When did your kids learn how to swim by themselves?

Discussion in 'Childhood and Beyond (4+)' started by Amy R., May 28, 2008.

  1. Amy R.

    Amy R. Well-Known Member

    I was just curious, after reading the thread about learning to ride a bike without training wheels, how old your kids were when they learned how to swim.

    I realize, after reading a lot of threads, that a majority of kids on here take swimming lessons (more than I thought), but how old were they when they could swim with out any floaties or anything like that?

    My kiddos never took swimming lesson. Tabby resisting the constant efforts of trying to be taught by other people (everyone tried, but she refused) and she ended up teaching herself in a pool on vacation in Florida the winter she was 6. Austin learned the summer he was 5, after watching people, and Sarah did the summer she was 6, after a little help from everyone. Logan hasn't started yet, but we're hoping this summer.
     
  2. Amanda

    Amanda Well-Known Member

    Berkley had lessons around 3.5-4yrs old and they were not successful. She sort of learned to swim herself the following summer in our pool around 4+ yrs and at 7 is getting a lot better now.
    I'm putting her back in lessons, as well as the twins, in a couple of weeks.
     
  3. Cristina

    Cristina Well-Known Member

    Mine have never had swimming lessons. Every summer we spend it at our cabin where there is a pool. Joel taught himself last summer, he had just turned 7. However, Joel has an amazing athletic ability that even all his therapists have marvelled at. I do not see the twins being able to do that.


    I am a nervous wreck around water, one of my only parenting fears... so it has been hard to just let them learn.
     
  4. Amanda

    Amanda Well-Known Member

    ^me too, w/ the twins. We only have so many arms!
     
  5. Ellen Barr

    Ellen Barr Well-Known Member

    We had our boys in lessons from around 15 months, but they didn't really learn to swim until just around their 4th birthday. I've heard since that their coordination sort of catches up with their intent around that age, so teaching them earlier than around 4 isn't usually much use.
     
  6. jenn-

    jenn- Well-Known Member

    DD was 6. My boys still scream if you try taking them off the steps at Grandma's pool.
     
  7. JenJefLog

    JenJefLog Well-Known Member

    I tried lessons with Logan when he was 4 and he HATED them. We quit after the second lesson. When the girls were 3 and he was 6, we went to Disneyland and stayed at the hotel for two nights. They have life vests for people to borrow and we put them on all the kids. It was so amazing. I went from two or three kids clinging to me in the pool to watching them swim around on their own. We bought our own life vests after that for the kids to use in friends' pools and at other hotels. By the end of that summer, Logan was swimming on his own. The girls started swimming on their own the next summer when we went to a lake on vacation.
     
  8. Debb-i

    Debb-i Well-Known Member

    The boys took weekly indoor swim classes at the Y all last summer (age 3.5). In addition, we were at a pool almost everyday last summer. By the 4th of July, both boys ditched their swim vests and floaties. They learned how to swim underwater as far as they could hold their breath. They were able to jump in a pool and get to the side with no problem.

    Now close to 4.5 years, they resumed swim classes and since last week we're back to swimming outside. They are working on freestyle stroke and rotary breathing in class. I'm thinking that that they may master that by the end of this summer. But we'll see? I know the kids in their swim class that stuck with lessons all winter are able to swim freestyle now at age 4.5yrs. It varies greatly based on exposure and water time. Certainly, there are adults that have never learned to swim. I'm just glad that our boys are "getting there" since we are around alot of pools and go to a lake house every weekend.
     
  9. jxnsmama

    jxnsmama Well-Known Member

    It's taking a while for my kids. Jackson has had a tough time learning to swim. He has taken lessons on and off for years and is still learning. Thankfully, he's tall, so for several years he's been able to touch bottom in most pools with his head still above water, and I haven't had to worry about his safety. Just last year, at age 9, was the first time he felt comfortable enough to jump into a deep part of the pool where his feet didn't touch and then swim to the side. To me, that meant he was actually swimming by himself.

    Hayden and Brady took lessons last summer, but they used kickboards and life jackets. They are in no way ready to swim by themselves in any water that is over their heads. However, the mom across the street told me her twin girls, who are the same age, learned to swim last summer just by playing around at the pool.
     
  10. sharongl

    sharongl Well-Known Member

    My boys have taken weekly swim lessons since they were 3 1/2, and daily at camp during the summer for the past 2 years. Once that first summer started, they just turned 4 on the 3rd day of camp, they haven't worn any type of floatation. Even in their swim lessons before camp, they only had a single bubble on their back--the water is 3 ft. in the shallow end, and they weren't quite tall enough to stand safely. Jon has been swimming since that summer. Marc took until last summer to be confident when he can't touch the bottom.
     
