey are super strict in watching what your kid eats all day during the 4-6 weeks and you have to log their foods, pees, and poos, and their sleep.  That is also the reason lessons are just 10 minutes... they do as much as possible to limit potential injuries. 

One day 1-- he just did wall work-- where he was put a little away from the wall and reach out to grab it from multiple angles (no underwater yet).  He actually did really well with that-- he just cried for me the whole time-- and I only got a little teary twice while watching it.  : )  Thankfully my sister-in-law was there to support both of us.

I'll keep you posted on how it progresses and maybe post our own video at the end.