OT: DD afraid of SWIMMING!!!

[Wendy5055]

I'm not so sure it is the Swimming that she is afraid of, but more what she percieves as "Deep Water". I have taken her to numerous parent/tot swim classes...but she is too old for them now (she is 6.5 years old).

It is important to us that DD know how to swim as we are active and do have a boat, there is a river on our property (countryside), and we vacation at the beach & not to mention pools all summer long.

She was never "passed" from the last parent/tot swim class because she was too uncomfortable in the water and was very fearful. I thought of enrolling her in a local (park & rec) classs being held at a pool with a shallow end, but she will have nothing to do with it.

Yet at my parent's house she will swim unassisted & underwater (with a mask) ALL the time and LOVES it!!!! What do I do????? Do I let the situation take a sink or swim approach (btw...she is never left alone at a pool area...too young for that!!!) which is how I learned as a child???

 

[Aliceacc]

Yet at my parent's house she will swim unassisted & underwater (with a mask) ALL the time and LOVES it!!!!

So from that can we assume that she CAN swim, but just doesn't want to?

If that's the case, I wouldn't worry. Should the unthinkable happen, she has at least the basic skills to stay afloat until help gets there-- that's what you need. She doesn't have to like it, or to have any great form, as long as she can stay afloat for a few minutes.

 

[Wendy5055]

I don't know if that could be classified as swimming though because it is in one of those inflatable pools.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

I'm guessing that it's probably a phase she's going through. DD has been taking swim lessons weekly for two years. This last session she has decided that that she was afraid to jump in the deep end (which she's done plenty of time w/o getting hurt!). It literally took all 8 weeks for her instructor to get her to jump again.

 

[jewelshouse]

How about private swim lessons, my dd is 4 and she was also scared of the water . . . I enrolled her in private swim lessons and she is doing well, well so far anyway, she is not as terrified as she once was.

Of course she's not swimming yet because she still won't let go of the instructor but with a little more practice there maybe hope. She's alot braver with the instructor than with me

 

[bumbershoot]

What if her grandparents take her for lessons? Or insist that she know how to swim in deeper water before she swims at their house again?

 

[StitchFanZ]

We had a similar situation and worked for us was to hire a private instructor to work one on one with our son when no one else was in the pool. After several lessons, he was swimming across the pool with his face in the water! Private lessons were expensive but in the long run they were much cheaper then another year or two of group swim lessons where no progress was made.

 

[Aliceacc]

I don't know if that could be classified as swimming though because it is in one of those inflatable pools.

Sorry; you mentioned the mask and I had visions of a built in pool. and scuba diving

 

[Vijoge]

My second son was terrified of water until he was about four. My sister had a pool and every time we went there he would sit on the edge wrapped up in a towel and refuse to come in the water.

Our YMCA had (still has) a pre-school program and when I went back to work we sent DS there for pre-school. Part of the day was daily swimming lessons/pool time. I don't know what they did but within months he was swimming like a fish and jumping off the high dive! Two years later he tried out for and made the swim team!

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Is it possible that she has a vision problem? She could have a perception of depth problem. My Mom has that. It could cause her to be scared because she cannot tell if the water is bottomless or not.

 

[NotUrsula]

It sounds to me like she's afraid of putting her face in the water. I have this problem and never got over it, but I can swim. My technique stinks on everything but the backstroke because I can't deal with taking alternate breaths, but I can swim.

If she got private lessons, maybe they would let her learn with a mask on? (It's good that she will wear one. I can't -- anything on my face over my nose sends me into a panic attack. I just claw to get it off.)

 

[5 for WDW]

My oldest son went through the same thing for years. He learned to swim at 4 and then around 6 he decided he did not want to go in any kind of deep water. Pools, beach, etc.
He is ten now. He went to Boy Scout camp last summer and got the lowest swim level because he refused to take the test in the pool. He had to stay knee deep all camp while his friends swam in the lake. I thought that would upset him. He was actually relieved.
We moved in March. Our new house has an inground pool. It has been open for about one month now. Up until this past week he refused to go in the deep end. All of a sudden last weekend he decided jumping off the side and diving were fun again. He is swimming in the deep end and is really comfortable doing it. What a relief!!
He can't wait for Boy Scout camp this summer. He wants to take the test and be able to swim with is buddies. For him, it was just when he was ready. We knew all along that he knew how to swim. For whatever reason, he just had a fear of any kind of deep water. We live on Long Island, water is a huge part of our life, especially in the summer. It is nice for us that we don't have to worry about him now.
I hope you can figure it out soon!!!

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

I would sign up for one on one lessons. Look for referrals from friends. If she is around water, it is sooo important that she is comfortable in it!