Swim lessons and poop accidents - 4.5 yr old!

[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 ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I would too. And even if I didn't say a thing I'm sure my facial expression would reflect my thoughts pretty clearly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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 dicne. 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 ...

So OP needs to take her out of these classes for now. She can maybe still swim but not this strenuously.

What will it take? Shutting down the pool because she didn't get out in time?

[Anonymous]

I bet the diarrhea is from her swallowing water. If she were shitting herself in terror there would be more symptoms of anxiety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

NP. Honestly, if my child (even a baby, really) had a poop blowout in a pool then I probably wouldn't ever go back. I might even pay the owners for the trouble. After the SECOND one... I would NEVER go back. And I'd decide that swimming was not an activity for us... definitely not in someone else's pool!

It's really disgusting. My child does NOT need to eat your child's poop!

And that's disregarding the fact that there's obviously something your child doesn't like about pools or those lessons.

If you do go back and it happens again, they might even try to sue you. Since the situation costs them money and affects their business/livelihood.

[Anonymous]

Take her out of the classes. She can have fun swimming and getting rings without having poop accidents in or near the pool. You said she can swim a full length of the pool so obviously the survival part worked and you don't have to do that anymore. Something is not right here, and whatever it is, you need to STOP. It is totally disgusting and not good for her self esteem either.

[Anonymous]

How is picking up rings while swimming so hard you sh*t yourself a survival skill

Are you training her for a reality television game show or something?

[Anonymous]

I used to get diarrhea as a kid after a long day of swimming (think it was a combination of sun and exercise). Also, maybe your daughter doesn't feel the urge to go as much when she's in the water? No idea, but if water can help ease contractions I'm sure it can ease stomach cramps, too. I'd just stay vigilant, or even institute a 20 minute rule for potty breaks. Will interrupt class, but a lot better than having an accident in the pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

OP - you keep coming back with excuses and "explanations", but you won't listen to the 4 pages of replies to pull her from the class or at least enroll her in normal swim lessons (how much more "survival" swim lessons do you need - she's already had 3.5 years worth!!).

If you still don't get it, OP, the answer is NO. None of us have young children that poop themselves repeatedly while in an intense swim course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

OP - you keep coming back with excuses and "explanations", but you won't listen to the 4 pages of replies to pull her from the class or at least enroll her in normal swim lessons (how much more "survival" swim lessons do you need - she's already had 3.5 years worth!!).

If you still don't get it, OP, the answer is NO. None of us have young children that poop themselves repeatedly while in an intense swim course.

This. Please, OP, listen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - OK, should clarify that I am OF COURSE concerned about sanitation. The first accident happened her first day in lesson, so I wasn't prepared for that. I'm also not sure that it happened during the lesson or immediately afterwards in the car - she was wearing a light colored swim suit so I think I would have noticed when she got out of the pool, though I can't be sure. When we were driving she said she had to go to the bathroom, so I pulled into a McDonalds to take her and when we got inside I realized she had had an accident.

Each day since, I make sure she's pooped at least once (if not twice) before we go to the lesson and we also sit on the toilet immediately before class. I've also put her in a rubber underwear thing under her swim suit - it's not absorbent, but its the type of rubber pant that toddlers wear over underwear when they're potty training. I also watch closely to see if there are any signs she needs to go to the bathroom, like squeezing her legs together, shivering, etc. and I've taken her to the bathroom in the middle of a class when I saw this happen (though she didn't poop at that time). The second accident happened AFTER her lesson - she said she had to go to the bathroom and it looked rather urgent. We ran to the bathroom and she had the accident in the stall but before sitting on the toilet.

So, I don't think that she's pooping in the pool and continuing to swim. More like, the swimming lessons create an urgent need to poop and she has diarrhea.

So, back to my original question: Has anyone else had this happen with their child? Is there anything else we can do about this, other than finding a large swim diaper (just in case - again, I am fairly sure it happens when she gets out of the pool, but not certain), and hope she grows out of it?

In addition to some sort of stress reaction she might be allergic (? Not sure what it is) to chlorine. I have this reaction (urgent need to go) when I am in the pool. NOT swallowingmany water, even a sip. Actually, I should say "had" this reaction. I figured it out at about age 10-12. Fresh and ocean water is fine with my body.

[Anonymous]

I have a similar reaction after long runs (or not long runs, if I haven't been running much). That said, I am an adult. Can you talk to the instructor and tone down the intensity? Kids aren't good at recognizing their limits, but it seems clear that her body is signaling that this is beyond her limit.

[Anonymous]

If she was vomiting would you keep doing this?

No?

Take her out. She's stressed and probably swallowing a lot of pool water too.

[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.

What in the fuck is wrong with you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I would too. And even if I didn't say a thing I'm sure my facial expression would reflect my thoughts pretty clearly.

+1. If after he second time of your kid shitting in the pool, damn straight I would light you up.