Each year 650 children drown in swimming pools. This is an alarming statistic and something that every parent fears happening to one of their children. Children from the age of one to four years old are at the greatest risk of drowning and when parents must be most diligent to prevent this from happening. But no matter how diligent you are accidents happen.

The toddler slips outside when you are doing housework or are chatting on the phone.

You think the toddler is napping but he has slipped outside when you weren’t looking.

An older child has forgotten to lock the door to the backyard where the pool is located.

Your child is visiting grandparents who have a pool. They have good intentions but have trouble keeping up with the kids.

There are a dozen different scenarios, but the end result is the same. Your child can drown. One way to safeguard against this from happening is to teach your baby to swim as an infant. To many people, this is absurd, but if your baby or toddler has been taught to swim, if he does fall into the pool when you aren’t around, it can save his life.

Teaching babies to swim, can my baby really learn to swim?

Yes. Your baby can and will learn to swim if taught correctly by a certified infant swim instructor. What you need to realize is that your child is being taught to swim for survival not for recreation.

When many people hear the term, infant swimming, they picture an infant or toddler splashing and playing around in the pool. Infant swim instruction isn’t for recreation. This is for survival - not recreation. A swim instructor will teach your baby how to survive and get to the edge of the pool, not swim laps or play Marco Polo.

The first thing the instructor will teach your baby is how to roll from face down in the pool to face up. With infants, they are taught to roll their bodies to the face up position and float. Because of their age, infants don’t usually get into a pool by themselves. Infants usually drown in pools when they are surrounded by adults who have gotten distracted.

If you have your infant or young baby in the pool with you and he falls out of his seat or life jacket, if he has had infant swim lessons he will know how to roll to his back and float until an adult sees him.

Toddlers usually get into trouble with the pool by escaping or sneaking away when you aren’t looking. If this happens and your curious toddler tumbles head first into your pool, he will have been taught to flip to his back and swim to the ladder where he can get out.

Now you know the importance of infant swim lessons. So the next time you hear someone talking about teaching their baby to swim, you can encourage them and you can also have a certified swim instructor teach your baby to swim to ensure her safety around pools.

Jason Ladock

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