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A podcast for parents regarding the health and wellness of their children.
ISR is gaining popularity in the U.S. As a Pediatrician in Florida, I know many families who have signed up for ISR classes for their children. We also started it but had to cancel due to the commute and weather delays.
But, there are a lot of misconceptions about ISR. I invited Erika Wilson, ISR instructor and owner of @seastarisr to discuss all things ISR and why it should be a swimming educational resource option for all families.
We discuss:
ISR is not available for all families in terms of time and finances.
Water safety with swim classes and supervision are important for all children.
To read more about ISR and Erika’s company @seastarisr:
seastarisr.com
To find an ISR instructor in your area:
locator.infantswim.com
For ISR scholarships:
thesylasproject.org
judahbrownproject.org
livelikejake.com
isrswimbabies.com/scholarship-partners
00;00;01;01 – 00;00;22;02
Erika Wilson
The biggest difference is that traditional swim lessons start with getting kids comfortable in the water so they can learn to swim easier. Teaches kids to swim so that they are comfortable and confident in the water. We’re both coming from the same standpoint. We want kids to be safe and have a great time in the water. We just take a slightly different approach.
00;00;22;04 – 00;00;46;06
Dr. Mona
Hey everyone, welcome back to the PedsDocTalk Podcast, a podcast that keeps growing because of you and your review. So if you love this episode, make sure to leave a review or rating. And thank you for tuning in and being here every week. I am so excited to welcome Erika Wilson. She is a certified Isar instructor and owner of Sea Star Io SA, and you’re probably wondering what is Isar?
00;00;46;06 – 00;00;54;28
Dr. Mona
We are going to go over that, as well as the shortcomings in infant and child swimming classes. Thank you so much for joining me today, Erika.
00;00;55;00 – 00;00;56;20
Erika Wilson
Thank you. I’m so excited to be here.
00;00;56;22 – 00;01;07;29
Dr. Mona
So tell me more about yourself and what you do. I know we’re going to get into what Isar stands for and what it is. If people are not familiar with it, but just introduce yourself and a little bit more about yourself, if you will.
00;01;08;02 – 00;01;27;24
Erika Wilson
Sure. So I am a native Floridian, even though I came to Colorado. I was born and raised in the keys, so I’ve been around water my whole life. When I became a mom, I started looking into swim lessons when my child was about six months old and I explored all of the different types. I actually spoke with a swim instructor.
00;01;27;24 – 00;01;48;00
Erika Wilson
She said that at his age, he couldn’t really do much. And, you know, call her back when he was older. And I wasn’t satisfied with that. So I looked into ISR, which stands for Infinite Swimming Resource, and I spoke with our local instructor and got my child in there. So I was an ISR parent before becoming an instructor myself.
00;01;48;06 – 00;02;09;28
Erika Wilson
So I have seen both sides of it. I’m actually about to see it from a parent side again tomorrow, because my six month old is starting lessons with a master instructor out here, and before I was an ISO instructor, I was in the business world. I was a 9 to 5 year, so I also understand and we’ll get into this in a minute as well.
00;02;10;00 – 00;02;34;28
Erika Wilson
The time commitment that comes with these lessons and how challenging that can be, but also how rewarding it can be. I got certified in July of 2020 and completed my third season of students just recently before the move, and it was very hard to leave, but it’s been one of the most challenging and rewarding careers that I’ve had.
00;02;35;00 – 00;02;39;13
Erika Wilson
So, and I did find my true calling. Water safety has become a huge passion of mine.
00;02;39;16 – 00;02;47;02
Dr. Mona
Well, I’m so glad to have you, like I said. And how old was your son when you were told that he was too young for some classes?
00;02;47;11 – 00;03;09;21
Erika Wilson
At the time he was six months, and by the time I got him into ESR, he was ten months. I think he was ten months to the day when he when he started. So because what a lot of people don’t realize, they think that there’s immediate availability. Sometimes there can be but a lot of the I saw instructors book up pretty far in advance.
00;03;09;21 – 00;03;13;27
Erika Wilson
I know of some instructors who are already booked through the end of this year and July.
00;03;13;29 – 00;03;30;29
Dr. Mona
Yeah. I mean, I am excited to talk to you because I think a lot of people don’t know what it is. And you said it perfectly already that there is a time commitment to it. Obviously there’s a cost to it, which we’ll talk about, like how it differs, related to regular, traditional, if you will, classes. But let’s talk about that first.
00;03;31;00 – 00;03;47;18
Dr. Mona
You know, can you explain the main types of some classes. So I know most of us know your traditional some class which maybe we took as children. And then there is Esau. Do you know how long it’s been around for? Or you know, what is the differences, if you will, for anyone who’s unfamiliar with it.
00;03;47;21 – 00;04;09;23
Erika Wilson
We’ve been around since 1966, so it’s 56 years. Yeah. A lot of people think that, you know, oh, this wasn’t around when I was growing up. We were we just weren’t everywhere. We’ve had a massive expansion throughout the past couple of decades. Even now, we in South Florida alone, we have a number of instructors and there are still instructors getting certified and approved as we speak.
00;04;09;25 – 00;04;32;28
Erika Wilson
So it was founded by, Doctor Harvey Bennett. He had witnessed a child, a nine month old, drowning in a backyard, and he came home one day, I believe was his neighbor, and he was a behavioral scientist. So he created a behavioral science based program for pediatric drowning prevention. And we are different in a number of ways from traditional some classes.
00;04;33;00 – 00;04;53;03
Erika Wilson
And let’s just be clear, traditional swam, for instance, is like mommy and me classes. When you get a little bit older to the toddler phase, normally it’s a group swimming class. And definitely groups as you get older, as well. The biggest difference is that traditional swim lessons start with getting kids comfortable in the water so they can learn to swim easier.
00;04;53;03 – 00;05;16;24
Erika Wilson
Teaches kids to swim so that they are comfortable and confident in the water. We’re both coming from the same standpoint. We want kids to be safe and have a great time in the water. We just take a slightly different approach. So the lessons are all one on one. With ISR, it’s only the instructor and the student in the water, and that’s very different from some, you know, mommy and me or group lessons.
00;05;16;24 – 00;05;36;19
Erika Wilson
The instructor is completely focused on that child, and that allows the lesson to be completely customized to that child. Traditional swim. It can take years to learn how to swim effectively and float independently, and children are not expected to swim or float independently until they’re about like three years old. And most traditional lessons, like I mentioned, group lessons.
00;05;36;19 – 00;05;57;24
Erika Wilson
It’s usually about a 4 to 1 ratio that can vary depending on the swim school or program you’re with and traditional lessons. Each lesson is usually about 30 minutes, and they’re at varying intervals, so they could be once a week. They could be a couple times a month, or depending on your schedule or the program you select, easier is more accelerated than that.
