What a traumatizing way to learn to swim!!

[fingers_cross]

i completely understand the reasoning behind it, i just think its a VERY harsh way to do it, like someone else said, there must be a nicer, more pleastant way to do it, just upsets me seeing a baby in distress like that.

 

[AC1987]

ugh! I could never do that to my LO, I know they say "oh babies know how to swim and hold there breathe etc" but I just couldn't do it to my LO in that extreme, yes I believe kids shouldn't fear swimming but I'd rather teach a nicer way how to swim.
I still have memories of my dad tossing me in the water as a toddler, they said I loved it but I don't remember loving it when I was that young.

 

[Ceejay123]

Poor child!

 

[Noelle610]

While the video is a bit shocking, I don't understand the point it posting something like this. Every week it seems like someone posts a video or story about a baby being mistreated. I don't understand the fascination, as I'd rather not see these things. I know there are babies in the world being who aren't loved as we love our children, but I find the details traumatizing.

(OP, this is not particularly directed at you, I'm just musing!)

 

[corgankidd]

I posted this because, like I said, this is a pretty popular program in the states - I've heard of friends talking about it but I'd never seen it done. Once I finally saw how the techniques are carried out it was shocking but I wondered if I was just looking at it wrong, so I wanted to get others opinions. There were a couple people who defended the video and that's what I was looking for, to hear why these techniques are actually ok and hearing anyone's personal experience.

And this is not a video of a kid being mistreated, I have no fascination with that kind of thing at all (what a horrible thing to insuate!) this is a swim lesson, an aggressive one, and I was simply looking for opinions on it to see if its something I should actually look into.

 

[bookreader]

I havent watched the video as i know it will upset me.

I take my LO swimming regularly, but also go alone at times. When i go alone there is often baby classes on and the children get dunked. Some of the babies are crying and are anxious and i hate it. the parents still do it even when they are crying. I dont understand why this could be reducing any fear?!
Anyone its maybe just the one where i stay that does this as i seen a PP said they are told not to dunk when baby is upset.

My LO just plays around with me and to be honest we do alot of the stuff ive seen in the class. He also is not afraid of the water.

 

[eulmh82]

woah - we do submersion but that's totally different and I'm not overly comfortable with that but if baby is ever distressed I wouldn;t do it

 

[eulmh82]

I'm surprised this doesn;t traumatize her for life- I just physically wouldn;t be able to bring myself to do it

 

[Randianne]

It's not necessarily a swimming lesson. It's more of a water survival course. I don't think I'd do it if my LO was extremely upset, I'd wait until she'd calmed down a bit. However, I do see where these parents are coming from. Accidentally falling into a body of water is stunning and disorienting, so if a baby can only roll over and float of calm then the course does no good. It's not an easy decision.

 

[aliss]

I can understand the reasoning - but I have a very hard time believing that an unattended baby is going to properly float for the length of time it takes an unattentive caregiver to realize they are in the water. Either they are there or they aren't?

Alex jumped into the hot tub once shock and I ran over, grabbed him by the hair, and yanked his head out. Yes, as brutal as it sounds, it was scary. But I was there, just about 15-20 feet away. If I'm in the kitchen (?), will he float long enough for me to realize it, and run out and save him??

I actually don't know...

 

[aliss]

But I also didn't really think it was that horrible. Where I live, lots of children under 6 die every summer, I think it was 21 in summer 2012?? You can't teach a baby to swim, can you teach them to float??

 

[Randianne]

I can understand the reasoning - but I have a very hard time believing that an unattended baby is going to properly float for the length of time it takes an unattentive caregiver to realize they are in the water. Either they are there or they aren't?

Alex jumped into the hot tub once shock and I ran over, grabbed him by the hair, and yanked his head out. Yes, as brutal as it sounds, it was scary. But I was there, just about 15-20 feet away. If I'm in the kitchen (?), will he float long enough for me to realize it, and run out and save him??

I actually don't know...

My sister in law put her six week old into a similar course. By the end of it at five months of age, she was successfully floating for five or more minutes.

