I never thought my kid would be afraid of the water with me as his parent. Whenever I go to the beach, the water calls my name. I would rather splash and swim than sit on the beach any day. And for the most part my son is the same but he will NOT get his face wet. He’s terrified of the water when it comes to that.

He’s a daredevil in so many ways and even in the pool he’s determined to do his own thing, his own way which doesn’t make for such a great experience for us as his parents. He wants to swim by himself which means we are constantly chasing him and rescuing him from himself.

It’s only recently that my nightmares about him falling into the water and drowning have subsided, but I fear that when we take him for swimming lessons in the next few weeks they will return. There’s nothing worse that being startled awake with the fear that your child has fallen into the water.

I know it will just be a matter of time before he learns how to swim but it’s still scary to think about what could happen. 

Infant Swimming Self-Rescue

Watching this video at my friend’s house last night reminded me that my mom once said that I learned to swim when I was an infant. Apparently we were at the pool for lessons and the babies were dropped into the water! Now, I’m not entirely sure of the details but it seems to me that we’d build on that natural instinct and teach them how to be safe in the water. Babies are natural swimmers having been in the womb for ten months.

I’m not sure why we don’t teach our babies how to self-rescue should they fall in the water. It would save so many sweet lives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwvv5IyPkXM&authuser=0

Check out their Facebook page for information and their website. 

I was not compensated for this post. I am writing it because I think it’s important we have this available for every child.