When Should A Child Start Swimming Lessons? Other Vital Tips
What is the best age to start swimming lessons?
Teaching your kids how to swim is the best gift that you can give them. It is more or less like teaching them how to ride a bike.
Besides, they will get the workout benefits of swimming, and they’ll enjoy themselves crazily. It is like killing two birds with one stone.
In that regard, what is the best age to start swimming lessons? 1 to 4 years is a good time to introduce your child to swimming lessons. A kid who is 2 years old can be quite adept at swimming but they should never swim independently.
The sooner that you can introduce swimming lessons, the better. Children love water, so they learn fast. Keep reading to see how to go about getting your toddler to learn to swim.
But, yes, there is a but:
What do experts recommend? The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that swim lessons for children should start at 4 years.
If you have an expert trainer teach your child how to swim, you can start as early as 12 months.
How long does it take to learn to swim for a child?
It will take a maximum of 30 lessons. However, some children are quite adept, and they can learn how to float, kick, and beat that stroke in as little as 20 lessons. A child should be an adept swimmer after taking 20 to 30 lessons.
However, this also depends on the age of the child. For example, a kid who is aged between 3 and 5 years old can take about 30 lessons to be able to swim across a 15 to 20-foot pool.
However, children who are aged between 6 and 10 years need just 20 lessons, and they will be able to swim across a larger pool.
If your child is not picking up swimming skills fast enough, do not worry too much about it. After all, children develop at different rates.
Some can be fast, and some can be a bit slow in picking up skills. Eventually, they will come around.
Can a 2-year-old learn how to swim?
Indeed, they can. The general recommendation is to get your child started on swimming when they are 1–4 years old.
Children who learn to swim when they are under 4 years old tend to learn again faster when they are older. They eventually do forget.
At 2 years old, your baby can swim, just NOT INDEPENDENTLY. For that, you will have to wait until they are six or seven years old.
When should the child start swimming lessons?
The best age to start taking your kid through swimming lessons is between one and six years old. However, it is not a matter of urgency, so the best age is 4 years. At this time, the children can learn skills they will never forget.
While there is a misconception that babies can swim instinctively, don’t buy it. They cannot! Keep on the lookout when your toddler is in the water. Don’t leave their side.
According to the CDC, many children drowning deaths occur in the age bracket of 1 to 4 years. Therefore, even if your kid adapts to the water like a fish, do not allow them to swim alone.
Training your kid to swim does not mean you are going to let them swim alone. You are prepping them so that you can have a great time together in the swimming pool. Never leave them unattended.
When it comes to training your child to swim, do not make it too much about age. Some children learn things fast, and some take their sweet time.
All the same, do not train a child who is under 1 year old to swim. It is not worth it. Besides, the risk of swallowing pool water is real, as is that of drowning.
Starting swimming lessons for 4 and 5-year-olds
At four years of age, your kid is ready to learn how to swim. You can train them on your own, and you can also take them to a certified swim instructor at the local YMCA pool.
If you have a child aged 5 or older, you can take them to the local pool and pay a trainer. Here, they will learn many skills in swimming, including how to hold their breath underwater.
They will also learn other skills. Most importantly, they will learn how to conduct themselves safely in a pool or around the pool area.
When a child is younger than 4 years, the swimming instructor will not allow their face to be underwater. They might inhale water and experience secondary drowning.
They will learn how to swim with their head above water. When too young, children might find it hard to learn how to kick and propel themselves in water using their arms.
How old should a baby be to start swimming lessons?
Some sources say you should start your baby swimming for one year. If this is your intention, please take the baby to a swimming trainer. At this age, their face should never go underwater.
Keep reading to see some suggestions for the best ages to start swimming lessons for your baby:
Teach baby to swim 0–6 months
This is very young, so you do not want to get the baby to swim in the pool. You can use the bath water to teach them how to swim.
Start by introducing the baby to the water, letting them feel confident in it. Let them play in the water. Almost all babies love water.
There is not really much you can teach a 6-month-old baby in the water, apart from letting them have fun. Don’t bathe them in too much water since they cannot learn how to float.
It is best to wait until your baby is at least 1 year old to teach them the bare basics of swimming.