I really want to point out that it's not always an 'inattentive' parent. I ran one call on my ambulance where mom turned her back on her 18 month old for just an instant during her older child's birthday party. The girl ran off, and mom immediately went looking for her. They had a pool with both a fence and a cover. The fence had been opened by a child at the party, and the cover had partially collapsed because of the weight of accumulated rainfall the night before. If she had been able to roll over for even a few minutes, she might have made it. It certainly wasn't the result of mom and dad being neglectful.

Time is brain cells. Even a few minutes can make all the difference.

 

[CarliCareBear]

Oh my god!!! This makes me so upset- how can she do that when her mouth is just open like that??? She's choking her!! I was a lifeguard for many many years and I would NEVER allow this in my pool!! Could you imagine somebody doing this to you?? I don't understand why she wouldn't wait till the babies mouth is closed?? How can she possibly not be choking while lying on her back??

 

[XJessicaX]

wow, I had to turn the video off...it made me feel upset. That poor child.

 

[aliss]

I can understand the reasoning - but I have a very hard time believing that an unattended baby is going to properly float for the length of time it takes an unattentive caregiver to realize they are in the water. Either they are there or they aren't?

Alex jumped into the hot tub once shock and I ran over, grabbed him by the hair, and yanked his head out. Yes, as brutal as it sounds, it was scary. But I was there, just about 15-20 feet away. If I'm in the kitchen (?), will he float long enough for me to realize it, and run out and save him??

I actually don't know...

My sister in law put her six week old into a similar course. By the end of it at five months of age, she was successfully floating for five or more minutes.

I really want to point out that it's not always an 'inattentive' parent. I ran one call on my ambulance where mom turned her back on her 18 month old for just an instant during her older child's birthday party. The girl ran off, and mom immediately went looking for her. They had a pool with both a fence and a cover. The fence had been opened by a child at the party, and the cover had partially collapsed because of the weight of accumulated rainfall the night before. If she had been able to roll over for even a few minutes, she might have made it. It certainly wasn't the result of mom and dad being neglectful.

Time is brain cells. Even a few minutes can make all the difference.

True enough, the more I read into it (and looked at the website), the more I agree with it. No point in teaching a calm baby to float, it is instinctive to panic & flail

 

[marron]

My mother was thrown into the ocean when she was little as a way of teaching her to swim. The only thing she got out of it was a lifelong fear of water.

 

[babyblog]

Hmmm, I clicked on this thinking it wouldn't be something that bothered me but I hated watching it! If she had thrown her once then I could understand but baby looked like it was literally trying to catch it's breath. each time it did, she was chucked back in again. Woukdnt ever do it

 

[mlyn26]

What a cruel woman. My lo does swimming lessons and is submerged about 2 times in half hr lesson. This was over and over again. Horrid.

 

[deafgal]

i wish someone would keep throwing the mother in the water over and over without giving her a chance to breathe. How come some people don't have empathy to relate other people's feelings?

 

[louandivy]

The "throwing" technique is used to simulate a child falling into the water accidentally, and teaches them how to roll on to their backs to float until help arrives. The theory behind it is that desensitizing the child to the initial "shock" and encouraging energy conservation via floating can be more beneficial to survival as opposed to the panic and struggle that often exhausts the person and contributes to drowning. While the technique may be controversial, I believe that the video itself does not give enough context regarding what the actual course entails.

TBH, as a former lifeguard, avid swimmer, and coworker of a man who's 2-year-old drowned a few years back I've considered enrolling in this course.

Interesting post, good to hear the theory behind it!

I found the video quite horrible to watch BUT I dont think it's reasonable to call the woman a bitch or insinuate that parents who do this don't care for their kids - while it may seem unpleasant to some they aren't doing it for the fun of watching their babies almost drown, the intentions are good. Drowning terrifies me, by a total unlucky sequence of events my uncle drowned in my grandparents pool when he was 3 and remained severely brain damaged with no real quality of life until he died in his early forties. If I thought that this technique was the best way to ensure that something like that would never happen to my little girl then I wouldn't even hesitate.