A few years ago, when Crawford, my oldest, was a toddler, and Grayson was an infant, I had a tug on my heart to do ISR (Infant Swimming Resource) lessons for them. I had seen information about the program from acquaintances on social media, but no close friends that had gone through the program. However, everyone I reached out to about ISR, highly recommended it. They said it was demanding and time consuming but without hesitation said, “Do it! It is so worth it!” So we did. I committed to taking my 9 month old and 2.5 year old to swim lessons after work every day, for 6 weeks….or what I thought was only 6 weeks. This was only the beginning.
First off…
What is ISR?
Unfortunately, drowning is more common than we would like to believe. I won’t give you the statistics on child drownings, but it is alarming and enough to scare you in to signing up for this without knowing a single thing about it. These lessons aren’t necessarily about “swimming” but more about survival. ISR is a leader across the globe in survival swim lessons. They have over 300,000 graduates and 800 stories of survival of when kiddos have put their skills to use during an accident. ISR will start training children at 6 months of age, starting with the basic float and advancing as they get older to the swim-float-swim technique. The lessons eventually teach the child to roll over and float when they need rest and to ultimately swim to safety, to the edge of the pool.
Our Experience
When we signed up, we committed to a registration fee and $15 per session per child for 6 weeks. This was for a 10 minute 1 on 1 intensive session, which sounds short, but for a young child can be exhausting (for the kiddos and their parents). These lessons are not convenient for a working mom, but believe me, I am telling you 2 years later of doing them off and on, they are totally worth it. 6 weeks is the typical time span for a child to acquire these skills, but KEEP IN MIND, all children are different!
From day 1, my children hated the mention of going to swim lessons. They literally screamed on the way, on the side of the pool, and during the entire lesson. NO LIE. They didn’t hate the water, but mostly it was because they were being asked to do something they didn’t want to do. They had their good days, but then ultimately my boys were a little timid, cautious, and fearful when it came to going under water and resting to float on their back. It seemed like it was hard for them to trust the fact that they could float. So at the end of our first 6 weeks, when my kids were still panicking in the water, I was pretty discouraged, but thankfully, Carrie, our instructor, was so encouraging. Right then and there she looked me in the eye and she said I don’t care how long it takes, if you are in this with me, they will get it, I promise. And I believed her because of her passion for the skill and her compassion and patience with my kiddos. I was in it for the long haul. So, for the next 1 to 2 years, we went back to ISR lessons with our instructor for refreshers and to complete the course. Some point along the way, something clicked. They both started to look forward to the lessons and enjoy the water. May have had something to do with the stickers, goldfish, and skittles at the end of each lesson, but nonetheless, it wasn’t a dreaded thing day after day.
Crawford graduated from ISR last Summer. He was confident around the water, loved to swim and would relax on his back to float. It was a miracle for this timid and cautious child. However, his brother was wishy washy. He now enjoyed the water, but he would not relax on his back long enough to float (to actually save himself). Even though he would ask to be flipped over and thrown in the water, he still had some work to do. Summer 2019 came along and although Grayson was obsessed with the water last Summer, he kept telling us he “couldn’t swim” and would only stand on the steps at the pool. So, I was encouraged to get with our instructor for refreshers and to get G finalized with his lessons. The 1st day back was terrible. He screamed and hated it. But day 2 on, smiles and laughter and floating galore. No joke. He THRIVED and checked off every skill in just a few days. Something just clicked and he finally got his medal! Crawford has continued to do amazing this Summer without any setbacks in his skills. We plan to continue to practice these skills with them in the water throughout the Summer and floating in the bathtub at home, so that they will maintain them.
So here we are in the midst of the Summer, and sure, we may have some off days where they act like they don’t want to swim, but for the most part I can feel confident they are safe when we are at the pool or at the lake. I am so proud of these boys for accomplishing this skill and gaining such confidence. Time invested that was totally worth it.
There are a few instructors in the Upstate that offer these lessons and again, I highly recommend it. Head to https://www.infantswim.com/ for more information or email our instructor, c.pope@infantswim.com.
XO
Shana
