Safety concern at the beach?

[Anonymous]

Find an inexpensive life jacket for him. He'll be fine, really.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I agree swimming is a life skill. I was swimming for years already by that age. He has taken multiple swimming lessons and is taking them again now but JUST.CAN'T.SWIM. He sinks like a rock. His body is extraordinarily dense or something and he is not particularly athletic or coordinated. He's also afraid to relax enough to float. I'm really concerned for his safety.

This might be a controversial suggestion, but I'll throw it out there:

My brother was the same age -- 11 -- and still unable to swim. He was both super skinny (=low body fat, = less buoyancy) and unable to relax. Lots and lots of lessons at the neighborhood pool failed to accomplish anything.

Finally, my mom hired a kind and (this is relevant) cute 16-year-old girl who lived nearby and was a strong swimmer. My dad talked with a colleague who had a small backyard pool and arranged for them to use it briefly several times a week during the day while he & his wife were at work. My mom would sit by the pool and read while the 16-year-old taught my brother to swim.

The combination of patient one-on-one attention from the teacher and his own interest in impressing an older, attractive girl did the trick; my brother learned to swim.

[Anonymous]

Try to go out at low tide so he can enjoy the water more.

Also... Please get him lessons.

[Anonymous]

i don't get the whole "up to the waist, hips" etc thing with the beach. unless it's a VERY calm day, waves come up that are a foot or two over your head, assuming you're in at waist level. you have to know how to swim in order to know to dive in/under before it crests and swamps you, etc. unless it's calm, then to me knowing how it swim is only the beginning. you have to know the whole wave/crest/undertow/rip tide aspect, too. we were at rehobeth the week before last, and only one day was a calm, almost bay-like day.

[Anonymous]

http://mdcoastdispatch.com/2014/06/19/oc-beach-patrol-captain-on-recent-drowning-deaths-i-personally-feel-the-impact-of-every-loss/

[Anonymous]

Where can I get a life jacket?

[Anonymous]

rei or ll bean has them.

[Anonymous]

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I go to the beach every year and I can't even remember the last time I got my hair wet. Unless your kid has no fear of water and is going to do something crazy, I don't know why he can't go to the beach. I've never heard of anyone getting caught in the undertow when they were up to their knees.

[Anonymous]

I thought the OP was asking about going to the beach and actually going in the water past his hips, etc. Some people definitely go and never get wet. The moms read, the dads are working half the time (or moms too), 20 somethings are playing volleyball in the back, guys are tossing footballs. Hanging around on the boardwalk. Lots of things to do, definitely. Have fun either way, OP!

[Anonymous]

I would absolutely not let him in the water. Then again, I would never have let him not learn to swim this long. I would have considered it an emergency years ago and gotten him private lessons and had him practice daily until he learned. In fact, that is what I did with my six year old after she was resistant to years of group lessons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try to go out at low tide so he can enjoy the water more.

Also... Please get him lessons.

Know when the tide rises and how quickly. People have drowned because the tides rose quicker than they thought and they went a little too far out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where can I get a life jacket?

He will look like a freak with a life jacket on the beach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try to go out at low tide so he can enjoy the water more.

Also... Please get him lessons.

Know when the tide rises and how quickly. People have drowned because the tides rose quicker than they thought and they went a little too far out.

It's on the back of the life guards chair.

[Anonymous]

I have seen people with life jackets ocassionally. I really don't think people would judge. Everyone has their own comfort level and skill level, and these change over time.