ISR Swimming Lessons

Happy Monday!

I've been getting A LOT of questions about Graham's swim lessons over on my Instagram (@SarahTuckerUp), so, after tons of you requesting a post, here I am finally cranking one out!

We knew we wanted G to be in swim lessons this summer. My parents just sold their house and are moving to the lake permanently and my in-laws back up to a HUGE pond on a golf course, so the chances of Graham being around water are very high. We hope to one day have a pool and water safety is just something you can't put a price on.

I'd seen videos on Instagram and Facebook of these babies, BABIES, being dunked into the water and then floating and I would get hooked on the ISR hashtag. When it came time to enroll Graham in swim lessons, I started to do some real research on ISR.

ISR stands for Infant Swimming Resource. The ISR technique is designed to teach children how to survive (and swim!) in the water if they so happen to fall in accidentally.

I'll let you all research on your own, but after realizing that blowing bubble and learning to "kick, kick, kick" wouldn't save him, I was 100% on board with ISR.

The swim lessons are one on one, five days a week, and only last 10 minutes. Swimming is exhausting and these little ones are working HARD for the whole 10 minutes.

I will admit that the first few days/weeks are hard because your child cries the whole time during the lesson. They are learning to hold their breath and it is really hard to watch. BUT, BUT all I thought about is how THIS COULD SAVE HIS LIFE!!! By the second week, the crying didn't phase me. After about three weeks, Graham hardly ever cried and would lunge to get into his instructor's arms.

I was truly amazed at each lesson how much he learned and retained. It is crazy how a little one can truly SWIM!

In 6 weeks, Graham has successfully completed ISR. His final test was to be 'flipped' into the water fully clothed and he had to float for a whole minute. His diaper probably weighed 5 pounds when he got out!! You can see the video of his float on my Instagram (@SarahTuckerUp).

As far as the financial investment, it honestly was something we talked about as an investment. It is $95-100 per week and your child typically needs 6 weeks. When I compared the price to a swim school close by (where G wouldn't have learned to float and SURVIVE!), it was worth the additional couple hundred dollars in our eyes.

He will need refresher lessons later this fall (Texas is HOT until about November) and then in the spring. Next summer he will probably need about three weeks of lessons to remember all he was taught and learn a few new skills.

For his age, 16 months, he was taught to swim and then float. Next summer he will be taught to roll back over from his float and swim toward the edge of the pool and then float when he needs to rest.

The whole experience was truly amazing! I'm in awe of the little babies I witnessed float for minutes! And, I'm in awe that my own child can float for longer than I can!

If you have any comments or questions, I'd love to give you all the information I have. I really encourage you to research ISR and, if you're going to be around water, think about this as an investment! It is so worth it!!