According to National Safety Council statistics, drowning is a leading cause of death in young children. Reasons for this include children falling in a pool or being left alone in a bathtub. 12% of drownings in 2017 were of children under four years old. (https://www.nsc.org/home-safety/tools-resources/seasonal-safety/drowning)
These statistics are scary. I feel like every summer, I read of more and more children drowning in pools or at the lake. It makes me physically sick to think about it—I have three children, all under the age of four. My children could be one of these statistics!
I’ve always been anxious with my kids around the water, but until recently, swim lessons have been a thing “we’ll get to” because we’ve been so incredibly busy. Now that my kids have reached their fearless stage and since there are two 3 year old kids and only one of me, swim lessons could no longer be a thing we put off. My husband and I agreed we had to do something early this summer.
We were first introduced to ISR classes from my neighbor Molly, a certified ISR instructor. ISR classes teach children more than just swimming. It is essentially a swim-float-swim (tm^) sequence taught to help children save themselves if they to find themselves in a life-threatening situation in or around the pool. After I googled everything she told me, I realized that this resource was the swimming videos on the internet that freaked me out. You’ve seen them—the ones where babies fall in water and roll to their backs and swim to safety or float to a parent.
More info on Infant Swim here: https://www.infantswim.com/
On May 27, my boys started their lessons with Molly and I decided to document our journey so that I could show their grandparents what they were learning and also show other parents the importance of these classes. I know there are so many other swim lesson options out there, but… well, just watch the video progress and you’ll (hopefully) see for yourself how amazing and worth-it ISR could be for your children.
Over the four weeks we did our lessons, I think I learned more than my children on pool safety and developing a healthy respect for water.
- It’s worth the investment.
It’s worth the expense to potentially save your kids’ lives. Lessons are a 4-6 week commitment, depending on the child. We went 5 days a week for a 10 minute one-on-one lesson. When I say kids swim and learn something new every day, even on the first day, that is NOT an embellishment. We have never practiced any sort of swimming or floating with our kids prior to these lessons. I’m not saying I will let my kids run and be free in water after these lessons, because we still need more practice in the pool, but I am saying I’m not a nervous wreck with my kids around a water puddle anymore.
Here is my son, Andy, on his LAST day of lessons.
Here is Lincoln on his LAST day.
- It’s hard to watch.
One of my boys cried for two weeks straight. They both cried every day the first week. My husband and I just had to remind ourselves that even though they cried and seemed miserable, they were learning and they were swimming. The first day was very hard. I don’t remember doing anything except holding my breath the entire time. Even though it’s hard, it gets easier and it really is so exciting to see them master a new skill. The stamps Molly gave my boys at the end of each lesson kept them motivated (Lolli pop Friday was a big motivator, too!). It’s the little things. 😉
Here is Andy on his second day: (I forgot to video on the first day)
Here is Lincoln on his second day:
You can see the HUGE difference that was made in just a few short weeks.
- My kids gained more than just the ability to swim.
We knew Molly prior to lessons, so there was already some trust there, but more than just the ability to swim, I watched day-after-day Molly instill confidence and reassurance in my kids. She pushed them to work hard, she pushed them to keep going, but she was also very sensitive to how they were reacting to lessons each day. There’s also the actual hardest day where the kids swim in the water in their everyday clothes—this was the day that I knew they could do it. I panicked. They didn’t. They used the training and confidence they learned from Molly and got themselves to safety.
Here is what that looks like:
If you are interested in taking these lessons, Molly teaches at HealthPlus in Auburn. You can contact her at [email protected] or you can get more info on her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MollyIngersonISR/
*Molly is in no way paying me for this review of these lessons. I’m just a real mom who is real pumped that her kids can swim and wanted to pass on potentially life-saving info to other moms!
