Cody is now in his 4th week of swim lessons and probably has one or two more to go. It has completely consumed our mornings. She lives about 20 minutes away and the lessons are 4 days a week for 10 minutes. It definitely is a commitment. I'll give you a little background on this type of swim lessons...This is a survival swim versus a mommy and me swim class. Babies are not able to lift there head above the water to take a breath like a older child can. They teach them to roll over and float on their backs to catch their breath then turn back over swim towards the side, roll back over and float. *Swim*Float*Swim* If you have never seen this type of lessons, check out the link.http://www.infantaquatics.com/whatisia.htm
Sounds like a piece of cake......well not so much. The first few days the teacher puts them in the water to let him know cause and effect...you go underwater.....you cannot breath. They don't throw them in but she lets them know what would happen in a second or two. It is very hard to watch but you have to know why you are here.....only to protect them around water. When Aubrey was 3 we did this same approach and I will tell you it was the BEST investment we ever made. Truly a life skill they MUST learn. Since we have a pool, Cody had no choice but to take the lessons.
Let me take you back to week one.....
Our first day we walked in and he was ALL smiles. I handed him off to the teacher and it was all good....for about 30 seconds. She had him swim towards the step about 2 feet away. Not what he was thinking 'fun swim lessons' would be. I'm not sure how much water he drank but it didn't sit well in his tummy. O I guess I should say he ate a FULL breakfast of his famous green eggs and yogurt.....is that clear enough? His teacher very nicely asked me to be careful with what I feed him before lessons. YUCK!The only time he was not screaming was when she would have him 'swim' towards the step....aka...his face was in the water. He would come up and cry (plead) for me to get him out. I held strong and sat on the side cheering him on. Floating was not going so well either. They have to relax and trust the teacher and themselves to be able to float. Neither was happening! The next 2 weeks were exactly the same.
By week 3 it clicked! He got in the pool and swallowed water not from crying but because he was smiling so big! He was not only happy but turning over somewhat on his own with little help from the teacher. WOW! He not only goes in happy but stays happy. I know he will not be 'water safe' but we are on our way to knowing what to do if he were to fall in the pool.
1 comment:
Good for you!
Micah fell into a pool at the age of 2 (crawled through a doggie door at our friends house with out any of us seeing him, and ended up in the pool). We have no idea how long he was in there for, but praise the Lord we found him before it was too late. After that he was scared to even take a bath.
We did a similar program to what Cody is now doing. It was heart wrenching for me to sit and watch Micah get over his fear of water with the instructor. It was like putting a cat in a swimming pool. He would try and climb up her shoulders and would scatch the daylights out of her, but she was patient with him throughout each and every session. She was well aware of why he feared the water and her goal was to make sure he would know what to do in case something ever happened like that again. It took a LONG time before he felt comfortable in the water and would relax enough to start learning what she was trying to teach him.
Now at the age of 9 Micah swims like a fish and it takes us forever to get him out of the pool.
Nancy
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