How to teach your baby to swim 6–12 months
When your baby is 12 months old, you can start teaching them how to swim. The sooner your child can learn how to swim, the lesser the risk of drowning they will be facing.
Today, many parents are teaching their children how to swim early enough. Over the last decade, infant deaths by drowning have decreased by a considerable margin.
We suggest you don’t attempt to teach your child how to swim on your own. It is best to have a certified trainer teach them. You can be in the class too, so you can get the best tone for passing swimming instructions.
Research has shown that children who learn how to swim at an early age have a higher chance of surviving a water accident.
Getting your child formally trained in swimming can reduce the risk of unintentional drowning by up to 88 percent.
At what age can a child swim independently?
You can get your child started on swimming as early as one year. The recommended age to get your child started on swimming is 1 to 4 years. However, this does not mean they are competent swimmers. Never leave them to swim alone.
Let’s say you started your kid swimming when they were one year old. During the first, second, and third years, they will swim with floaties for kids.
At four years old, they can ditch the floaties. They can start swimming independently, still under the supervision of an adult.
At this age, they can start learning important things, such as floating in water, independently, without your assistance.
They can also learn how to tread water safely. The swimming trainer will teach them all the foundational skills of swimming.
Teach them the 5 basic strokes of swimming. By the time they are five years old, they can swim using the backstroke and freestyle techniques easily for up to 30 feet.
When your child gets to 6 years of age, they can swim longer and harder, say, up to 100 yards, mixing all the swimming strokes.
To answer the question, of: what age can a child swim independently? When they are 6 to 7 years old, they are ready to go solo, but on the shallow end.
Remember, always keep watch over your kids. Generally, it is not a good idea to swim alone. This is an energy-intensive exercise. It is possible to be too exhausted to swim while in the middle of the pool.
What to know about teaching children to swim
Safety is the chief concern when you need to teach children how to swim. Let a trainer handle them. If you decide to do it on your own, here are some things to bear in mind:
Kids can still drown even if they know how to swim
That is right. Your child can drown even if he or she knows how to swim. Therefore, you should never let the children swim alone or unsupervised. If you are training yours, always stay around. Keep your eyes on them.
Safety in the water is paramount. Besides, children cannot be trusted to make the right decisions in times of danger.
Let your child swim in warm water
This is very important. Children are more likely to suffer from hypothermia than adults. It is recommended that the water be heated to 87°F for kids that are 3 years and younger.
Clean, warm and safe water only
Your child needs to swim in clean water. During the process, he or she is going to swallow a lot of this water. At home, you either have a saltwater or chlorinated pool.
Even if you have an inflatable swimming pool, make sure it has minimal chlorine. In the first few days, your child will swallow a good amount of this water. Make it as reasonably safe as you can.
Check the temperature of the water. You should only swim in a heated pool with your baby. You don’t want your baby to catch pneumonia or congestion problems.
Follow up on the lessons
A child who takes 10 swimming lessons in a month will learn faster than a child who learns how to swim only once a month. When you start, make sure the lessons and sessions follow each other.
You can introduce your children to swimming in spring so they can learn how to swim through the summer.
What age is too late to learn to swim?
There is no age limit for how to learn to swim. If for some reason, your child missed taking their lessons when they were two or three years old, they can learn how to swim many years later.
But seeing as swimming is a survival skill, the sooner you can get them to learn how to swim, the better!
And this also applies to other people, not only children. No matter what age you are, you can learn how to swim and become very good at it.
People have learned how to swim in their senior years. Even people with joint problems can learn how to swim because this is a low-impact workout.
The buoyancy that the water provides makes learning how to swim much easier. You can even master other important factors of swimming, such as floating in water.
Conclusion: What is the best age to start swimming lessons
What is the best age to start swimming lessons? 4 years is ideal. Skills learned at such an age are hard to forget, especially when your child keeps practicing.
At 6 or 7 years of age, your children should be able to swim independently. The important thing is to keep the kids learning how to swim. The learning never stops! Your kids will keep building on the skill.
Also, remember, even if you have an in-ground, inflatable, or above ground pool at home, hire a trainer to teach your kids how to swim.