2 year old diving ?

[Ana]

Both boys of mine were in the water as soon as their belly button healed. I don't recall the exact age when they could retrieve objects from 10 feet, but they grabbed pebbles from the bottom deeper and deeper progressively. They both could fall in any pool/canal without drowning well before they could walk.

Now I have a grandson and was very happy to see that my son also took him in the pool as soon as his belly button healed. Obviously it isn't a matter of going once and that's it. We have the opportunity to go in the water pretty much everyday. Each time they do a bit more. Just like indoors each time they do a bit more of all the stuff humans need to learn.

If the video is just for show in social media, shame on the parents. If it just happens to be a documentation of something they would have done anyways, progressing little by little, then that's just their parenting way. Some babies can memorize names of cities, or climb walls .

 

[doctormike]

@doctormike

Didn't read the whole thread, but this comes up all of the time. While it's true that Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) is more common in young children than in adults, that doesn't mean that children are unable to equalize in increased ambient pressure. It certainly can be more difficult for them (like with air travel), but I wouldn't say that it's impossible - as is evidenced by that video of the diving family. The risk isn't ear infections but middle ear barotrauma.

As far as the old discussion about whether or not kids should dive at all, there is always the confusion between a controlled environment where a child tries breathing off a regulator under close supervision, then while wearing a mask, puts their face in the water, and then (when the understand that they have to keep breathing), go underwater for a bit to get the idea of what breathing underwater is like. This is NOT dependent on them being old enough to understand decompression theory, and it doesn't mean that they are getting any sort of certification. This is like the PADI bubblemaker class...

 

[zaf88]

Thanks doc. Exactly the info I was looking for. Doc do you see middle ear injuries for young kids and swimming pools, or does it have to bee deeper?

Next question, How would one teach a 1 or 2 year old how to equalize???

 

[doctormike]

Thanks doc. Exactly the info I was looking for. Doc do you see middle ear injuries for young kids and swimming pools, or does it have to bee deeper?

Next question, How would one teach a 1 or 2 year old how to equalize???

I have seen plenty of barotrauma, but never from a swimming pool. Doesn't mean that it can't happen, but just rare for the circumstances to collide (ETD and a rapid, unequalized descent.

I can't imagine how you would teach a 1 or 2 year old to equalize.

 

[TMHeimer]

I started bringing my sons in the swimming pools at 4 months, but they could really swim launching them underwater around 7 months. At that age, children have still a very strong mammalian reflex, so they cannot drown, keep their eyes open, open the mouth (without inhaling) and swim some sort o of "dog style".
Around one year, I gave them fins, mask, snorkel and small inflatables on the arms.
With that equipment they did snorkel around easily, also in the sea. We had nice holidays in Crete and in Sardinia when our children were that age. They do not fear swimming in deep water, even crystal clear, and they love watching fishes from the surface.
Both were swimming with fins and mask well before walking.
Around 18 months we started training them free diving. In the swimming pool you launch toys on the bottom, and they have to catch them. First thing they need to learn is to equalize, and around 18 months they can learn it. Maximum depth was 120cm, indeed: so they cannot touch the bottom, but the parent in the water can, providing perfect safety.
After learning free diving, they learn snorkeling WITHOUT inflatables on their arms. In the sea, a shorty wet suit helps providing some additional floatancy, and cold protection, still allowing them to free diving for catching shells, sea stars, etc.
Around 2 years it was time of their first scuba tank. It was a small 2-liters alu tank, back mounted, with a single reg and no SPG. In the swimming pool (so max depth 1.2m), equalization already mastered, they had to learn to always exhale when surfacing, either with the reg in their mouth and without.
Around 3 years they did master perfectly removal of the regulator and getting in contact with it even if flooded, removing the mask and evacuating it, and buddy breathing with me with a single reg.
Also the kicking style was now almost perfect, and I purchased them their first pair of serious free-diving fins, providing proper thrust for emergencies. At that that pint they were ready for the sea, and they had they firs dive at 4-5 meters depth in the sea.
In the following years the progress was slow but constant. Around 7-8 years they were already able to reach the maximum depth allowed for children (10m), to pass below arches and small caverns, and to orient themselves coming back to the entry point without help. At that age they were using a 5-liters steel, back mounted with backpack but no wing (proper weighting i mandatory without BCD).
We introduced the BCD only after 10 years, and at 12 years both have been certified Junior Advanced OW.
With children you must start very early, going to the pool at least one per week all around the year, spent at least one month at the sea each summer, and proceed very, very slowly. Any hurry in reaching a goal can be risky, you must give each child the time he requires.
The time spent underwater with my sons and my wife (who also is an instructor, and she is specifically trained for children below 3 years) was probably the best time of my life.

