Drownproofing Babies – 1 Mother’s Story
Safely in the Swim: How I had my Baby Drownproofed
by Penny Swift
Drownproofing Babies! Many mothers consider their babies and small children to be natural water babies. I know I did. After all my first-born adored his bath. He splashed and played, stuck his tiny nose in the water and blew bubbles; wallowed like a tiny white hippo, chattered and howled with glee. So I had no apprehensions when I enrolled him for a course of “swimming lessons” designed to teach him how to float if he accidentally fell into a swimming pool or pond. He was eight months old at the time (1981), and “drownproofing babies” was very popular.
“The concept was that even though you cannot teach a baby to swim, you could teach it to float”
The First Drownproofing Babies Session
I was seriously taken aback when we got to the big pool and the instructor (an older woman) lowered him gently into the heated water. The giggles were gone; obviously the vast expanse of blue-green water was too deep and strange to wallow in or enjoy. Even though he wasn’t at all happy, we persisted, realizing that if he fell into a pool accidentally he could drown. But it was traumatic.
She was gentle and loving, but the method used involved pushing my little “water baby” under the water. She would also take his tiny hands and put them behind his head and hold him securely while he lay floating on the surface. Once drownproofed, a child that falls into water will bob back to the surface and automatically put his or her hands in this position.
What I didn’t like was that he vomited huge volumes of water after every session. But just a few months after completing the course, the inevitable happened: he fell into our swimming pool. I was there at the time, digging in the garden and ran towards the water as he bobbed up and put his little hands behind his head … and floated!
His dad taught him to swim properly when he was older and he did indeed turn out to be a little water baby.
Swimming Lessons Instead of Drownproofing Babies
Even though the system worked, when our next child came along, we didn’t even consider the drownproofing method. Instead we waited until she was at pre-school and arranged for a qualified instructor (her pre-school teacher) to teach her to swim in our own pool. She loved the teacher but wouldn’t go near the water. Every week she would hide under her bed and refuse to come out. When we forced her to swim she would cry. This was also traumatic; and to make matters worse, she was almost impossible to teach. The verdict: “My worst pupil ever.”
All we could do was to ensure constant supervision when she was anywhere near water.
No Drownproofing or Swimming Lessons
Needless to say, our third child had neither swimming lessons nor a drownproofing course. Instead dad got in the swim with him and taught him to tread water and then to swim, over a period of years, whenever the opportunity arose. Happily, he was a natural and is now the best swimmer in the family.
If there is a moral to the story, it must surely be to allow children to develop on their own.
Have you had any of your children “drownproofed”? If you have, we’d love to hear your story.
If You Are Not Into The “Drownproofing Babies” Thing, Then These Swim-Aids are Best For You
My 3 children were down proofed in the 1970’s-mothers let go,children went down,came up ,turned on their backs [mum’s arms just out of reach ]. After a few lessons my boys were happily floating .They taught themselves to swim and have always been at home in the water. I wondered what happened to drown proofing
and have read that it relies on the most primitive part of the brain ,is not consistent with good teaching practice and may cause long concealed trauma and fear of water. It is unnecessary because children from 0-4 years rarely fall into water.None of this has been my experience.
drown proofing worked well for my 3 children and they have always loved the water
I am a mother of four children and am now a grandmother of 8! I took all for of my children to swimming lessons as babies. My first two children were 20 months (a boy) and 6 months ( a girl) of age when I took them the first time for drown-proofing!
The boy was terrified of the teaching method and even puked and started stuttering, but I was prepared to rather overcome that, that loose him by drowning! He learnt to float and stay alive within 3 lessons, and then learnt to swim to become a water lover and could water ski at the age of seven, and windsurf as a teenager, even in the ocean! The stuttering stopped as soon as he learnt to love swimming!
My daughter could float for as long as I left her in the pool, and that was before she was able to walk! She could move on her back by moving her little hands and arms till she bumped her head on and reached the side of the pool, when she would grip onto the edge, turn around, and crawl out!
My other two boys also learnt to be drown proofed as babies, and I am a firm believer of the floating method for babies! The earlier the better! You do not want to have your or any other child to drown!
It is preventable!