 If you have a child and a backyard pool or neighbors with a backyard pool or if you live near any
body of water, the problem of infant drowning and the issue of infant swimming should be of vital concern to you.
In
recent years, infant swimming lessons have been the subject of a great deal of controversy. There are still a number of very
legitimate concerns about infant swimming programs. The issues and concerns involve hyponatremia, retention of skills, a false
sense of security parents may gain when their child has had swimming lessons and the need for lessons in the first place.
Hyponatremia has been repeatedly reported in
the press as a major hazard of infant swimming lessons. Hyponatremia (or water intoxication) occurs when an infant either
drinks too much water or is not excreting enough fluids properly or a combination of the two. Only three cases of water intoxication
from other "infant swimming programs" have been reported in the professional medical literature nationwide. ISR
instructors require that the parents monitor their baby's urine and bowel output as well as record the sleep and diet
of their baby while he is enrolled in lessons. The ISR instructor has been trained to
analyze this data on a form called the BUDS sheet that each parent is required to bring to the pool daily. This
is used to alert the instructor of the possibility of land-based complications that could predispose the child to hyponatremia
during an otherwise normal lesson situation. In addition, factors such as injury, illness, teething and medications are all
critically related to the child's performance in the water and must be considered if the child is to receive the safest
possible lesson. The retention of the skills taught to the
baby will obviously depend upon the quality and manner of the instruction. Swimming must be taught to the baby as a sensori-motor
skill. The skills cannot be combined with games and songs; if swimming is presented as an intellectual skill, then, yes, he
or she will probably forget the games, the songs and how to swim. Our retention figures range between 94 and 100 percent after
one year of no lessons. It is valid and sensible that many physicians
and their organizations have spoken out against infant swimming programs. However, some pediatricians are now calling infant
drowning an epidemic. Some have researched our program and recommend it to their patients. In 1988, two pediatricians became
trained ISR instructors. Dr. Barnett and the two pediatricians have spoken at several pediatric meetings in an effort to shed
some light on concerns that the media has eagerly picked up on and presented as controversy. There is no controversy that
infants should be taught to swim because it is a matter of survival. The controversy is how these survival swimming experiences
should be conducted and how the consumer can be educated and protected. Infant Swimming Resource has developed a complete program of parent education concerning many facets of drowning prevention.
This is called the Parent Resource Book and is required reading for all parents registering their child in ISR lessons. The
topics covered in this book are: attitude and emotions, physiology and safety before, during and after the lesson, factors
in learning, behaviorism, family aquatic safety, CCPR and first aid.
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