  11. Minette

    Minette Well-Known Member

    FWIW, I learned to swim when I was 7. (Just browsing the forum and thought I'd toss in my 2 cents.) I did take swimming lessons when I was younger, sort of, but was always terrified to put my face in the water. I just had to do it in my own time.
     
  12. sharon_with_j_and_n

    sharon_with_j_and_n Well-Known Member

    Nicole could "swim" a little last summer. We put them in private lessons this year because they were at such different levels and just before they turned 5 Nicole really started swimming. She can do the width of the pool now and I'm sure now that she gets it, she will be a regular little swimmer. Jamie is a little more cautious in the water and will swim a couple of strokes to her waiting instructor now, but I'm sure she'll get it soon. My girls have been in swimming since before they were one ( the fun infant and me swims) and all the instructors said that children don't usually swim on their own until they are around 4 years of age.
     
  13. Mama_Kim

    Mama_Kim Well-Known Member

    Age 4 was the magic age for my boys. By 4 1/2 they were going off the high dive at our pool! Yes, I have fish for children!!!!!
     
  14. Amanda

    Amanda Well-Known Member

    ^WOW!!!
     
  15. mich17

    mich17 Well-Known Member

    The boys learned on their own at age 4. They used life jackets before that & just decided they wanted to do it by themselves. My in-laws have a pool next door so they swim just about everyday.
     
  16. Cindy H

    Cindy H Well-Known Member

    I clicked on 5-12 instead of 1-4 but I saw this and had something to add. I have taught many kids how to swim. I even coached swim team for 5 years.

    Most kids can learn at age 4. It is the perfect age for swim lesson. But make sure your child is not SCARED of putting their face in the water first. The best thing any parent can do is teach their child to put their face and and it is Ok to get wet. Blow bubbles, splash, make water fun. Once that is accomplished then swim lessons are worth every penny.

    My 3 oldest kids have all learned to swim at 3.5 because of 2 reason....#1 I teach them and #2 we go to grandmas house to swim 3-4 days a week. Lots of exposure will help develop those swimming skills early.

    My twins are 2 so they do not swim yet, but we are already learning to blow bubbles with nose and mouth and close you mouth under water. One loves the water and the other likes the beach entry at the pool. GIve him a bucket to fill and he is a happy boy for the longest time!

    Cindy
     
  17. chris629

    chris629 Well-Known Member

    Sean did by the middle of summer last yr, which he was almost 4 (turned 4 in Aug). He started out really leary and holding on to everything and using a life jacked by mid summer he was life jacket free and swimming out to the middle.
    I put him in swim lessons this winter and he now is ok with going under and learning that diff positions are ok but he is still learning.

    Josh, 2.5, still can't keep himself balanced even with a life jacket on and is kind of leary of the water but we're still working with him.
     
  18. niftywriter

    niftywriter Well-Known Member

    QUOTE(jenn- @ May 28 2008, 04:47 PM) [snapback]798095[/snapback]
    DD was 6. My boys still scream if you try taking them off the steps at Grandma's pool.



    Yes, mine too until they were at least 4 or 5. THey did not want to go into that deeper pool even in my arms or their father's arms. We didn't push it (though a lot of our friends tried to tell us we ought to). I believe it was probably the summer after each child (or children in the twins' case) turned five that they dared on their own. One day in early June, each child took the plunge on her or his own and was swimming by sunset. Then we set up lessons at the neighborhood pool and they are all competent swimmers now. The older three are extremely strong (one daughter swims 50 laps (a mile) every other day as cross-training for running and the lifeguards at the pool where she swims are always asking her to PLEASE joins their swim team...LOL)...the twins are fairly good swimmers, but had the fewest lessons and it shows. THey swim well, but not with the excellent form that the older three have learned.

    I think if young children and babies enjoy the water, then let them enjoy it with you. I also think if they do not enjoy the water when they are young, or prefer to paddle in the baby pool, it's fine to go with that until they are ready on their own to pursue "real" swimming.
     
  19. Mama_Kim

    Mama_Kim Well-Known Member

    QUOTE(mich17 @ Jun 2 2008, 02:59 PM) [snapback]805761[/snapback]
    The boys learned on their own at age 4. They used life jackets before that & just decided they wanted to do it by themselves. My in-laws have a pool next door so they swim just about everyday.

    Mine swam every day as well which probably accounts for their young age as well. They still ALL love to swim!
     
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