Swim lessons and poop accidents - 4.5 yr old!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again, after seeing the responses that came in while I was typing the last one -

I really don't think DD is traumatized to the point she's sh*TTing herself in terror. She's past the point of survival skills - she can jump in and swim the length of the pool switching from her back to front, turning to breathe. The classes are hard (now she's trying to pick up rings while swimming), but not traumatic. (I agree that they may have been traumatic when she was 1.5, although she always seemed to handle them much better than my older child did). Also, she likes these classes - she doesn't fuss or fight about getting in the pool, she's eager to participate, she's proud of her accomplishments. No doubt, though, the classes are tough and probably causing a physical stress reaction which leads to the pooping.

If this is the case, why are you continuing to send her to this class?

[Anonymous]

Any chance she might really be constipated, and this is poop leaking from exercise because she's very backed up? I would look into encopresis and ask your ped to check her out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any chance she might really be constipated, and this is poop leaking from exercise because she's very backed up? I would look into encopresis and ask your ped to check her out.

I smile only because my older daughter has had encopresis due to massive constipation. We are WELL VERSED in this problem.

[Anonymous]

Everytime I come on DCUM, I think I've seen the worst parent possible. Then...a new one pops up that surprises me.

I can't even believe people like OP are allowed to parent.

[Anonymous]

In OP's defense, I used to get urgent/loose-ish bowels from doing gymnastics as a kid. (Never actually diarrhea, but I also pooped reliably once a day, so the overall difference/effect may have been the same.) I absolutely loved gymnastics, was not scared of it and grew out of it. Ped always assured my mom that it was just some people's response to hard exercise (probably, in my case, combined with the manual repeated compression of the stomach area when practicing bars; maybe the water has a similar affect?) and nothing to be alarmed about. He pointed out that lots of long distance runners actually wear diapers for this very reason. Obviously, the hygiene issue makes it different and, in my case, I could always make it to the toilet in time. But I would lay off the assumption that this is torture or that her DD hates swimming/is terrified. In my case, the only thing that helped at all -- and it certainly didn't solve the problem -- was not eating for ~2 hours pre-class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again, after seeing the responses that came in while I was typing the last one -

I really don't think DD is traumatized to the point she's sh*TTing herself in terror. She's past the point of survival skills - she can jump in and swim the length of the pool switching from her back to front, turning to breathe. The classes are hard (now she's trying to pick up rings while swimming), but not traumatic. (I agree that they may have been traumatic when she was 1.5, although she always seemed to handle them much better than my older child did). Also, she likes these classes - she doesn't fuss or fight about getting in the pool, she's eager to participate, she's proud of her accomplishments. No doubt, though, the classes are tough and probably causing a physical stress reaction which leads to the pooping.

I'm sorry, but this reaction is her handling it better than your first child?

You are out of your mind to keep putting your poor kids in these classes.

[Anonymous]

OP, this is really one of the most entitled and cruel posts I have read in here in a while. Find a different kind of swim class for your daughter that doesn't make her sh*t in the water everyone else is using. Your poor kid. Truly. What is wrong with you?

[Anonymous]

Op here to thank all of the truly awful posters who responded. Would you ever talk like this in real life? Of course you wouldn't. And do you really think that I don't know if my own child is being tortured in a swim lesson? Sheesh. But for the risk of identifying myself, I would post a video of her this afternoon - jumping in, swimming across the pool, grabbing floating rings and grinning and waving to the camera when she comes up for air. This is NOT a child terrified of drowning. What is wrong with all of you?

[Anonymous]

I think people are responding to the fact that you know this class triggers such a response in your child, and yet are continuing to expose the owners of the pool to the mess/clean up and the other children & adults using the pool to the poop contaminants - even to the point of seeing if you just need a really large diaper to continue. It's really, really not fair to everyone else wanting to use the pool that you are doing this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here to thank all of the truly awful posters who responded. Would you ever talk like this in real life? Of course you wouldn't. And do you really think that I don't know if my own child is being tortured in a swim lesson? Sheesh. But for the risk of identifying myself, I would post a video of her this afternoon - jumping in, swimming across the pool, grabbing floating rings and grinning and waving to the camera when she comes up for air. This is NOT a child terrified of drowning. What is wrong with all of you?

Yet you say in your OP that she is really embarrassed by her poop accidents that she frequently has. And you admit that you know it is not hygienic. Yet you keep doing it. What is wrong with you?

And, yes, if you were at my pool talking about your kid being embarrassed by the big poop accident she has during every lesson, I would talk to you like this.

[Anonymous]

Don't need History
Get her out of those lessons and out of the pool
Op, your desire to have her swim at 4.5 doesn't make it right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here to thank all of the truly awful posters who responded. Would you ever talk like this in real life? Of course you wouldn't. And do you really think that I don't know if my own child is being tortured in a swim lesson? Sheesh. But for the risk of identifying myself, I would post a video of her this afternoon - jumping in, swimming across the pool, grabbing floating rings and grinning and waving to the camera when she comes up for air. This is NOT a child terrified of drowning. What is wrong with all of you?

Your child control her bowels during her swim class. That is why you posted. There is almost never a unanimous response on DCUM to anything and yet here we all are telling you that the answer is to take her out of this particular swim class. Why can't you hear us?

Nothing is wrong with us, OP. Our kids learn to swim without getting uncontrollable diarrhea in their swimming classes. What is wrong with you?

[Anonymous]

My child was born in Florida and we did the swim classes early on too. They worked so well he was able to, just like the class taught him, pull himself out of the pool at 2 years old when he slipped and fell in the water. So I get why you did these classes. And I agree she does not sound traumatized.

But given your child's gastro makeup, I'd stop the swim classes. If she doesn't have the problem just playing around in the pool, let her do that. Maybe her system just needs more time to mature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, your child is LITERALLY shitting her pants in terror (a fight or flight reaction) and you are confused about whether you should continue?

FFS.

PP, but +1

Seriously, this.

[Anonymous]

I may be the lone defense here! Since these are just normal swim
Lessons and not survival skills ones - I'm going to guess that she's swallowing water while diving for rings etc - one of mine gets diarrhea after swimming Bc she regularly swallows water - two of my friends have same problem. I tell her to keep her mouth shut but no dice. I'm guessing relaxed swimming she's on the surface more but lessons she's under and swallowing more - I think some tummies can't handle the chlorine water ...