Anyone Tried Infant Swimming Resource? Infant Swim Lessons

As a mother who has gone thru the ISR experience and has compared notes to the mommy groups who have chosen the mommy and me YMCA programs instead, I can only say ISR was DEFINITELY WORTH EVERY PENNY. There is no price on the sense of peace I have gotten since my toddler went thru the training. Granted it seems pricey but it can simply not be compared to blowing bubbles in the pool bc my daughter can independently swim and she is not even 2 yet! I got so many astonished looks this past summer as she was the only child in the community pool without floaties and passing by 6 year olds! I do no own a swimming pool but my neighbors do and it is dangerous enough, especially living here in Austin where we have so many opportunities to hit the water. I came accross this blog as I recently read about the near drowning in South Austin even now in the WINTER time!! It is very important that children learn to safe themselves...You will not regret the investment trust me!

The Northwest branch of the YMCA offers infant and Mom swim lessons at a much cheaper price. I would look there first.

I think the class you are referring to is Infant Swim (www.infantswim.com). Is that correct? They are like no other swimming class that I have ever seen. I wanted to do this with our son, however there was nothing in Austin (only in Dallas/Houston) so we were unable. I heard about these from a friend (in Phoenix) that took his daughter (before she was 1 year) and they really loved it. They actually are about to take her again and just turned two.

Good luck, and keep in mind that not all swim lessons are the same!

I've looked into these lessons as well, and I didn't think it was worth the $700...they said it would average about six lessons lasting about 10 min each. Although, I'm sure the technique truly works...unless you have a pool in your backyard or if your child will be around a pool often, then there are many other options that you may want to consider...like try private 1:1 swim lessons (usually $15-$25 per 30 min session). Of course, if the $600-$700 cost of the ISR class is no big deal to you, then go for it.

Call Crenshaw's on Balcones Drive or our local YMCA.

Hey A.!
I just finished a two week session of swim lessons with my just turned nine month old. It was more of a "mommy and me" class and the instructor moved at your babies pace. I felt that there was no pressure to submerge my infant in water if I didn't want to. I am way too nervous. I enjoyed because I could swim with him. It was comfortable and we both felt safe. It was $60 through the city (not sure where you live, but I know they are really common) and it was 4 sessions a week for 2 weeks.
Have fun!

My 7-month-old has been in swim lessons for the past two weeks, and I'll be honest, it was a waste of money. He's just not old enough to understand blowing bubbles in the water and other commands like "kick", which he already does on his own fortunately, and "stretch your arms out like a super hero", which sounds like "blah blah blah blah blah" to him. The lifeguards said that at his age, it's basically just a way to get him used to the water. Well he's already used to the water because his grandmother swims with him several times a week! So I basically paid a very expensive entrance fee for my son to play and splash in the public pool.

Maybe we just picked the wrong place to take swim lessons and perhaps other Moms with babies as young as ours had a better experience. But I will wait until mine is old enough to understand basic commands before I try again.

Good luck!

Hi A.,
This is C. who was on the news last night. Here is the link to the story again:
http://www.keyetv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=5B...

Laurie (who also replied below) and I put our babies Vinson and Dallas in this class 6 weeks ago and are really impressed with the results. I have also watched Chiara, the 8 month old in many of her classes and it is amazing to watch a little tiny baby recover from being dropped gently into the water in full clothing and float safely until she is retrieved.
She is not exactly crawling yet so the likelihood of her making out to her backyard and into her pool is a little lower right now, but if some weird, extreme circumstance were to occur I can say that she'd be safer then any untrained 8month old who fell into a swimming pool.

Before this class, Vinson had no real understanding or appreciation for the danger of the swimming pool. He would just walk right in without a care. Now that he realizes that he can not breathe under water, he will stand by looking at the swimming pool and not jump in until Jeff and I are in there giving him the go ahead. We practice his swim sequence daily and he seems to love the water more than ever before. I am especially happy when I see that he recognizes when he is running out of air and flips over to his float to breathe until he is ready to turn over and swim to us or the stairs.

For my needs (my child being twice as old as yours and extremely fearless) I really believe that the lessons were worth the $500-$600 for the survival skill that were taught to my child. Erika, the mother of 8 month old Chiara agrees due to the fact that they have a swimming pool right outside their back door.

If your child is never around a swimming pool, you may want to wait a few months for this class so your child can learn the swim-float-swim sequence they teach to children over one year. However if your child is exposed to swimming pools right now and you want to be on the safe side, you should enroll in Robin's class. They are about to have 3-4 new instructors in Austin starting September as well.
Remember, this is by NO means a substitute for adult supervision. There was a 4yr old who died in a Pflugerville apartment pool yesterday because he was not being watched. Hopefully classes like this will help to prevent future tragedies such as this one.

My 18 month old son is finishing up with ISR and I couldn't be happier. We are friends with the 17 month old boy, Vinson, and his mom, Christine, shown on the segment last night. My son can do the swim float swim fairly well by now. If he were to fall in without me knowing I feel confident that he would get himself into his back float with no problem which is critical as babies don't thrash about as one might assume when they fall in. His skills would give me critical time to realize something has happened. He has been tested with full summer clothing and winter clothing. As they said in the segment, ISR is not a replacement for close adult supervision. The other plus is how comfortable my son is in the water in general and the respect he now has for it. He used to want to run and jump in without me. Now he knows that the water can be fun, but it requires work and Mommy, Daddy or another adult. It is pricey but my child's safety is priceless. We will be doing a 2 week refresher next spring before the swim season starts. Robin Bates is an excellent instructor and I highly recommend her. Your baby at under 12 months would be taught to get into a float which is the most important thing. The web site is www.infantswim.com. The local website is www.israustin.com. If you have further questions feel free to contact me. I've done some research and I feel this is by far the best program out there.
One of your responders incorrectly states that there are six 10 minute lessons. WRONG! There are daily 10 minute lessons for 4 to 6 weeks depending on your child. They don't learn from verbal cues they learn from instinct and prompts in a learning environment much as they learn to crawl or walk. They are praised for their accomplishments. It is so different from any other kind of swim lessons. You can check out many videos on www.youtube.com of ISR taught infants. There is no teaching of "blowing bubbles" or any of the traditional methods. I urge you to visit some sessions. ISR welcomes it.

One of the ladies at my son's daycare told me about Nitro Swim. They are in Cedar Park/Round Rock (Parmer and 1431). They are $55 per month.