yeah they drop them in like a real fall into a pool its an infant self rescue course its scary as hell to watch but it teaches your baby not to drown
No seriously it really is amazing. It’s called ISR Self Rescue. I’ve seen multiple parents on social media decide to do this with their babies as young as 6 months (they gradually get up to the “throwing” into the pool) and it’s so awesome watching it.
It literally could be a lifesaver some day. One time I watched a security camera video of a dad playing in a pool with his kids and his toddler, who had been sitting on the slide, fell in and the dad didn’t notice for at least 30 seconds… But this little toddler automatically knew what to do and started floating on his back. When the dad noticed, he immediately grabbed him, but the reason this toddler didn’t sink or drown was because of the infant swim lessons his parents had presumably put him in.
Obviously floaties and parental supervision would still help, but you can’t rely on those 100% of the time.
Oh thank you so much for explaining i was so worried
Crazy factoid: Babies are actually born knowing how to hold their breath and use swim-like movements when submerged. Yeah. It’s a primitive reflex that they lose (if not enforced) at ~6 months.
Obviously, do not submerge your infant in water without an expert, but what these lessons are doing is encouraging and honing natural reflexes. These babies are perfectly safe, and I honestly think this is a really responsible parenting move. Accidents happen. Floaties don’t know which side is up. Parents are humans, not robots, and especially with more than one kid, sometimes you look away for a minute. It happens. But lessons like these minimize the risk involved.
It’s super distressing to watch, for sure! But distress isn’t the same as danger, and really anyone with a pool and a baby should definitely do this, unless the baby has a medical reason not to. Even without a pool it’s a good idea, but especially with. It only takes one lapse, one distraction, one day of being overtired or just having a sneezing fit to lead to a kid falling in the water.
Hell, when I was young, probably around five, I jumped in a neighbor’s pool, supervised, wearing a life jacket… and I SANK. I knew how to swim at that age, but I expected the life jacket to work, so I didn’t, I was stunned. The neighbor had to pull me out because I was just on the bottom of the deep end. Yes, we should have tested the life jacket, as it was clearly faulty. Yes, I probably would have recovered and swam up. But it’s a great example of ‘you just never know’. A kid who could swim and was wearing a life jacket can still jump in a pool and risk drowning.
