A few weeks ago JJ started Infant Swimming Resource‘s Self-Rescue® program. I’ve heard way too many tales of children drowning plus, we live near the beach and are hoping to spend a lot of time in the pool this summer.
I’m sure every program and instructor is different, but the program we enrolled in is 10-minute sessions a day for a total of $100 a week. JJ isn’t walking yet so he’s in a floating program that could last up to 6 weeks. Believe it or not, these classes are already booked in and we weren’t able to get him in right away. Eventually we found an instructor who was able to work with him for three weeks and got lucky that was all the time he needed to master the skills.
This class is definitely not for the faint of heart. The first few sessions were pretty mild, she was testing JJ to see how his float was. She softly rocked him from left to right as he was floating so he could begin to comprehend “up.” JJ was a little fussy during these exercises but she did allow him to have his pacifier to help soothe him and keep his mouth shut. I think he was mostly fussy because he wasn’t allowed to eat or drink for the two hours leading up to his lesson.
The exercises progress once they start to get comfortable and familiar. Next up, she mimicked a jump or fall off the side of the pool. She worked him through falling in on his back, side and front then she helped him roll over to float. After that he started air-water somersaults where he had a hard time closing his mouth. He got the physical movements down but he couldn’t keep his mouth shut and ended up swallowing a ton of water.
Up next, she took JJ through somersaults in the pool. He still had moments where he would swallow water but he was quick to spit it out and did a better job keeping his chin elevated. His mouth was open a lot during his float but when the water would near the corners of his lips he got better at closing his lips. It seemed JJ was really understanding how to get to his float from all these different scenarios but it was clear he had a dominant side he liked to flip towards to find his float. Our instructor spent a few days forcing him to his weaker side and he was not too happy about this.
The last step was a swim test in his diapers(swim and regular), clothes including a hooded top and shoes. At first JJ was really upset. Our instructor told me that his clothes and shoes add between 5-7 pounds to him once he’s wet. For a 21-pound baby that’s a lot of extra weight! About halfway through his testing session he started getting much more comfortable and didn’t fuss as much, if at all.
We went back the day after our testing session to double check all of his skills and JJ was actually smiling and laughing the entire session! I couldn’t believe it. Check out this video below of clips from his sessions. As you can see in the last clip, he is clearly enjoying himself and the water!
Don’t let this video fool you- between the sessions in front of and behind us, there was a lot of crying. There’s a reason these sessions are so short. Our instructor was very calm and articulated what she was doing which was reassuring. I was able to handle the mental load of these classes but can certainly see why some people may be opposed or uninterested in this program.
I highly encourage parents of young children to look into ISR. It won’t be the right fit for everyone but if you live around water or plan on engaging in any water activities this summer it’s worth a serious consideration. And remember, the sooner you sign up the better! These spots fill up so fast!
