What’s the real difference between ISR (Infant Swimming Resource) and traditional swim lessons and is one really safer?

In this episode, I sit down with a certified ISR instructor to break down what ISR actually is, how it works, and why it’s not the “throw-your-baby-in-the-pool” method people assume it is. With drowning being the leading cause of accidental death in kids ages 1–4, this conversation is a must-listen for any parent near water.

We cover:

• The history and science behind ISR

• How ISR teaches self-rescue and survival skills

• How it compares to traditional swim classes (including one-on-one lessons)

• Why lessons are just 10 minutes a day and why that works

• Common misconceptions: trauma, tears, and floating myths

• What to look for in a swim instructor

• When babies and toddlers can safely start ISR

Whether you’re a pool owner, beach-goer, or just a parent exploring water safety, this episode will help you make informed decisions and feel more confident in protecting your child around water.

00:00:00:07 – 00:00:24:07

Dr. Mona

Welcome to the follow up. I’m Doctor Mona, your favorite online pediatrician, mom, friend and someone whose toddler can already out swim her fully grown father. No, she to my husband. Okay, maybe a little. Seriously, is there an ISR for adults asking for a friend? Last summer my daughter did ISR, which is infant swimming resource and passed her float test like a champ.

 

00:00:24:13 – 00:00:51:27

Dr. Mona

Now she’s working on kicking and swim strokes, and honestly, she’s already got stronger water skills than most adults I know. But there are a lot of misconceptions about ISR. I am a Florida pediatrician mom, and I am in the drowning capital of the country, and I am very pro Icer and very pro survival swim lessons. Very pro water safety due to the drownings I see and hear about not just in kids but as adults.

 

00:00:51:29 – 00:01:18:06

Dr. Mona

So today I’m sharing a powerful clip from my full conversation with Erica Wilson, ISR instructor and owner of Sea Star ESR. We get into what makes ESR different from traditional swim lessons, how it works, and why those viral videos of kids being tossed in the water don’t tell the whole story. Erica is not my daughter’s ESR instructor, but she is an incredible part of the ES, our community, and I want to share her valuable information.

 

00:01:18:09 – 00:01:43:18

Dr. Mona

If you have a pool, live near water, or just want your kid to have solid survival skills in water. This episode is for you. And as a reminder, don’t forget to download the episode. Hit that subscribe button, share the episode, and tag me on social media and leave a review. All of those things helps more parents find the show and keep their kids safe, strong, and maybe even a little faster than their dad in the deep end.

 

00:01:43:24 – 00:01:52:07

Dr. Mona

Let’s dive in. Pun. Very much intended.

 

00:01:52:09 – 00:02:08:17

Dr. Mona

Can you explain the main types of some classes? So I know most of us know your traditional SIM class, which maybe we took as children and then there is ESR. 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?

 

00:02:08:20 – 00:02:30:21

Erica Wilson

We’ve been around since 1966, so it’s been 56 years. Yeah, a lot of people think that, you know, all 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.

 

00:02:30:23 – 00:02:53:26

Erica 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.

 

00:02:53:29 – 00:03:14:02

Erica Wilson

And let’s just be clear, traditional swim for infants 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.

 

00:03:14:02 – 00:03:37:23

Erica 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.

 

00:03:37:23 – 00:04:04:27

Erica 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 flow independently, and children are not expected to swim or flow independently until they’re about three years old. And most traditional lessons, like I mentioned, group lessons. 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.

 

00:04:05:00 – 00:04:26:01

Erica Wilson

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, ISR is more accelerated than that. 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?

 

00:04:26:03 – 00:04:45:24

Erica Wilson

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. 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.

 

00:04:45:25 – 00:05:05:24

Erica Wilson

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. 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.

 

00:05:05:26 – 00:05:34:17

Erica Wilson

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. 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.

 

00:05:34:17 – 00:06:05:19

Erica Wilson

So we need our kids to learn how to navigate the water effectively and quickly. 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 is different. As an 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.

 

00:06:05:21 – 00:06:24:18

Erica 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 for stage applications.

 

00:06:24:25 – 00:06:53:16

Erica 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 going 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.

 

00:06:53:16 – 00:07:05:03

Erica 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 swim does not take that stuff into account.

 

00:07:05:05 – 00:07:27:24

Dr. Mona

How would you explain the difference when someone is taking a one on one ESR class versus a one on one traditional class? Like what is it about ESR that is being taught to your child that is different than a traditional some class? 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.

