Swim Class - when to start ?

The 1st time we took Isabelle into the water was in Sanya, Hainan Island where we were for a friend's wedding. She had just turned 6mths, the expression on her face (like most new things she has tried) was priceless - utter indifference and an air of 'and so?'.
Back in HK we took plenty of other opportunities to take her to the pool at the LRC and also on subsequent holidays to Dubai and France. She officially started lessons when she was around 16mths old. It had taken up almost a year on the waiting list to get a weekend slot at the LRC ! That's a entirely different issue.

Soap box for a moment: at the LRC nannies are only allowed to drop off and collect children, and are then banished to a room smaller than a prison cell with no natural light, a few plastic chairs and one water dispenser. For working mothers this means that the kids can't enjoy any of the facilities or many activities during the week if they are small enough to need supervision. On certain days of the week nannies are allowed into one of the playrooms (aimed at toddlers) and not the soft padded room that typically babies would go to. So for now Isabelle can go to the playroom with her nanny on some week days but Sebastien has to stay at home. As for the pool....no nannies allowed in the water. And so my dilemma of having to wait a whole year for a saturday slot. My other frustration is that several of the other mother's in the weekend classes are mothers that don't work and could just as easily come on a weekday. Soap box over

So back to the swimming classes. Isabelle LOVED the water and literally couldn't get enough of it; that is until she started the swim classes. In the class they had to be dunked under the water. Parents are taught to blow into their child's face so that the child reacts by holding her breath and closing her eyes at which point you dunk them under the water and back up again. Well Isabelle HATED it, she managed to swallow water despite this technique, and burst into tears. The result of this ONE isolated incidence was months and months of the followed: at each class she would cling on for dear life and whine or cry; even when all we did was sing songs and play with toys and play various games in the water. She absolutely did not want to be there. After a few classes whilst I wanted to push through and get to a breakthrough, there wasn't a moment I didn't consider pulling her out of the class. Was this negative experience going to make her hate swimming for ever ?

Then Sebastien was born at the end of October and we were so busy with him, and at the same time the winter arrived and we stopped classes altogether. In fact we lost our slot as many parents continued through the winter and had to wait all over again for a slot. I thought the break would work. It didn't. When we resumed in the summer of 2010 again, it was the same thing all over again. Tears and trauma, again we decided to give it a few turns and see what happens. Finally on saturday in August I decided that's it this is the last class, and that day she actually giggled during the class. Incidentally we never dunked her head again after the first few times went so wrong. We thought she needed to just be happy again in the water first. After that breakthrough class I thought 'yes we can do this'. I took Isabelle a few extra sessions just on my own with my mother was who was with us in HK and then we all went away for our summer holiday to LA. The real breakthrough came there. Almost everyday in the pool she built her confidence and was having fun.

We are back now and back to swim classes and we have days where she is very happy and wants to be as independent as possible and days where she still gets clingy. She still doesn't love going under the water but if she does she at least isn't in tears. It's taken a long time, Isabelle is now 2yrs and 4mths as I write this.

The question however is why do we feel compelled as parents to have our kids start these things as soon as possible. Is there really a difference between starting at 6mth and starting at 3yrs ? Does she want to be a swim champion??

I think recognising that the world we live in can be so pushy when it comes to our kids is really important and armed with that, we can step back and make more sensible decisions.

Sebastien's 1st swimming experience was also in Sanya, Hainan Island where we went for a short Easter break. He was also around 6mths, and true to his character when trying anything new, he burst straight into tears. He really doesn't like the temperature change and you know what....?? This time I am not going to push it. He will swim when he is good and ready.