00;05;57;27 – 00;06;17;13
Erika Wilson
We teach our children every day, Monday through Friday, for no more than ten minutes a day. And that sounds kind of weird, like, what can we do in ten minutes? But I’m sure as a pediatrician yourself and as a mother as well, you know, that kids learn in short, consistent lessons. If they pulled a stand, they’re not going to wait until next week to do it.
00;06;17;13 – 00;06;37;14
Erika Wilson
They’re going to do it over and over again because they learn best in short, consistent intervals. So the average session is about six weeks. Again, because these are completely customized lessons. I’ve had children finish in four weeks. One child took me 11 weeks. It’s completely up to the child and how they learn and everything and, you know, different things going on.
00;06;37;14 – 00;06;54;24
Erika Wilson
So within those six weeks, your child is going to learn how to swim and self rescue if they were to ever find themselves in the water alone. This is super important because drowning it sounds like a news article or something, but it’s completely true. Drowning is the number one cause of accidental death in children ages 1 to 4 years old.
00;06;54;26 – 00;07;19;14
Erika Wilson
It is going to be a bigger threat to your child’s life than gun violence, car accidents, poison, anything else. If you look at the CDC results, it’s far and beyond what is taking our children’s precious lives from them, so we don’t have the luxury of time when it comes to these. So we need our kids to learn how to navigate the water effectively and quickly.
00;07;19;16 – 00;07;44;21
Erika Wilson
So these lessons are completely child centered. So the structure is different. And with it, like I said, no lessons longer than ten minutes because everything is individualized to that child. So they’re working the whole time. Something else that is different is our instructor training and certifications. I’ve been seeing on Instagram a number of advertises a swim schools that are hiring, and I looked at their hiring requirements and it’s very loose with ESR instructors.
00;07;44;23 – 00;08;03;21
Erika Wilson
We go through an eight week intensive training that’s both in water and academics. We are tested in child psychology, physiology, anatomy and behavioral sciences. We have to recertify every year for our continuing education and to make sure that we’re up to date on everything with the safety standards. And we always have to have a current CPR and first aid applications.
00;08;03;28 – 00;08;32;18
Erika Wilson
I believe that is still correct in traditional swim, but it could vary by the program. And then also we take into account a child’s medical and developmental history when they register. So each student must go through a national registration process, a parent’s plan to disclose your child’s medical history. And this is really important from a safety standpoint. If my child has an allergy to peanuts, I don’t want my instructor to know that my child has a seizure disorder that could affect lessons.
00;08;32;18 – 00;08;44;01
Erika Wilson
So we have specific safety protocols for all of these different conditions and everything. So that also makes us a bit different because traditional son does not take that stuff into account.
00;08;44;04 – 00;09;04;07
Dr. Mona
So I actually did Isar. So my son was in a traditional sim class and I was getting frustrated. I’m gonna use that word because of what you were saying. So what was happening is that he was in a group class, and I felt as if he was in this group class, and he got the 1 to 4 ratios, what they had.
00;09;04;07 – 00;09;24;01
Dr. Mona
And he was just sitting on the side playing with a train, getting comfortable with the water. But I know my son, I know that he needs to be challenged. Every parent knows their kid best, I think, and I felt like he needed to be challenged. He needed a little bit more attention. So we did a little bit of one on one classes, and I just felt like he needed a little bit more.
00;09;24;01 – 00;09;43;22
Dr. Mona
And I live in Florida, I practice here, and I learned about Ihsaa mainly through practicing in Florida, because a lot of Florida families do Ihsaa because of the amount of, you know, people who have pools or we’re just around so many bodies of water. So when I was practicing in New York, not many people knew of Ihsaa. This was also back like eight, ten years ago.
00;09;44;07 – 00;09;58;02
Dr. Mona
And then when I was training in California and medical school and whatnot, I saw a lot of drownings, but I saw again, wasn’t as popular as it is now. So I’m sure if I went back now, it would be like that. But I was getting kind of like, wow, I just want a little bit more. So we did Ihsaa.
00;09;58;02 – 00;10;15;00
Dr. Mona
We did it for two weeks, but unfortunately we started it when there was a tropical storm. So of the ten classes, you know, it’s Monday through Friday, for ten minutes of the ten classes, we only were able to do three and it was about 45 minutes drive. So my husband and I just talked about it and were like, look, we don’t own a pool right now.
00;10;15;00 – 00;10;32;00
Dr. Mona
We don’t have anyone who has a pool right now. So let’s just continue traditional classes. And then when we’re able to deal with the schedule as well as maybe not in rainy season in Florida, we will do it again. You said that there’s so many instructors that are kind of popping up. Surprisingly, in where we live, there aren’t many that are close to me.
00;10;32;00 – 00;10;55;11
Dr. Mona
I’m in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. There’s not many that are close to me, and then a lot of them aren’t indoor. So it’s been a struggle trying to find someone. But one thing I wanted to ask you. So we were talking, you know, you mentioned about how it really focuses more on teaching the skills so that they can also be comfortable eventually, then survive versus mommy and the classes, traditional classes, which I do a lot of comfort building and then teach the skill.
00;10;55;11 – 00;11;17;12
Dr. Mona
I completely agree. And that’s why I did like Ihsaa. So now with the one on one, right? Because I do think that the one on one is a huge thing. How would you explain the difference when someone is taking a one on one Ihsaa class versus a one on one traditional class? Like, what is it about Ihsaa that is being taught to your child that is different than a traditional some class?
00;11;17;12 – 00;11;28;16
Dr. Mona
Because with the one on one with traditional. So you could say that they also potentially do, you know, skills one on one 30 minutes versus five ten minutes when you’re in a joint class. So what would be the differentiation there?
00;11;28;18 – 00;11;58;01
Erika Wilson
So the main difference between one on one and ISR versus ISR in traditional is what do we teach on a sensory motor level. Meaning we let the child experience the environment and respond to and perform to their internal cues. So we’re assisting them the whole time and then fading our touch away. So it just helps us to customize the safety aspect to each individual child.
00;11;58;03 – 00;12;18;27
Erika Wilson
Aquatic history, you know, so if a child came in and they’re three years old, they’ve spent the last 2 or 3 summers of their lives in floatation devices. I want to come to that lesson with a different approach than a child who possibly had previous swimming lessons or has been in the water only being helped by mom or dad.
00;12;18;29 – 00;12;38;25
Erika Wilson
So everyone gets to the same end point. How we get there is very, very different. A lot of the traditional lessons are cookie cutter. I spoke to a couple of other instructors who teach traditional in addition to ISR, or have taught traditional in the past, and traditional as much more. This is the lesson plans. This is what we’re working on today.
