Swimming Lessons for 2 One Year Olds?

I've got two boys (not twins) and didn't start swim lessons that early. i don't think it's necessary and i've seen too many young children screaming and red-faced while i've been at lessons with my oldest son. i think juggling the twins would be impossible with one adult. what about taking them to city pools this summer to get them interested/comfortable in the water? you've got plenty of time for lessons.

Susie is a discussion leader in the east valley for arizonamoms.com. She has two sons, ages 6 and 2.

I really enjoyed my experince with ISR, but it may not be for everyone. I started my children very young, and now that I have 2, I take them both to lessons. Since you don't have a lot of info on ISR, one thing to know is that the instructor is the pool with each child, one-on-one. You don't even get in the water. So, you can have one child in a stroller, while the first child swims, then get the first one out and put the next one in. The teacher works with each one alone for 10 minutes per day until they learn the skills. (About 4 weeks the first year.) Then, you'll may go back each year for a refresher course which only lasts a week or two. Like you mentioned, It is quite expensive, the first year especially since you have a one-time registration fee plus 4 weeks of lessons, but it gets better in the following years. My instructor also gave me a discount on the second child. Good luck with your decision!

Hobbymommy, 38, is a discussion leader from Mesa. She is a happy stay-at-home mommy to a 3-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son.

You first need to understand that ISR is NOT swim lessons, they teach swim survival. Young children really don't have the ability to "swim" and ISR really provides them with the "swim, float, swim" skill to get themselves to the side of the pool. It also gets them comfortable with being in the water. We put our 2 and 3 1/2 year old in the program last summer and after 5 to 6 weeks they had it down and it made swimming fun because they could swim/float swim to each of us in the water, to the side or to the steps. It is an amazing program!

You do not participate in the lessons. The lessons are short, 10 minute a day lessons and the instructor is in the pool. So with twins, you would be sitting out with one child, while one would be in the pool.

I have provided swim lessons for my children since my first was 7/8 months old...we first went the mommy/me group lessons. Fun for him, just got him use to being in the water, nothing special. The next year we had a private instructor come to the house. Same deal, fun, learned only how to pull himself out of the pool and how to blow bubbles....nothing that could save his life. The third year, he did a group class....1 instructor to 6 children - again, fun, nothing special. He actually cried every time. A few months later we did ISR....night and day difference. In 6 weeks we felt confident that both he and my daughter had the skill if they needed to use it! It was an amazing transformation.

I know ISR is expensive....but I asked myself when making the decision, what is the price of my children's life. If I could provide them a skill that could save their life, it is priceless! You have several months before summer...perhaps growing a little savings. I cannot tell you how happy and impressed we were with ISR. After the first week of the kids being scared and uncertain, they LOVED it...they begged to go see their instructor. They were also so proud of what they could do by themselves. It's a fantastic program!! I only wished I had not chosen the other swim lessons the previous years and had gone straight to ISR!!

We are taking our children back this summer for a refresher course. We know that they are not 100% safe around water, of course we supervise, but it does offer some reassurance that they can get themselves safely to the side if need be. My daughter was 2 when she did the class and loved it, so your twins are a great age for it.

ISR has instructors all over the valley. We are in the northwest valley and LOVE our instructor if you need a recommendation.Good luck with your decision.

JenM

I just saw this post and HAD to respond. We enrolled our daughter last summer and found a GREAT instructor, I am happy to refer you to her if you are interested. She is in Chandler (Dobson/Ray) area and while our daughter was enrolled there were 1 year old twins enrolled as well. The instructor taught 1 child at a time while the other sat in a stroller. They both seemed fine and mom looked at ease. They graduated about half way through our program.
The previous posts are correct - this is not lessons it is survival training. Our daughter absolutely hated it and cried and cried (we know now that it is just her personality) - stubborn and strong willed. She went through the program and "graduated". Seeing her swim/float/swim was amazing. She is now safe around the water and we are thankful for ISR. She will be taking a refresher course this spring. If you have the patience and the time I recommend it. The diet restrictions were a bit tricky but it was just for a short time. The instructor never gave up on us and was very flexible too. She was very resonable with the costs too. Good Luck.

Mom against ISR

I did not have a good experience with ISR, partly because my daughter was a little afraid of the water to start with. I don't doubt that confident kids who are developmentally ready for ISR can benefit. However, if you have a child who is not all that sure of themselves it can be a traumatic experience. What I witnessed on our first lesson was several infants and toddlers being plopped in the center of a small pool and left to swim to the edge on their own.
ISR is almost cult like in their belief that this is the only way to ensure your child's safety and they are great at making you feel like an irresponsible parent if you don't get with the program.
There is no differentiated instruction by age or ability. Your child will suceed or be left, in my daughter's case, with a deep mistrust of people in the water. She will only reluctantly go sit at the steps today, which is heartbreaking to me because I grew up in the pool and was on the swim team through high school.
This is not the only way to ensure your child's safety. In fact the American Academy of Pediatrics warns parents that there is no such thing as drown proof and that the only way to ensure your child's safety around water is to stay within touching distance of your child at all times.

cflow