 

00:07:27:26 – 00:07:29:28

Dr. Mona

So what would be the differentiation there.

 

00:07:30:00 – 00:07:59:14

Erica Wilson

So the main difference between one on one and ESR versus ESR 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.

 

00:07:59:16 – 00:08:20:08

Erica 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 flotation devices, I’m going 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.

 

00:08:20:11 – 00:08:40:08

Erica 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 ESR, 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.

 

00:08:40:10 – 00:09:04:18

Erica 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.

 

00:09:04:21 – 00:09:20:07

Dr. Mona

My husband showed me a video the other day. He’s like, hey, I think this kid did ESR. And I was like, yeah, so the video was on Tik Talk 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.

 

00:09:20:07 – 00:09:44:08

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.

 

00:09:44:08 – 00:09:59:03

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 ESR, know how to survive, and the parents are almost showing off their skills. But that is not how ESR works from the beginning at all.

 

00:09:59:03 – 00:10:16:18

Erica Wilson

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, learn from a parent and being an instructor that that’s 100% not the case. One of the things we say is ESR instructors won’t throw your child in the water, but they’ll teach them what to do when dad does.

 

00:10:16:20 – 00:10:38:18

Erica Wilson

And one of the things about ESR, 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.

 

00:10:38:21 – 00:10:45:12

Dr. Mona

What would be another misconception about ESR that you would say, besides this? You know what we just mentioned?

 

00:10:45:14 – 00:11:05:11

Erica 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. 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.

 

00:11:05:11 – 00:11:29:29

Erica Wilson

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. I’ve had many kids who have never shed a tear, but either subsides or changes to just sort of a 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.

 

00:11:30:01 – 00:11:53:17

Erica Wilson

And the lessons are work. 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.

 

00:11:53:17 – 00:12:11:11

Erica 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.

 

00:12:11:14 – 00:12:29:15

Erica 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 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.

 

00:12:29:18 – 00:12:49:10

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. I talk about things like essential activities like brushing your teeth.

 

00:12:49:14 – 00:13:14:12

Dr. Mona

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. 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.

 

00:13:14:12 – 00:13:31:04

Dr. Mona

I need you to really prioritize some classes and doing something like a self rescue, right? 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 in-ground swimming pool, you have money to afford it. So now if you can’t afford it.

 

00:13:31:04 – 00:13:48:29

Dr. Mona

So there is traditional some classes, but it is definitely different than traditional some classes. And I think that to your thinking, the people saying, well, it’s traumatize and 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.

 

00:13:48:29 – 00:14:06:03

Dr. Mona

If you feel like any some class was not easy on your child, whether it was ESR or another self rescue class or traditional some classes you have to really think about, well, what are your goals here? Do you want to sit next to the child and use them in? But is that easing in? How long is that going to take?

 

00:14:06:03 – 00:14:21:00

Dr. Mona

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. They don’t want to make children cry, but children are going to cry sometimes, like you said. So that is great.

 

00:14:21:00 – 00:14:30:00

Dr. Mona

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.

 

00:14:30:02 – 00:14:54:03

Erica Wilson

As far as the we don’t teach children how to swim, we do when they’re developmentally ready. Of course it 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.

 

00:14:54:03 – 00:15:12:23

Erica 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.

 

00:15:12:26 – 00:15:38:05

Erica 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 at the beach. You know we teach the back float because it’s an efficient way to get air rest and recover during an emergency.

 

00:15:38:11 – 00:15:56:12

Erica Wilson

So if a child were to pop their head up, their hips drop and 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.

 

00:15:56:12 – 00:16:06:05

Erica Wilson

And then if they get tired, they always have that float to rely on to get them rested and recover.

 

00:16:06:08 – 00:16:27:18

Dr. Mona

And that’s your follow up. Just a small dose of the real, relatable and eye opening conversations we love to have here. If you smiled, nodded, or had an moment, go ahead and download, follow and share this episode with a friend. Let’s grow this village together for more everyday parenting wins and real talk. Hang out with us on Instagram at the PedsDocTalk podcast.

 

00:16:27:25 – 00:16:43:06

Dr. Mona

Want more? Dive into the full episode and more at PedsDocTalk.com. Because parenting is better with support. And remember, consistency is key. Humor is medicine and follow ups are everything. I’m Doctor Mona. See you next time for your next dose.