00;12;38;28 – 00;13;03;11
Erika Wilson
I was seeing up to 20 children a day when I was teaching in South Florida. I will be working on 20 different things, usually because every single child is different. Any parent who has a child or who has multiple children especially knows that each child is very, very different and to maximize those lessons, we need to honor their individualities so that they can be as safe as possible in the water.
00;13;03;14 – 00;13;23;24
Dr. Mona
Yeah. And, you know, part of that was kind of what I mentioned is that we were working with Ryan because he was having difficulty with learning how to blow bubbles, like, meaning how to actually, like, not swallow the water. And so we were doing that in a traditional class. It just wasn’t going anywhere. Obviously we don’t have a pool, so the only time that we can practice that is in the bath, which we were working on.
00;13;23;29 – 00;13;39;19
Dr. Mona
But it wasn’t until we started doing the ice or even the three classes that we took that she was actually able to work on know, like, let’s not actually swallow the water. We need to learn how to like, not take that in. So it was different. Like there was a difference in, hey, no, let’s nip this in the bud.
00;13;39;19 – 00;14;03;00
Dr. Mona
We do not need to like it. Just felt like it was when I did it for the two weeks and I will hopefully be able to do it again. I don’t know when, but it just felt like it was more with an emphasis on let’s make you survive here, and let’s make you figure out if you find yourself in a body of water, how you’re going to get yourself either into safety, whether that’s, you know, getting on your back and then getting to like the edge of a pool or wherever you are.
00;14;03;17 – 00;14;28;26
Dr. Mona
And so I think that is, to me the difference, the survival, like we want to make you survive if you find yourself in the water. And this kind of leads me to let’s talk about some misconceptions about Icpsr. And I know you probably hear tons of them. So one of the biggest ones that I hear or see is, someone will share videos of a dad or someone throwing a child into the water, like just literally by one arm.
00;14;28;26 – 00;14;44;09
Dr. Mona
My husband showed me a video the other day. He’s like, hey, I think this kid did Icpsr. And I was like, yeah. So the video was on TikTok and a dad just throwing his infant toddler child into the water. And then the child immediately floats on their back and then is able to swim to the edge of the pool.
00;14;44;09 – 00;15;08;12
Dr. Mona
And that is a skill that’s kind of once you’ve kind of mastered I. But I think the misconception, number one I want to talk about is people think that you’re being thrown into the pool on day one like that. That is not how this goes. I can attest to that, that your child is not being thrown in, that these instructors that are trained in ISR are actually very, very into the child’s development and making sure that they’re comfortable, and I can attest to that.
00;15;08;12 – 00;15;28;03
Dr. Mona
So you may see all that on TikTok and all these reels that children are getting thrown in, but these are children that have probably gone through ISR, know how to survive, and the parents are almost showing off their skills. But that is not how it works from the beginning at all. And I can say that for someone who did it for two weeks, but I’m sure that is one misconception that you hear, too.
00;15;28;06 – 00;15;51;13
Erika Wilson
That’s a huge one. When I was looking into swim lessons, in 2019, that was one of the first things that I heard. Oh, that’s the one where they throw the kids in the pool. And I, of course, learned from a parent and being an instructor that that’s 100% not the case. One of the things we say is ISR instructors won’t throw your child in the water, but they’ll teach them what to do when dad does.
00;15;51;15 – 00;16;25;24
Erika Wilson
And one of the things about ISR, which is why I chose it for my own child, is that it is the safest survival swimming lessons because of the safety protocols and because of the registration process, but also the method and the approach that they take. It’s a slow and gentle approach. I actually posted a video on Facebook a few days ago, and it took off and went viral, and I disclosed in the video in the caption in the comments, this is a fully skilled ESR student.
00;16;25;24 – 00;16;45;01
Erika Wilson
In the video is this boy. He’s 11 months old. He’s on the edge of my pool. I’m close enough to him, so I’m within arm’s reach. Because if you were to teeter totter one way, I’m going to grab him. But my hands are outstretched. He leaned forward. I remove my hands and get out of his way so he can perform and do what he has worked so hard to do.
00;16;45;04 – 00;17;09;15
Erika Wilson
In the videos that you see online are usually of fully skilled students or students that have already mastered skills from the instructors. Whatever parents share on their own social media, that’s their choice. It’s not in our lessons, but there are some families where, you know, okay, I can sense who these people are. I get all of my parents in for parent lessons so that they know what to do with their kids in the water once they’re done.
00;17;09;15 – 00;17;26;24
Erika Wilson
They’ve made this huge investment in their child safety. You know, we want to maintain these skills, and the parents want to have fun with their kids in the water with these new skills. So there are some parents that are like, there’s want to do it. But in the lessons we don’t do that because it’s not a productive way to learn.
00;17;27;08 – 00;17;28;08
Erika Wilson
So yeah.
00;17;28;11 – 00;17;34;17
Dr. Mona
What would be another misconception about ESR that you would say besides this? You know what we just mentioned?
00;17;35;04 – 00;17;59;06
Erika Wilson
One is that our lessons are traumatizing. And that stems from the fact that a lot of children, as parents, we know our kids cry all the time. My three year old lost it one day. I took a video of it because it was just so out of left field. He was eating a banana. It broke in half and he was devastated that he could not tape it back together.
00;17;59;08 – 00;18;19;06
Erika Wilson
So kids cry when you put them in a car seat. So yeah. And also on day one, it’s my pool is new to them. I’m new to them. The parent is handing the child into me and they’re not quite sure what’s going on. So that’s another reason why we take a slow and steady approach, is because we know that it’s a lot to take in if a child does cry.
00;18;19;06 – 00;18;37;15
Erika Wilson
I’ve had many kids who have never shed a tear. But it either subsides or changes to just sort of, I don’t really want to do this, you know, and it’s kind of like going to see your personal trainer, you know, you’re going to work hard, but you’re not necessarily happy to see them. And lessons are work.
00;18;37;18 – 00;18;59;17
Erika Wilson
So and kids know that they don’t have control in the pool because they’re not in charge. So that could be another reason why they cry. And I do have a number of toddlers. It’s normally in like the 2 to 3 year old age range where they complete lessons and then the parents come back for maintenance or refresher classes, which are very important because these skills are like learning a language.
00;18;59;17 – 00;19;17;12
Erika Wilson
They need to be practice, and the parent will say he will not do anything. He just screams and cries and does not want to swim in the water. And I want him to have a great time. I want him to love the water, and I always tell them that being safe is a non-negotiable, whether or not they like it, that is up to them.
