The American Academy of Pediatrics has been divided on the issue of swimming lessons for very young children. A 2000 policy on swimming states that "generally children are not developmentally ready for swimming lessons until after their fourth birthday," while a later policy on drowning prevention says that "ultimately, the decision of when to start a child in swimming lessons must be individualized."
Drowning is the second-leading cause of death of infants and young children in the United States, with roughly 4,000 dying each year. Many more are badly injured.
Harvey A. Barnett, who has been preaching about the benefits of swimming lessons for decades, says what is missing in the research is any explanation of which types of swimming lessons save the most lives.
Barnett is the founder of a Florida company called Infant Swimming Resource, which teaches a type of lessons that can be characterized more as a survival skill than as a fun 30 minutes getting acquainted with the water.
The goal of his program, which is taught at various pools across the country, is to teach a baby, as young as 6 months old, how to roll over on her back and float as soon as she has been put into the pool.
Once the infant is proficient at that, she is put in the pool with her clothes on to simulate an actual dangerous situation. That way, she can learn to roll over and float in soggy, heavy clothing, because a child who accidentally falls into a pool will likely be fully dressed and will need to learn how to roll over with that impediment.
Barnett said that babies who are exposed to more traditional swimming lessons, during which they may be held by their mothers and taught to kick their legs and maybe blow a few bubbles, will associate the water with love, nurturing and a "play environment."
"They have no skills," Barnett said. "I would think that child has a higher risk of drowning than a child who has been exposed to a program that has taught them to roll onto their backs."
Supervision, though, remains the key to keeping young children safe around the water, most experts agree. And it's the No. 1 rule in Anna Banyas' Ellicott City backyard.
"I have a 6-year-old," Banyas said. "She swims very well but she doesn't go in the pool by herself."
