We recently shared the Today video of 6-month-old babies taking swim classes, and received a lot of feedback from worried moms.
One mom wrote in with a personal account and question we had to share....
"Last summer, my 3-year-old son took swim lessons for several weeks and was totally swimming. At the end of the program, I wanted to see if he learned enough to keep him safe if he fell in. So, to test him, I nudged him from behind and he fell into the water. Thinking back on this now, I feel terrible. But how can parents be sure their child is water safe?"
Water safety expert Lisa Cook weighs in:
What It Means to be "Water Safe"
- The definition of a person who is water safe is someone who can act as his or her own lifeguard
- If you child is pushed into a pool after several weeks of classes, most likely, he or she will be able to swim to the side. However, this does NOT mean he or she is water safe.
- No matter the experience, you cannot assume a child is water safe before the age of 8.
- Being water safe is having the mental capacity to accurately and safely react to any situation. If a child is trapped under a raft or chokes on water, being water safe means he or she will know what to do
- Your child swimming alone in a pool is a much different situation than your child swimming in a pool with 10 other children...then add rafts....and toys...etc.
Parents - Listen Up!
- Do not assume your child will save him or herself in any situation.
- It is not a parent's responsibility to test if your child will sink or swim.
- A parent's responsibility is to always watch your child around water.
- Don't assume anyone else is watching your child - you're responsible!
For more information on Lisa Cook and her water safety methods, visit KidSwim.
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filed under: kid logic
Email5 comments so far | Post a comment now >>
You knew your son knew how to swim. I wouldn’t really say you did a bad thing. At least not compared to my sister. Her son was around that age, maybe two. She threw him into the pool. She insisted that swimming came naturally to people. Thankfully he was ok. One more person that will not watch my kids.
- Vernitta
Yeah, I agree, you knew he could swim, and sometimes kids need a little “nudge” and some testing. It’s good for them. If he had never even attempted swimming before, that would be a whole different story.
- Naomi
I think that you should not have nudged your child into the pool.
- evita cheng
good job! i would do the same thing to my kid. i mean, what if he/ she fell in without someone around?? i would want to know if my kid can react under pressure.
- Anonymous
Anonymous “what if he/ she fell in without someone around??” I would hope no parent would leave their 3yo child unsupervised near a pool!!!! I would never push my child or anyone into a pool its an awful thing to do IMHO
- Sam
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