00;19;17;16 – 00;19;35;16
Erika Wilson
Some kids just don’t like swimming, so they might scream and cry because they just don’t like doing it. But the important thing is, is that they know what to do. If they were to ever be in the water by themselves, they would be calm enough and rely on their skills that they’ve worked hard on to have a fighting chance of survival.
00;19;35;19 – 00;19;54;02
Dr. Mona
Well, also, this whole thing about, you know, traumatizing. And they’re crying and it’s forced and it’s going to scar them. I mean, we see children who do traditional some classes also cry. Also not like the water. Like you said, some children don’t like it. It doesn’t mean that this is a bad thing. Like you said, like a banana is going to break.
00;19;54;02 – 00;20;09;01
Dr. Mona
I talk about things like essential activities like brushing your teeth. Some children don’t like brushing their teeth. But are you going to stop brushing their teeth? No. Are you going to stop some classes because of the fact that they’re crying? You can think about it, and a parent can make their own decision. And I really think that that should be the message here.
00;20;09;01 – 00;20;27;11
Dr. Mona
But yes, if you are living near a body of water, like if you have a swimming pool in your backyard, if you have friends, family members that you are going to be in backyard parties and you think to yourself, oh yeah, don’t worry, I’ll watch my child. I need you to really prioritize some classes and doing something like a self rescue, right?
00;20;27;11 – 00;20;43;10
Dr. Mona
Like I tell all my families who own swimming pools, I’m going to say a flat out, if you have money to afford a swimming pool, and especially in ground swimming pool, you have money to afford it. So now if you can’t afford saw, there is traditional some classes and we’ll get into the cost and accessibility and all that.
00;20;43;12 – 00;21;10;16
Dr. Mona
But it is definitely different than traditional SIM classes. And I think that your thing, the people saying, well, it’s traumatizing. It’s traumatizing. I mean, listen, a lot of things children don’t love, it does not mean that they’re going to be traumatized forever. And in the end, you know your child best if you feel like any some class was not easy on your child, whether it was ISR or another self rescue class or traditional some classes you have to really think about, well, what are your goals here?
00;21;10;16 – 00;21;26;08
Dr. Mona
Do you want to sit next to the child and use them in? But is that easing in? How long is it going to take? Or do you want to just rip the Band-Aid off and let them in with an instructor who loves them? I mean, these you got, you know, all of you all and some instructors, they they want to make children feel good.
00;21;26;09 – 00;21;40;05
Dr. Mona
They don’t want to make children cry, but children are going to cry sometimes, like you said. So that is great. The other misconception I wanted to talk about was people saying that you all don’t teach children how to swim, only how to float. If we can talk about that one.
00;21;40;07 – 00;22;08;26
Erika Wilson
Yeah, real quick with the previous thing. People also need to understand that trauma, the definition of trauma is a deep emotional response to a horrific event. A lot of times it has to do with feelings of helplessness. With our lessons, we are empowering the child with lots of positive reinforcement. We celebrate every single victory. So. And by the end of the lessons, they might flash in their float, but they’re much more relaxed because they know what to do, because they are empowered.
00;22;08;26 – 00;22;36;05
Erika Wilson
So I wanted to make that quick distinction. As far as the we don’t teach children how to swim, we do when they’re developmentally ready. Of course, our name has infant in it. That’s how we started. And we teach as young as six months old. But once a child is walking, they can learn how to swim. So if a child is an early walker or a solid walker, we will start off well.
00;22;36;05 – 00;22;54;25
Erika Wilson
It depends on how you start off, but we will teach them how to swim in addition to the survival skills. Now, the reason why people think we only teach floating is because we teach the back float to every single child that comes into ISR, and the reason for that is, and one of the other key distinctions is that our skills are transferable.
00;22;54;27 – 00;23;20;07
Erika Wilson
A lot of swimming lessons will teach, turn and reach. Like you fall into the pool, you try to reach the wall. We teach that as well, but we focus more on the float because what happens if the wall’s not there? What happens if you have to use your survival skills and a pond or the beach. You know we teach the back float because it’s an efficient way to get air rests and recover during an emergency.
00;23;20;13 – 00;23;38;14
Erika Wilson
So if a child were to pop their head up their hips drop in, they’re into a vertical posture. It’s going to be very, very difficult for them to get back into a horizontal posture to continue swimming. If they roll into the float, it’s a much more efficient use of their time and their energy to conserve that energy, because they might have a distance to go.
00;23;38;14 – 00;23;44;05
Erika Wilson
And then if they get tired, they always have that float to rely on to get them rested and recover.
00;23;44;07 – 00;23;53;26
Dr. Mona
And how young is the minimum age to start? I’m sorry, I know you said that they can kind of learn more when they’re walking in terms of the actual skill, but minimum age is what.
00;23;53;29 – 00;24;14;13
Erika Wilson
Six months? Six months? As soon as a child is six months old and can set up unassisted, the infants learn, roll back to float or we just call, you know, floating classes so they will be able to enter any body of water at various angles, roll into their float, rest, and breathe until rescued by an adult. A lot of people might think, oh well, I’m going to wait until my child can actually swim.
00;24;14;16 – 00;24;37;13
Erika Wilson
It’s important that you start sooner rather than later because as I said before, we don’t have the luxury of time with water accidents. You don’t know when your child’s going to need these, and it provides that wonderful foundation so that once they come back to advanced their skills, they already have that role back in that float. So then you’re adding on the swim and we call it the flip over when they are on in their float and then flip over to go back into the swim.
00;24;37;15 – 00;24;58;05
Erika Wilson
So the children who are older will learn how to swim until they need to take a breath, roll into the float, rest and breathe, flip back over and continue that sequence to safety. Or, you know, to mom or dad, the edge of the pool. So it’s one of those things where you can use it. My child was one foot swim all over the pool when we’re just playing, but if you were to fall in the water, he would know how to self rescue.
00;24;58;05 – 00;25;16;01
Erika Wilson
And he actually did. Back in November we were at a beach. It was a very calm beach and he was fully clothed. We were intending to swim that day, but he was playing in the water, got a little too far, lost his footing, went out until like the drop off deep area. He flipped right into his float and he wasn’t happy about it, but he was safe.
00;25;16;01 – 00;25;35;20
Erika Wilson
And I picked him up, and it was one of the most gratifying moments as an instructor. And I’ve also had students of mine while they’re in lessons, use their self rescue skills like they’ve only been on lessons for like a year. I think one child was in lessons for eight days and he used them. He got knocked into the pool by the dog.
