We have a pool and 3 kids. My youngest is turning 5 and has had swimming lessons and is used to our pool, but still likes to wear a life jacket (she prefers this to inflatable arm bands, etc.) I am fine with this, because sometimes I can get busy wit 3 kids in the pool, and their friends and I know she's totally safe. She's comfortable swimming around (with life jacket) by herself and getting much more comfortable in the pool. My middle child did this and one day decided they didn't need it, and took off swimming. My oldest just swam from the start pretty much - no fear!
My question is, at what age was your child when they could swim on their own without a life jacket or floaties in a deep pool? Just curious. Thanks
Thank you all for your input. Having three kids, I know they all develop at their own rate and I find it interesting to hear when kids master certain things. My first son just swam like a fish right away - very young (no fear, and couldn't wait). My middle child was very hesitant, but then on his own, just decided to swim (about a year or 2 later than my first born). My daughter decided last night to ditch the life jacket and use a noodle but I can see she won't need this for long. We did lessons with all three (and taught them ourselves in our pool) and they all took to water differently. I do recognize (good point) that life jackets are not entire safe (false sense of security) - we are always in the pool with our little ones and not out of sight or reach.
Update - our daughter only used the noodle for a couple of days, and then took off in our deep pool :) She had been able to swim unassisted (without flotation device) in the shallow pool for some time (close to a year), but it was the deep pool (with kids diving in and out and splashing) where she didn't have quite enough confidence to go without one. They do the same at our local pool (kids are required to wear floaties in deep end, even if they can do basic swimming, until they pass a certain level). I agree - I would never use floaties or life jackets for teaching kids to swim - I would think that would interfere with learning the skills. Thanks for all the input - some great suggestions :)
My son was swimming by 3 1/2ish... And that was him jumping in the pool and swimming. My daughter is 17 months old and can float, I put her in infant rescue swim classes when she was a year old.
I just want to mention that your child is not completely safe in a life jacket, my cousin almost drowned because he was face down in the water, although he was at the surface because the life jacket kept him from going under.
That being said, every kid is different. My kid is 6 and still wears a life jacket because she's not as used to the pool, where my sister's kid is 3 and sometimes goes without with no problem because they have a pool and he spends all his free time in it.
All five of my kids have been/are going through ISR (infant swimming resource). The three oldest were around 4 when they could swim in the deep end, go off the diving board, go down the slide, etc. comfortably. They could all swim in the shallow end and jump off the side (into the shallow end) at around 3. My youngest boy is now almost 5 and does great in the deep end, but lacks confidence, so he mostly swims in the shallow end where he knows he can touch if he wants to. My baby (one on Monday) started ISR at 10 months and it is utterly amazing to watch her. She can float completely unassisted and she does a little swimming. She LOVES the water and I suspect she will be a phenomenal swimmer by next summer. I cannot say enough wonderful things about ISR. It not only teaches swimming, but survival skills- really a must for anyone that has a pool. The reason my kids (and all my nieces and nephew) started ISR is because my in-laws have a pool at their house and it was extremely important to MIL that all the grandkids were safe and would know what to do if they ever fell in the pool.
ETA- the only time I would ever put a life jacket on any of my kids is if they were on a boat, or were doing some sort of activity that requires it for safety. None of my kids have ever worn swimmies. Most swimming instructors, ISR or not, will tell you to NOT use those. They give children a false sense of security in the water and they do NOT teach them to swim.
Mine were all between 4 & 6.
my kids are 6 an d 7 and the just had level 3 swim class . they did not pass so they will have level 3 swim class again. These are red cross levels. they can swim. a short distance.. they cannot do rhythmic breathing ....
Both of my kids took swimming lessons from the time they were toddlers, and could swim in the deep end without help by the time they were four. My older son was always a little more cautious and took a little longer to go on his own, but my younger son was fearless in the water and could swim right from the start.
My dd is very athletic, but swimming was never her thing. She finally overcame her fear and became a proficient swimmer by the age of 9 (passed all the classes by this age)
All of mine were strong swimmers at 3 - we have a pool as well, none of mine could wait to shed their flotation devices!
My youngest was 3 but my oldest was probably 4 before he was completely comfortable.
All kids are different.
Mine were 3 and 4. Shallow or deep end was irrelevant to them since they were too little to touch in either depth. We also never used floaties or jackets...they interfered with them learning to really swim. This summer my kids are 4 and 5. They can swim down to retrieve toys from the bottom of the shallow end (they still can't touch), but don't swim to the bottom of the deep end yet. They can both easily swim the width of the pool but will usually swim to the side and take a brief break when swimming the length.
5 (almost 6) years old.
Our son was swimming well by 7 yrs old.
About 6 years old. Even then, we still did a couple more swim classes at the next highest level to help with confidence.
My kids could swim across the pool by age 4. (It was not a pretty stroke. They could also turn themselves over on their back and float so I felt fairly safe with them in the water but accidents happen so I still watch my 10 year old constantly.)
We too have a pool and all 3 of my kids could swim at 2-3y/o. I let my kids swim w/out a life jacket when they could swim without it on the length of our pool and go down & get something off the deep end (8ft) of the pool! So for mine they were 4, 3 & 3!
~when the pool was crazy crowded w/lots of kids I still insisted my youngest daughter, by far the weakest swimmer of my 3 kids, wear her life jacket up until she was about 4.5....just b/c I was dog-piled in a pool when I was little & I was fearful! It can get chaotic with tons of kids on the pool!
We felt the most secure when they could swim the length of the pool underwater w/out coming up for air...& when they could retrieve things off the deep end, & when they could get themselves down to the deep end & stay down there until me or daddy or other sibling came to save them ( staying at the bottom takes a LOT of skill) & then when they learned to tread water for 5 minutes, I started to relax a bit more! Now my biggest fear is not of them drowning but of then running around & falling and knocking them selves unconscious & falling into the pool!
I have made sure ALL my kids & nephews have taken ALL the swimming lessons possible! We use the American Red Cross here thru our 'Parks & Recreation Department' & the lessons go up to level 7. My 5 year old is the only one that isn't finished with the lessons yet, she's stuck on level 5...the butterfly is a hard stroke to master for her!