I know we've discussed young kids being certified before and that you favour it. As an instructor and Marine Scientist I'm sure you've done all these things with the utmost of safety. I guess there is a point to having kids 1-2 years old or younger swimming underwater, but it is one that probably will always escape me. I vaguely recall being at the beach and on my uncle's boat age 5-6 maybe. Learning to swim then, and generally being shown how to be comfortable in water (how to float, etc.). Don't recall any serious freediving until my early teens. I don't think missing underwater swimming at age 7 months did me any harm.

 

[Angelo Farina]

The point was that both my children did love water. At 10-11 months, leaving them on the side of the pool with some toys, they were not attracted by the toys, and did crawl to the water going into it by themself.
They appeared to be incredibly happy in the pool.
Reaching for toys on the bottom was great fun.
After surfacing with a toy, they immediately launched it for retrieving again.
It was hard to pull them out of the pool at the end of the hour...
About equalizing, of course it was impossible to teach them the advanced equalizing techniques I and my wife are using (BTV for me, Marcante-Odaglia for my wife). We resorted to teaching them Valsalva. This was succesfull at 18 months for one, and required 20-21 months for the other.
Valsalva is a bad equalization technique, but very easy to learn.
Of course we did teach them outside the pool first...

 

[Wathdoc]

Mammalian diving reflex.

 

[Doc Harry]

I'm sorry , I should've been more clear! The 2 year old wasn't on a tank. Just freedive. The dad took him down like 8 or 10 feet and took him up. U guys think there's any risk to that?

I learned to swim about the same time I learned to walk (1 year old). We swam to the bottom of the pool without assistance to retrieve pennies dropped by the swim instructor.

Best to teach kids to swim when they're very young, before neurotic parents have instilled maladaptive neurotic behaviors into their kids.

 

[kelemvor]

According to the wikipedia article on the subject:

The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends swimming lessons for children from 1–4, along with other precautionary measures to prevent drowning.

There's links to articles on the subject on the CDC site. The article also links to infant classes provided by YMCA and American Red Cross.

Apparently it's a pretty standard thing in the USA.

I think my kids were 5 or 6 by the time I got them swim lessons. I had no idea you could do it younger. For Floridians, it's an exceptionally bad idea to not teach children to swim.

 

[Belzelbub]

According to the wikipedia article on the subject:

There's links to articles on the subject on the CDC site. The article also links to infant classes provided by YMCA and American Red Cross.

Apparently it's a pretty standard thing in the USA.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s standard. If it were, we wouldn’t hear so many stories of toddlers drowning each summer. I haven’t checked the specs recently, but not long ago, ISR was claiming a 100% survival rate.

When we had our first child, we already had a pool, and looked at what to do. We decided not to go the route of the special fences, etc. pool was already in a fenced yard, and access from the house could be easily controlled. We opted to pool-proof our kids as opposed to further kid-proofing of the pool. Less chance of failure that way. At least that where our thinking was at the time. Now that they are more grown, I think we were right.

In my lifetime, I’ve personally witnessed four toddlers or babies fall in a pool. Thankfully all survived. They were all under close supervision, so no near drowning or any negative effects. What is interesting are the different ways they were rescued.

Max age of the children involved was two, maybe three. Youngest was around 11 months. Two of the children had gone through some level of survival/swim training. The other two did not. Listed below in order of occurrence.

Child 1 came over to my with his parents for grilling and swimming. He was taken from the pool to eat something. When done, he walked back in the pool before his mom put his swim float back on. His mom saw him under water, fully submerged and vertical, and screamed. She could not swim, so another adult jumped in and pulled him out.

Child 2 and her dad were swimming. She wore swim wings while in the pool. When swimming was over, her dad removed the wings and dried her off. She wanted to go back in, and walked in while her dad’s head was turned for a second. She was fully underwater and vertical. Her dad was able to reach her hair, and pulled her up.

Child 3 went with her parents to her grandparents house. She was walking with her grandmother around their pool. Her ball fell in the pool, and she went to get it. She lost her balance and fell in. Before her grandmother could even react, she had gotten herself to the side of the pool and held her head above the water until her grandmother pulled her out.

Child 4 was with her parents and sister in the pool. She was sitting on the top step of the pool near her mom. She wanted to join her dad and sister, and went to the next step, which was deeper than she could sit. Her dad was right there, but watched for a second. She got herself vertical in the water, flipped so she was face up, and got herself floating on the surface before her dad picked her up.

Any guesses on which two had training and which two had not?