Daniel Bailey was at his grandmother's house in Florida last winter when he saw his 9-year-old brother, Bradley, jump in her swimming pool and start swimming.
Daniel, who is 3 1/2 , jumped in too. He couldn't swim.
His mother, Deanna, who had been watching the boys from the side of the pool, scooped her son out of the water before he was injured. Her conclusion: "I knew it was time for swimming lessons," the Towson resident said.
Daniel began learning to swim at the Towson Aquatic Center in January. At first, he was afraid of the water, but now none of that fear is apparent. He jumps in the water into the arms of his swim instructor, paddles the width of a lane and back. He scrambles out of the pool, smiles happily and eagerly waits his turn again.
As many public and private pools open for the season this weekend, parents find themselves thinking about swimming lessons for their children. But when are children ready to learn to swim? And what should one look for in a learn-to-swim program?
Although many children start swim lessons between the ages of 3 and 4, Peter Eddy, aquatics director of the Arundel Olympic Center near Annapolis, stresses the importance of not pushing a child into lessons before he or she is ready.
"Children will set their priorities as to how important it is to them to learn how to swim," said Eddy, who has been teaching swimming for 30 years.
Plus, starting children early could be more harmful than helpful.
"Research has shown that pushing children early into swimming may even make it more dangerous," Eddy notes, because it can give them a false sense of security. "I don't think you can truly make [children] water-safe until they are able to make decisions on their own."
Earlier this year, the American Academy of Pediatrics stated that children are not developmentally ready for swim lessons until after their fourth birthday. In addition, swim programs for children under age 4 -- such as parent-child water-play classes -- should not be seen as a way to decrease the risk of drowning, which is the leading cause of unintentional injury and death among children.
"Children just don't seem to be developmentally ready to learn basic strokes until around 4," explains Dr. Steven Anderson, a Seattle pediatrician involved in issuing the policy statement. "And while so called 'drown-proofing' programs may be worthy and effective for older children, children under 4 just aren't old enough."
