HOW SOON CAN I EXPECT MY CHILD TO LEARN TO SWIM?

We will not rush a child, nor allow the parents to do so. Usually a child is doing very well after four weeks of lessons.  This depends on the individual child and your orientation to water.  You can generally expect lessons to run 4-7 weeks.

DIET

DO NOT FEED YOUR CHILD FOR 2 HOURS PRECEDING HIS/HER LESSON.  DO NOT ALLOW whole fruit, especially with a skin (such as certain berries, grapes, etc.) because it cannot be digested. Avoid other foods that take time to digest and all milk products for several hours before lessons. Your child may eat anything immediately after his lesson.

All children swallow a lot of air and some water during the lessons. When the stomach is distended the muscles tighten up across the abdomen, and a child will burp. If there is food in the stomach when this happens, the food will come out with the air and the child will vomit or spit up in the pool. We need to avoid this as much as possible.

HOW SHOULD I PREPARE FOR LESSONS?

For your child’s safety and as a courtesy to everyone else, all children who are not potty trained must wear a disposable SWIM diaper (little swimmers), a neoprene cloth swim diaper AND a Swimming suit during lessons. THREE LAYERS.  Regular Disposable diapers are not allowed in the pool because they are ineffective in preventing pool contamination. (I recommend the boys wear the disposable swim diaper under his reusable swim diaper and then his swimsuit, for girls wear the disposable swim diaper under her suit and then the reusable swim diaper over suit.)

Be sure to bring two large, dry towels. After the lesson, your child should be dried and dressed in warm clothes. Please arrange your schedule so that you do not have to rush with a cold, wet baby or child.

WHAT IF WE ARE LATE OR MISS A LESSON?

Swimming lessons are approximately 10-12 minutes in length, four days per week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Since your lessons are short, please arrive 5 minutes before your scheduled time. This allows sufficient time to have your child ready to go into the water (without rushing) at the scheduled time.  Consistency is a very important ingredient of the program. Steady attendance will increase your child’s rate of progress. 

When arriving 5 minutes late for a 10 min lesson, your child can then receive only 5 min of their lessons to keep everyone else on time.  Please respect the time of other families by being 5 min early.   If you are 10 min late then I will only be able to work you in after other students, if possible. 

REFUNDS?

Please do not start your child in this program unless you fully intend to complete the entire learning process.  Once your child begins lessons, the balance of your tuition is non-refundable if you withdraw your child.

The first few weeks are a period of low self-esteem for the child and lack of confidence for the parent. It can be a time of very low self-confidence in the water because the child has not had time to acquire and perfect his/her skills. The child is just learning to trust me.  If the child’s lessons are terminated during this time, your child will only remember negative association or insecurity. It takes time to work through our fears about the water. 

WHY MAINTENANCE/REFRESHERS?

Your baby needs updates not because he/she will forget his skills, but because he/she will outgrow them.  Especially during the first two years, babies’ rapid growth causes their center of gravity to shift, which affects their ability to float.  Updates, or refresher lessons, are like seeing the pediatrician for a well-baby check-up. 

There is another reason why your child needs updates.  Experience indicates that your child will retain most of what he learns. However, a child will lose his self-confidence.  That is one of the main reasons for swimming with your child and allowing him/her to use the skills they have learned.   

What Is After Infant Aquatic Survival? 

Upon completion of Infant Aquatic Survival lessons, children are advised to attend a swim class once a week, or twice a month in IAS Refreshers/Maintenance lessons.  Continuing to swim on a regular basis under our supervision enhances skills and allows children to complete the process of becoming safe and skilled recreational swimmers.   

About Safety and Learning

You may have heard about hyponatremia or water intoxication. This condition is caused by too much water being taken in or not being excreted. The first thing that I will teach your child to do is hold his/her breath. This will decrease the likelihood of much water being taken in. Also, lessons are short, about 10 minutes or so, which also will help. In addition, there is only one child in the lesson; I have only your child on whom to fully focus my attention. Please ask if you have any concerns about your child’s ability to hold his breath.

If your child has health issues, please discuss these with me before lessons begin. If your child has ear tubes, please follow the advice of your ENT, but please make note that this advice varies from Dr. to Dr.  Water does not cause otitis media, the type of ear infection most commonly associated with young children. Use eardrops after lessons (check with your physician, PA or nurse) (one part rubbing alcohol, one part apple cider vinegar)

Emotional Issues 

Some children take to lessons very easily and adapt to strangers well. Other children have a harder time. They may cry or ask for mommy. Swimming to mommy or daddy the first few days usually helps with this “stranger anxiety.” Swimming is a new skill for a small child and learning to hold your breath and go under can be scary at first. The more positive you can be the better your child will do.   We can go more slowly but each child needs to develop a relationship with me. The trust that follows will usually take care of most of the anxiety that kids have about going under and learning to float. 

I will automatically check your child out to see if he/she can self-rescue in clothes. Ask about any special problems you may have on your property or where you vacation. (lakes, docks, murky water, trips to the ocean, etc.)

Undoing Old Habits

Old habits die hard, as they say.  If your child has used floaties, puddle jumpers, a swim trainer bathing suit, a life jacket, or other such flotation device your lessons may take longer because I must teach your child to attain the correct posture in the water (horizontal). He/she has learned to be vertical and do nothing, or kick vigorously while going no where. This will take extra time and your child may be very upset. He has come to expect to be magically held up, and when that extra amount of buoyancy is taken away, he may be a bit panicked. Not to worry, we can work through this, although some students may never be as “automatic” to go to their backs after using floatation for extended periods of time.