00;25;36;05 – 00;25;57;27
Erika Wilson
And then another one use their self rescue skills in the bathtub. Water is everywhere. And while you know you mentioned that if you’re near a body of water it’s super important. There’s so many kids that come to our state or your state. They come to places with water on vacation, like last year. The drowning deaths in Florida last year were astronomical.
00;25;58;23 – 00;26;36;08
Erika Wilson
98 children passed away and 12 of them were on vacation. Yeah. So 12 families came to Florida for vacation. And experienced an ultimate tragedy. So like I said, the skills are transferable. And, you get that foundation because we just say the sooner the safer. You never know when something could happen. My sister, her daughter went through, ESR she was filling up the bathtub and she turned her back for a minute and she turned around, and her daughter is like, seesawing over the side of the bathtub, about to go in headfirst.
00;26;36;10 – 00;26;39;18
Erika Wilson
So, you know, it’s. Yeah, it can happen so fast.
00;26;39;20 – 00;26;58;27
Dr. Mona
Yeah. And we know this. And it’s those scenarios of drownings are such that the parent reports and it usually is that they turn their back for a minute. And you know, it’s big parties distraction. Things happen. It’s not anything that was ill willed or meant to happen. No parent wants their child to suffer the consequence of drowning. So we have to first have empathy for the drowning.
00;26;58;27 – 00;27;18;14
Dr. Mona
But also, how can we not make this happen again? And we have to teach families about resources and proper swimming rescue. Now, the last thing I want to go over is the recent app recommendations that came out, which I know many of you don’t agree with. I also don’t agree with this. That and I want to just talk about this thing in particular.
00;27;18;14 – 00;27;38;26
Dr. Mona
Okay. Does app recommend infant classes? And in their recommendations they said no, because there’s currently no evidence that infants and programs for babies under one lower drowning risk. Okay. So what would you say about that in your feeling? I understand there may not be actual scientific data, but what do you feel when you hear that?
00;27;38;28 – 00;27;59;20
Erika Wilson
Well, first, it’s important to note that there’s no research with any yes swimming program at all. Correct. So an infant swimming resource is often called out because we are a company that is nationwide. So it’s just an easy thing to say. Infant son classes like infant swimming resource. So I think it’s a blessing and a curse because we are so well known.
00;27;59;20 – 00;28;26;29
Erika Wilson
But then we also put into the, you know, it’s the mix up. This is one that we don’t recommend. The AP, it was surprising to me when I learned this. The app is not a research organization. Whenever they put out a recommendation, it is based on research from someone else, like the Back to Sleep campaign. They made that recommendation to put your baby to sleep on the back, because the NIH did a research study and found that that was the safest way.
00;28;27;06 – 00;28;52;27
Erika Wilson
So the app is super important, but they are the last step in the process. So in order for them to recommend a specific swim program, then someone else would have to split the bill and do the research, which is also very tricky because there’s no way to have valid empirical research because subjecting students to potentially dangerous situations is unethical.
00;28;52;29 – 00;29;12;27
Erika Wilson
And then also there are instances where, you know, a child might be out of lessons for a significant amount of time and they haven’t been practicing, or the child is put back in the flotation devices causing skill regression, and then they fall into the water. You know, so there’s a lot of it’s impossible to eliminate all of those, external variables.
00;29;13;00 – 00;29;40;10
Erika Wilson
But I will tell you that every single Icpsr instructor has at least one, if not multiple survival stories from this. Parents. I received my first one at the very end of my training. A child that I worked with in my training used his skills to self rescue when he fell in the family pool. Especially if someone’s on the fence about Icpsr or doesn’t really understand what it is, I really encourage them to contact your local instructor and ask to observe lessons.
00;29;40;11 – 00;30;03;13
Erika Wilson
Yeah, because it’s very different what you see on social media, the misconceptions that are out there when you actually talk to the instructor and see the children coming through, and then go back a couple weeks and see where those children are, then it’s sort of just seeing it with your own eyes. They reduced the age, the recommended age from for swimming lessons from four years to one year.
00;30;03;13 – 00;30;21;19
Erika Wilson
A couple of years ago, after a few drowning deaths and some. I know you’ve spoken to Nicole Hughes before. Nicole Hughes and Morgan Miller worked with the AARP to lower that, because all of these kids between the ages of one and four are dying. Why are we suggesting that they don’t take this the lessons until four years old?
00;30;22;12 – 00;30;32;05
Erika Wilson
So they did reduce it. So we are on the right track like they want to reduce drownings as well. They are on the same side. It’s just the difference in the way the organization works and.
00;30;32;07 – 00;30;54;23
Dr. Mona
Well I can speak more about how the organization works because yeah I mean it’s insane. Yeah. Yeah they they are not. You’re right that they’re not a research organization. But what they do is they take the research from other parties, but they are so research focused in the sense that sometimes they can’t just look at evidence based on clinical practice, based on what we see in the world, because they want to be so evidence based.
00;30;54;25 – 00;31;10;13
Dr. Mona
Does that make sense. So but that’s actually a negative that you’re being so evidence based that you can’t look at. Well look at all these children who are doing really well with ISIS. Use formula as an example. Look at all these children that are actually having really great outcomes with formula. Yes, breastmilk has benefit right? I’m using as an example.
00;31;10;18 – 00;31;26;04
Dr. Mona
But we have to understand that if you start to get so evidence based, there’s like you said, there’s not ever going to be a perfect study because parents are not going to be like, oh yeah, I’m going to choose something that maybe will not teach my child how to survive. Right. Like you want to. Yeah. It’s not going to be an easy study.
00;31;26;04 – 00;31;43;25
Dr. Mona
So that is the issue. And then they also talked about like the, you know, really recommend mommy me classes, which I’m sure everyone who’s ever had a drowning, it’s like a punch to the gut, like, you know, like, what do you mean, mommy in me classes. Like, I also don’t love the concept of mommy and me. Like I want to teach your child how to survive is what I want.
00;31;43;25 – 00;32;02;12
Dr. Mona
Especially, like I said, if you are going to have a pool, own a pool, you are going to be around anyone who owns a pool. I mean, that is absolutely needs to happen and I can’t say everyone should do ESR or everyone should do self rescue because of the cost and time commitment. But if you can, I believe that it’s a great resource.
00;32;02;12 – 00;32;04;00
Dr. Mona
And you know, that’s why I have you on.
00;32;04;02 – 00;32;27;00
Erika Wilson
Yeah, yeah. And the mommy and me classes, that was one of the options that I looked into when I was researching some lessons for my child, and I thought to myself, that’s not going to do anything for me. I the same thing that you said, I don’t want a playdate. I want a child to survive. Yeah. I have a lot of parents come to me from other swim programs saying, we’ve been at XYZ school for X amount of time.
