Fear of Water and Swimming

semandbeyond

Thu, Jul 02 2015, 1:38 pm

My son is 5 years old and has a fear of water/swimming. It is only in "deep" pools. He loves the bath, baby pools, etc.

My husband has the same "phobia" and his parents invested in expensive swimming lessons. He is able to swim now but still hates water and swimming. He realizes it is irrational and will go swimming, boating, etc but is somewhat anxious the whole time. He is afraid that the same thing will happen to our son - that he will learn to swim but will have a negative association with it in the long-term.

For that reason, I started exposing him to water at a young age. Until 3, he was fine with water. Last summer, when he was 4, I started swimming lessons for him. He had a great instructor who was really patient and gentle but he was still afraid to go in the pool. At the end of the summer he had made extremely little progress and is still fearful of the pool. I have taken him swimming and he just wants to sit on the side and splash but will not go in with me - even if I hold him the whole time, give him rides, etc. The more I push him, the worse it is, so I just let him splash.

He is now 5 and will only go in baby pools and has no interest in learning to swim. I think it is important and would like to find someone who specializes in helping children with this level of anxiety learn to swim, but I am not sure where to start. We live OOT and there is no one frum who does this here and no separate swimming options in our community. For that reason, I feel some pressure to do it now before he is older and cannot have a female instructor, go to a mixed pool, etc.

Anyone have this experience or know where to start with finding a professional who can help with this issue? TIA!