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  1. #1
    trcy is offline Ruby level (4000+ posts)
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    Default ISR swim lessons?

    http://www.infantswim.com
    Anyone have experience with this? It looks pretty amazing, but I would love to hear from anyone whose DC went through their program.
    DD 12/10
    DS 10/15

  2. #2
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    Pretty sure mspacman sent her kids through the program and possibly twowhat? ... try doing a search and there may be more people who have, as well.
    Wish we had it in our area, but I don't think they have the classes anywhere in our state.

  3. #3
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    We did it with both kids. Best thing ever. There have been several threads on it in the past with great info or I am happy to answer any questions you have.

  4. #4
    twowhat? is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Best money we ever spent (it's not cheap!!!). I recommend it ESPECIALLY for shy/anxious/cautious kids (which mine are, very much!) My kids have several friends their (current) age who are the outgoing/risk-taking type and those kids have been able to learn to swim just fine either on their own/parents teaching or in traditional swim lessons because of their personalities. My kids would've taken YEARS to learn to swim with traditional lessons, or us trying to teach them, or any other less intense method. DD2 screamed for her entire 5 weeks. DD1 screamed the first 3 days and then was totally fine for the rest of the lessons.

    Also, I feel like I can truly say they can swim vs some of their friends who can technically make it from one end of the pool to the other, or from the diving board to the side, but would have no idea what to do if they got tired in the middle or needed rest or extra breaths. Knowing how to get to and maintain that resting backfloat is a huge deal.

    The time commitment is significant and that was the hardest part for us - I had to get special permission from work to be able to get my girls to ISR lessons because the closest instructor was 20 min away and most of them in our area do not teach during evening hours.

    You can search past threads...if you search by my username and "swim" you should find several. ISR is unfortunately not a searchable term

    Just a couple of weeks ago my girls jumped off the BIG diving board at the city aquatics center. I know this wouldn't be a big deal to most people, but for our kids - HUGE DEAL.

    Our kids went through ISR when they were 4 years old. I think that was a great age because they really remember what they learned vs if you start with a 6mo, you have to take refresher courses each year because babies/toddlers change SO much both developmentally/physically in the span of a year. And also, our instructor could start hammering away at safety rules - at every lesson she would quiz them on water safety (for example - "Is it a good idea to go swimming without your mommy or daddy?" etc) - I'm an ISR advocate for all of the ages that they teach but just wanted to mention that since your child would be starting at about the same age as ours did.
    Last edited by twowhat?; 07-29-2014 at 11:10 PM.

  5. #5
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    We did ISR when my kids were 2. We live in Florida and there are lakes and pools everywhere, including a large pond behind our house. I loved it, but at the time I had a more flexible work schedule, since you have to go every day for 10 minutes. Which would be a few weeks or last as long as 5-6 weeks depending on your child.

    There was crying for a day or two, then they loved it. I highly recommend it, but will warn you, they will put the kids into situations in the end that will make you cringe, like roll them into the pool with their clothes on in somersault fashion to imitate what typically happens when kids really fall into a pool, etc. But I felt it was valuable to have them be able to handle that situation.
    Marcy

    DD1 2003
    DD2 2005
    DD3 2009

  6. #6
    fauve01 is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    My neighbor's 2YO is doing it right now. The mom says the kid didn't cry once! she was shocked. he's the second child and fearless. since big brother is 5 and going to the beach and pool, she wanted 2YO to learn to swim. one of her peripheral friends is an instructor.

    she did say it's rough getting there every single day. she also mentioned her DS isn't allowed to have certain foods while doing it (no apple products!) which I didn't know. she is really really glad to have her kid in the class. and the kid told us he loves swimming.