00;32;27;05 – 00;32;49;18
Erika Wilson
They weren’t really learning anything, or they’ve been in these lessons for a while and I saw it in other lessons, have an accident, and then realized, oh, shoot, you know, we need to get something a bit more accelerated. Yeah. And with the app, I mean, it’s one of those things there’s so many dangers out there for our kids, but most of the drownings are happening between May and August every year.
00;32;49;25 – 00;33;17;18
Erika Wilson
If you go to the Healthy Swim or Healthy children.org right now, their home page marquee covers gun safety, Covid, vaccinations, tragic news, events and the baby formula shortage. All very important things. Yes, however, I did the word search for drowning. Not one mention. So I think that there are a lot of missed opportunities. And one of the biggest missed opportunities is that they say the parent child classes are good.
00;33;17;18 – 00;33;35;24
Erika Wilson
Introduction in which they can be for a lot of families. But you have to think, what are we teaching our children? Are we teaching them that water is a warm and fluffy place, and that mommy is always going to be there for you because she’s not going to be in the drownings? Last year, more than half, almost three, no, two thirds of them.
00;33;35;26 – 00;33;58;28
Erika Wilson
The child got out of the home undetected, wandered off, was unattended. So these drownings are happening when mommy is or daddy is not there. Yeah. So I feel like that recommendation is a missed opportunity. And then they also say that by their fourth birthday, most children are ready for swim lessons. Like I said, what about those children under the age of four that are at that increased risk?
00;33;59;00 – 00;34;20;27
Erika Wilson
So we’re getting there. Yeah. And the app has been wonderful with I’ve spoken to Nicole Hughes about it multiple times. They have been wonderful with trying to update the guidelines, but like you said, based on the way that they work, it’s not going as fast as we would like. So but the fact that they have lower the age range and that more pediatricians are talking about water safety is amazing.
00;34;20;27 – 00;34;25;07
Erika Wilson
So we’re getting there is, you know, slow going, but we’re getting there.
00;34;25;09 – 00;34;48;27
Dr. Mona
And I also want to talk about puddle jumpers, because when I did, I saw my instructor was like, make sure he does not use puddle jumpers. We actually never use puddle jumpers as it was, because I did hear the concerns about it from other safe swim advocates. Now, what is the risk of Puddle Jumpers? And explain that to families who may be using it so that they can make smart choices with the use of them.
00;34;48;29 – 00;35;10;23
Erika Wilson
If they know there’s there are a couple of things that go along with them. Swimming postures. A puddle jumper is going to put your child in a vertical posture. And because I mentioned that children are sensory motor learners, their body is being trained to be in that position in the water. However, your child is getting their air in the water is what position they will assume if they were to ever find themselves in the water alone.
00;35;10;25 – 00;35;34;01
Erika Wilson
So a vertical posture is not maintainable. It’s called the drowning position for that reason. So if these children are only being in the water with a puddle jumper on unless because a puddle jumper is a company name, there are other similar style devices like that out there that go under different company names, but children think they can swim with them on and the flotation device is weightless.
00;35;34;04 – 00;35;52;18
Erika Wilson
It’s the same temperature as the water, same density as the water. It’s kind of meant to be forgotten about, so a child will likely think they don’t have the cognitive ability to understand that they cannot swim or maintain their breathing in the vertical posture that they’re in. And that puddle jumper, if they were to be in the water without it on.
00;35;52;18 – 00;36;16;26
Erika Wilson
There are a number of deaths that have happened because a child was used to wearing a puddle jumper in the water, and they would go into that vertical posture and either be the injured or not make it, and then we also recommend to not use them after a child has been through swimming lessons, because we are teaching them to be in a horizontal posture by putting them in something that’s in a vertical posture, that’s giving them conflicting information about the water.
00;36;17;01 – 00;36;19;01
Erika Wilson
And I can’t undo skills.
00;36;19;03 – 00;36;35;29
Dr. Mona
This is so important. And one of the biggest questions I get asked then is if you’re not going to use a puddle jumper, obviously observation is key. Even if a family does ESR or whatever you need to be observing your child, right? That’s the bottom line message also. But what can a parent use then if they have multiple children, right.
00;36;36;03 – 00;36;47;23
Dr. Mona
And they’re having water day and they want something like is there something that’s better or more preferred, if you will, than a puddle jumper? For protection along with observation of a child? Answer questions.
00;36;47;26 – 00;37;05;27
Erika Wilson
Yes, I recommend a 1 to 1 parent child ratio. So if you have more kids than arms, you can go to a splash pad, use a sprinkler water table, maybe try to enjoy the water outside of the swimming pool because we all know that the pool for me dangerous, and we want to be sure that our children are safe as possible.
00;37;06;06 – 00;37;26;18
Erika Wilson
When you’re in the water, let’s let’s say you have two kids and both mom and dad. Are there two adults are there. I would be holding them and playing with them. And while I can will say, oh, well, you’re holding them in a vertical posture as well. It’s completely different because they can feel the weight and the, the fact that you are a different density than the flotation device.
00;37;26;26 – 00;37;55;02
Erika Wilson
They know by touching you. I have contact with mom or dad. I have access to my ear so they know that they are reliant on mom or dad for access to that air. Something else. And I only recommend this to families that I really know. If you have a very thick raft or one of those, inner tubes, but it has a mesh bottom so that they can be on top of the water, but not in that dangerous posture.
00;37;55;02 – 00;38;09;08
Erika Wilson
As long as you’re within arm’s reach and really focus on your kid, like obviously supervising them, that can be a less dangerous thing for them because they’re not in that vertical posture in the water. They’re on top of it.
00;38;09;11 – 00;38;21;16
Dr. Mona
The other thing about puddle jumpers, I mean, I know you mentioned that it’s lightweight, obviously putting in a vertical. Does the fact that it goes around the arms like meaning I don’t think I haven’t used it, but I don’t think children can move their arms freely when they have a little jumper on that.
00;38;21;19 – 00;38;40;10
Erika Wilson
They can’t do. That is correct. And I also want to be make the distinction that a Coast Guard approved life jacket is always, always, always recommended when you are on a boat or near a natural body of water or participating in water sports. And I suggest the ones that are like the vest kind, because a child can actually use their eyes.
00;38;40;10 – 00;39;03;07
Erika Wilson
Our skills little life jacket on. And I do provide life jacket lessons for my families. There was an instructor who put out a video showing a fully skilled student trying to use their eyes or skills with a puddle jumper on and then with a life jacket on. And it was a very different scenario because he couldn’t even really, like, turn over because the flotation device, the puddle jumper, is focused more on the front.
00;39;03;09 – 00;39;08;16
Erika Wilson
There’s really not much on the back. So and of course it does restrict our movement as well.
