Infant swim

I did it. I enrolled Porter in Infant Swim Survival class. At 8 months old. Heard of it? It's a national program (sometimes controversial) that teaches babies survival classes in the water. You see, when babies or other children fall in water, they tend to sink like a rock straight to the bottom. Or, if they try to swim after falling in a body of water unprepared, they will flail uncontrollably and quickly drown. There are far too many stories out there that begin with "I only turned away for a second" and end with tragedy. Enter, ISR. www.infantswim.com

ISR for infants is not to teach babies how to swim and impress people at the pool like those "your baby can read" programs. This class is designed to teach babies to hold their breath underwater, roll over to orient themselves face-up, and calmly float on their backs while breathing and wait for someone to come and get them out of the water. Needless to say, this kind of training is a bit intense and requires ALOT of dedication. It is 5 days a week, every morning at the same time (7:45 a.m.) for 10 minutes a day, we must keep track of all of his bowel movements, urination, diet and sleep patterns every day, and follow strict guidelines. The instructor is a delightful lady we call Miss Ann who has trained extensively herself to be able to teach this amazing course.

Not all moms are willing to go through this.Miss Ann and Porter at the end of his first week

Why did we decide to do this? Well, because it's available in this modern day and age, for one. It's not for everyone - most moms would rightly be terrified to turn their infant over to a stranger at a pool and watch calmly on the sidelines while their baby learns to float. I, however, am not "that mom." For another reason, we live at the pool at Crane Creek in the summer. And this year, not only will we have a crawler, we will have a crazy toddler. However, I am "that mom" who is most likely to lose attention for "just 1 second." This class is also for me. Both Grandma's houses are surrounded by water, pools, lakes, ponds, canals, birdbaths, you name it. More bodies of water than my ADD allows with 2 small children. While it will not make him "drownproof," it will dramatically increase the odds that if he falls in a body of water, he will be able to survive.

Phil's parents backyard in Atlanta. Pool and hot tub surrounded by lake.

Hopefully, in 6-8 weeks, he will have learned to fall in the water and float. Graduation is complete when he can not only do this in the water in his cute little bathing suit, but when he demonstrates it with the instructor in full summer and winter clothes - including coat, hat and boots. I'll keep you posted!!

The desired end result - soon to be Porter