  7. #7
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    We did it with DS when he was 9 months old. Then the instructor said we had to stop while DS figured out how to walk and I go kind of confused about how we do the refresher course/what he needed, etc. It was just this weird burp in the program I really didn't understand what we were supposed to do. Then I got pregnant with DD, DH was traveling a ton and it got pushed to the backburner. Plus I had been paranoid about the water but with having DD then we haven't gone anywhere really where there has been bodies of water (other than the beach and we stay really far away from the water at this point). So...it was sadly kind of a bust for us, he's taking regular swim lessons this summer and I don't think he's really retained anything from the ISR classes. I do think you have to stick with it.
    ~ Dawn
    Our little monkey (4/2011) & his early holiday present 12/12

  8. #8
    trcy is offline Ruby level (4000+ posts)
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    Thanks for all of the replies. I am glad to hear it worked well for most of you. DD did traditional swim lessons earlier this summer but she can't move on to the higher levels until she she is 4....so next summer. My main concern is she knows how to to survive if she falls in water. I don't think she learned that with the lessons she went to. Next summer she will be able to do all of the higher levels, so I think she will be safer around water. I am trying to decide if the ISR class are worth it (very high cost) vs waiting until next summer with traditional swim lessons.
    DD 12/10
    DS 10/15

  9. #9
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    We are about to move to a house with a small pool so I'm very interested in swim safety. I had never heard of ISR until I saw this thread and the videos of babies and toddlers swimming is amazing! I'd love to have DD, and DS, doing that! Did anyone have any negative experiences with the lessons? When I googled some of the negative reviews are pretty harsh about kids struggling under water which would be so hard for me to watch. DS did two weeks of lessons this summer right before a vacation and at the hotel pool I couldn't see it making any difference so I'm very intrigued about ISR getting him more comfortable in the pool.

  10. #10
    twowhat? is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by trcy View Post
    Thanks for all of the replies. I am glad to hear it worked well for most of you. DD did traditional swim lessons earlier this summer but she can't move on to the higher levels until she she is 4....so next summer. My main concern is she knows how to to survive if she falls in water. I don't think she learned that with the lessons she went to. Next summer she will be able to do all of the higher levels, so I think she will be safer around water. I am trying to decide if the ISR class are worth it (very high cost) vs waiting until next summer with traditional swim lessons.
    ISR is a little bit "incompatible" with traditional swim lessons, so that's something to keep in mind. Body positioning is different, they teach a completely horizontal chin-down position in the water, then a roll-to-face-up. Traditional swim lessons teach the whole "lift head straight out of the water to take a breath". So yes, water survival is different from traditional swim. My kids did ISR first and then are taking Red Cross lessons from the same instructor so while it's traditional stroke work, she keeps it compatible with ISR's roll-to-float until they're at a good enough level to be able to make better informed decisions about how to breathe (side breathing? lift head straight up? tread water? ISR roll-to-float? etc).

    Did your DD make good progress with regular swim lessons? If so I might actually just stay that route. They will teach jumping into the water so she will learn basics on how to get to the side of the pool from jumping in. She just won't learn the roll-to-float so if that's important to you, consider ISR. The roll-to-float is what makes it "survival" - most everyone will get tired in the water and need to know how to get to a safe resting position to breathe, and then continue swimming to the side of the pool. FWIW none of the kids that I've seen in traditional swim lessons are comfortable with floating on their backs. Just a couple weeks ago one of my kids' friends said "Look, look what I just learned to do in swim lessons!" and tried to float on her back but failed. And she is a "good swimmer" - can jump in, swim to the side, knows how to do that half-breast-stroke thing to take breaths.

    For PP: ISR instructors will NOT let your child struggle underwater! But they will "force" your child to very quickly learn to hold his breath. IMO it is not cruel at all...the instructor is RIGHT THERE with your child and no other children to distract. She will be very carefully monitoring bubbles coming from your child's mouth to see whether he is properly holding his breath, etc. My DD2 SCREAMED through 5 weeks of lessons but I still don't think it was cruel - our instructor was firm and gentle, but DD2 was just a PITA. And - she learned the techniques
    Last edited by twowhat?; 07-30-2014 at 05:34 PM.

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