00;39;08;19 – 00;39;24;07
Dr. Mona
This is so helpful. Well, because we just went on a trip to the Bahamas and obviously we were in the ocean and then we were in a wave pool, which, you know, obviously is not an avid swimmer because we we weren’t able to do so. So we, you know, we’re with him, but we also in the ocean because we were on like, you know, natural body water.
00;39;24;07 – 00;39;42;06
Dr. Mona
We did do a life vest, which was helpful because of that added to us being with him, you know, holding him like you said, that weight it’s different. And I, I do agree, I think there is a lot of, you know, safety shaming. And I want to be very clear that me and Eric are we’re not shaming people, but we want to educate you on the risk.
00;39;42;06 – 00;40;04;11
Dr. Mona
And I have seen children think they have their puddle jumper on jump into the water, because their body has been so used to having it on that when they go out for a snack and then they end up going back into the water without it, they think they have it on, but they don’t. And then like Erica saying your child is now in the body of water flailing their arms in a vertical position, which is the drowning position, and they can drown.
00;40;04;11 – 00;40;22;19
Dr. Mona
And I’ve seen this like I was at a party where this is before I became a doctor, where, a child who had a puddle jumper on took it off and ended up almost drowning. And the mom clear ran from the inside of the house. This is like over 15 years ago inside of the house. Ran to pull the child out so the child was fine.
00;40;22;21 – 00;40;37;13
Dr. Mona
But what if at a crowded party? Yes. We didn’t see that. Right? Right. And that is what. Yeah, I want to I want to make sure parents understand the risk. You can make your own choices, but just know that there is a risk that is very real. And I see it. And that’s why we’re talking about it.
00;40;37;16 – 00;40;56;13
Erika Wilson
And it’s not oh, my child knows he can only go in the water with his floaties on or my, I’m always watching them. Whatever. What happens when your child gets away from you? Because it’s physically impossible to watch your child 100% of the time. It’s completely is. And especially as a parent now of two, you can’t. There’s just no way.
00;40;56;14 – 00;41;07;16
Erika Wilson
Yeah, I think that’s a very important distinction, is that people think, oh, I’m doing it right. They know that they can only go in the water with the paddle jump wrong. But like I said, kids don’t have that cognitive ability yet in that age range.
00;41;07;24 – 00;41;25;00
Dr. Mona
And using this example, like I can tell you that that child was a very smart kid. That child is a very smart kid outside of the situation. So if you’re going to say, oh, they probably weren’t making smart decisions. No, I’m telling you that this family, this child was extremely smart. This child understands things. But like you said, a puddle jumper is very light.
00;41;25;00 – 00;41;46;26
Dr. Mona
And a child, especially between the ages of 1 to 5 years old, is not going to understand completely. And even older children, you know, you can’t always guarantee that they’ll have that understanding of, okay, this is this and this is that, especially when they’re excited and everyone’s playing, you know, it’s not always going to be foolproof. And yes, you can say all the things you want, but again, make the choices.
00;41;46;26 – 00;41;53;00
Dr. Mona
But if there are other options like again like you said, what about like pool noodles? Like if you have that with an adult.
00;41;53;02 – 00;42;12;01
Erika Wilson
I don’t recommend those either because and you could say that a child could sit on the pool noodle. But is down. The head is up. It’s a vertical posture. If they’re swimming with it they’re usually swimming with their heads up out of the water. The same thing goes for like a doggy paddle, a kick board. There’s actually some suits that have flotation in the abdomen area.
00;42;12;03 – 00;42;32;22
Erika Wilson
So it’s any time your child is swimming with a head up out of the water, that is an improper swimming posture. Kids and young children carry a majority of their weight in their heads and upper bodies. So swimming with their head up out of the water is actually really inefficient for them. If you swim with your head in the water, you can go much faster and further and with using less energy.
00;42;32;22 – 00;42;51;01
Erika Wilson
I was a child that was raised. I had some traditional sunglasses. I was had water rings on all that stuff, and whenever I go to the swimming with my friend, I would be doggy paddling because I didn’t want my face wet or that’s how I was accustomed to swimming. I would tire out so easily and it didn’t make sense to me, like I didn’t make that connection.
00;42;51;03 – 00;43;10;09
Erika Wilson
So we don’t want a child to be w paddling because their hips can drop. And also they are doing double the amount of work trying to support their head up out of the water, breathe, and their arms and legs are going like twice as much because the pool noodle and the K fours and all that stuff help to encourage that.
00;43;10;09 – 00;43;14;11
Erika Wilson
Head up out of the water posture. I don’t recommend those either. Unfortunately.
00;43;14;14 – 00;43;30;12
Dr. Mona
This is not very helpful and I hope people just understand the risks and they can decide what they do with it. But just know that well-meaning families have had tragedies with them, which is why we’re talking about this now. The last and final thing I wanted to ask so one of the biggest barriers or two was the time commitment.
00;43;30;12 – 00;43;53;02
Dr. Mona
You said that some children, it can take 4 to 11 weeks, depending on the age and what’s going on, whether delays and traffic and cancellations, Covid, whatever. Okay. We know that that is a huge time commitment. Ten minutes, Monday through Friday for 4 to 11 weeks. The other is the cost. So first of all, the cost. Is it because of the 1 to 1 for 4 to 11 weeks?
00;43;53;09 – 00;44;13;01
Erika Wilson
So the 11 weeks that was one child. So the majority of the majority friends. Yeah. So, the average is six. I always schedule eight just to cover us in case there are weather. So it’s on the the parents calendar. So with the time commitment that it can be very difficult. And a child will not leave the program until they’re fully skilled.
00;44;13;03 – 00;44;35;03
Erika Wilson
Yeah. So that’s also really important to understand. Yeah. So if you do sort of run out of time, you can either transfer to another instructor or continue with an instructor until your child is fully skilled. The cost it’s okay. So with traditional lessons there really is no end point. It’s not like, okay, you are in these lessons for x amount of time and then I’ll see you intermittently for maintenance.
00;44;35;05 – 00;44;56;26
Erika Wilson
That’s how it is with traditional. It’s open ended. So you to be paying a lesser amount for a longer period of time. And if you look at 1 or 2 years worth of traditional lessons, what does that tell going to learn in that amount of time? And two, you’re probably going to be at about the same amount, maybe even above what you would for an ESR session.
00;44;56;29 – 00;45;17;29
Erika Wilson
So, well, it’s basically more upfront because I’ve paid out of pocket for ESR lessons. I can understand that how much of a commitment it is on the financial side. We treated it like any other large purchase for our family. We asked family members to instead of, I mean, a one year old who just needs, you know, a box for his first birthday.
