What age did your child learn to swim independently?

My oldest two started swimming on their own at 4 with no floating devices. My youngest is 5 and a half and in swim lessons this summer. She is still not swimming independently. I am hoping she will this summer! Plus, she refuses to wear floaties! So I am curious when did your child/children learn to swim on their own without assistance from you or floating devices?

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  •   -   06/15/2018

    All three of my kids learned to swim on their own at 4. They all took private swim lessons. Swimming is a life skill that we felt was important to invest in. I would say it wasn't until about 6 when I could really trust them to go wherever they want in the water (deep end). My youngest is 5-1/2 now and she is going down the water slide and off the high dive, but still not allowed to go into the deep end by herself.

    •   -   06/15/2018

      Thanks Katie for your comments! This is super helpful as my youngest is 5 and half as well.

  •   -   06/16/2018

    I felt confident letting my kids swim independently in a pool around age 6 as well. They both took lessons starting as toddlers and have always been comfortable in and around water. We spend a lot of our summers on a lake and even though I feel they are confident swimmers in a pool - I still have them wear life jackets if they are swimming in water that is over their heads at the lake because it's a more unpredictable environment.

    •   -   06/16/2018

      That is a great point about lakes/oceans/quarries versus pools.

  •   -   08/15/2018

    My older kids learned to swim on their own about 5 or 6. I used to be pretty relaxed with swimming lessons until my daughter had a near-drowning when she was two. After that, we made it a priority to start swimming lessons early. My twins learned to swim across the pool just after they turned 3. I would have loved for them to swim independently earlier, but they just weren't quite ready before then. We worked with them and they had lessons for quite a while before they picked it up. I wrote more about our experience in this blog post and shared a bit more information about why we chose to do swim lessons when we did - busymommymedia.com

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