00;45;18;25 – 00;45;44;27
Erika Wilson
I asked instead for money towards ESR lessons so you can do that as well. Or you can allocate your money like if you have Christmas coming up at Christmas time. I always tell people this, maybe don’t get them as many things, maybe get them something small and then put some money aside. Now it’s also very important to know, like especially with rising costs, inflation and all that stuff, affording certain things can be much more difficult if you qualify.
00;45;44;27 – 00;46;04;26
Erika Wilson
There are survival, some scholarships available, a few of the organizations that I’ve personally worked with, and that other Icpsr instructors work with are the Silas Project. They’re actually local to South Florida. And I, I recently taught the younger brother of Silas just this past spring, which is awesome, the Judah Brown Project and Live Like Jake.
00;46;04;26 – 00;46;28;05
Erika Wilson
There are also a number of other scholarship organizations on Code.org that’s a parent for the prevention of childhood drowning. So these scholarships are available, but they are need based, and every scholarship organization has their own requirements. And there might be another scholarship organization that I haven’t listed that might be available in your area that I just I’m not aware of because they’re local.
00;46;28;08 – 00;46;45;25
Dr. Mona
Yeah. And I will add the ones that you mentioned on the show notes of this episode. But like you said, I agree with that, that my charge and I’m sure maybe the rates may depend based on where you’re living, but I’m going to be very transparent here that where I was living, it was 120 a week. So that would be $960 for eight weeks.
00;46;45;25 – 00;46;58;17
Dr. Mona
So I’m just giving these numbers for my area just so that people can hear. So that’s $960. And we knew that going in. But we were like, look, he’s going to learn. And then we were supposed to do once he graduated once a month for a week just to touch up, like make sure that he stays fresh. Okay.
00;46;58;20 – 00;47;18;09
Dr. Mona
So let’s use 960 upfront, which is a lot. Okay, fine. But right now we have him in traditional SIM classes because of the time commitment and the weather or whatever. And that cost right now is 240 a month for two classes a week. Okay. So Esau was five days a week. I know they’re longer, but they’re more one on one.
00;47;18;13 – 00;47;42;00
Dr. Mona
So that’s 200. Whatever, 50 a month. So already he’s not learning as much with the traditional some classes. So I agree with you that when you look at it from an investment standpoint, your child is going to learn safety quicker. So it’s like survival and also swimming. So that to me is worth the money. When you look at it from an investment standpoint, you have to think of it as you say, like an investment.
00;47;42;00 – 00;47;58;28
Dr. Mona
And then on the other standpoint is if you’re spending like so much money on like, I know I’m speaking to many different crowds here because some people listening to this cannot afford it. And I want to respect that. And that’s why they’re scholarships and I love that. But even just if you buy like $1,000 stroller or a Snhu, Snhu is like one of those trades, right?
00;47;59;01 – 00;48;23;21
Dr. Mona
But to me, this is a huge investment that I would take over those things or even in addition to those things, because this is going to teach survival. And so I think this is something to kind of think about in the big picture. And then the last thing is, do you have instructors in your area? Because not all every place in the country has, you know, a lot of people and I know a lot more instructors are coming on, with the Isar program, which is amazing.
00;48;23;23 – 00;48;31;28
Dr. Mona
But, I will also attach the link to look for Isar certified instructors in your area too, so that you can find somebody.
00;48;32;01 – 00;48;55;13
Erika Wilson
Yes. And if you don’t have instructors near you, there are a couple of options you can apply to become an instructor yourself. That’s what I did. You can go to Isar careers.com. Another thing that people don’t really think about is if you have access to a pool and there’s demand in your area, and let’s say your nearest instructor is like 50 miles away, contact that instructor and ask if they will do a travel session.
00;48;55;20 – 00;49;20;05
Erika Wilson
I know specific instructors that travel all across the country to do travel sessions. And then if none of those are options for you, just be very detailed with the questions that you ask of the swim program that’s available to you. Because while Icpsr is expanding, we are not everywhere yet, and that’s one of the most the cost and the availability of instructors.
00;49;20;07 – 00;49;38;17
Erika Wilson
Whenever I have someone comment on my social media or whatever saying there’s no one within 100 miles of me, it breaks my heart because I can’t do anything about that. Yeah, I want to physically go there and teach that child, but I can’t. So questions to ask when researching swim lessons. Will my child get to their er by themselves?
00;49;38;17 – 00;49;55;09
Erika Wilson
That’s the most important thing that they can get to their ER and survive. What will my child learn and in what amount of time? What are the instructor qualifications? Are floaties use? They shouldn’t be our clothing lessons part of the check out process. Most children fall into the water when it stops them time, so they’re usually fully clothed.
00;49;55;11 – 00;50;04;21
Erika Wilson
What’s the instructor ratio like? We’ve talked about 1 to 1 versus group. And then also what safety protocols are going to be in place during the lessons, because that can be important as well.
00;50;04;23 – 00;50;25;14
Dr. Mona
These are great. That’s a great final message by the way, because that is what I think is important. Wherever you’re searching, wherever you are in the country. And Erika, thank you so much for joining me. This is so enlightening. I hope everyone listening enjoyed it too, because there’s a lot of misconceptions out there. You know, and I think like we said, it’s just important for families to know their resources, no pun intended, because this is an infant swimming resource.
00;50;25;14 – 00;50;46;17
Dr. Mona
But, it’s just really important because I just feel like, like I said, in Florida as a practicing pediatrician, I think it’s an amazing resource. If a family can make it happen with their time and money. And also when the AP released all that information of like, you know, it’s not really research backed, it doesn’t mean that just because something’s not research backed that it’s not beneficial for a child.
00;50;46;17 – 00;51;06;11
Dr. Mona
So you can do your own research. You can look at the videos, you can look at Seastar. It says account and all the information they provide because you can make that decision for yourself and you know your child’s development the best. You know, if you have access to a body of water, that this is a priority. And I’m saying it as a pediatrician who’s seen drowning like it is a priority for all children and adults, by the way.
00;51;06;17 – 00;51;17;26
Dr. Mona
But if you are going to be in a state or area where you are going to be around bodies of water, this is a very, very important priority that I want you to make sure that you take care of. So thank you, Erica, for joining me today.
00;51;17;28 – 00;51;21;02
Erika Wilson
Thank you so much. And this is such a pleasure. I really enjoyed it.
00;51;21;03 – 00;51;36;24
Dr. Mona
Thank you for tuning in for this week’s episode. As always, please leave a review. Share this episode with a friend. Share it on your social media. Make sure to follow me at PedsDocTalk on Instagram and subscribe to my YouTube channel, PedsDocTalk TV. We’ll talk to you soon.
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