The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends swimming lessons for all children age 4 or older, but new studies also suggest that children under age 4 with formal swimming instruction are less likely to drown. I have two children — aged 4 and 6. When we first moved to a community with a pool a few years ago, we figured the kids would master swimming in no time. But even after going to the pool nearly every day that first summer, they were no closer to swimming proficiency than when we started. That’s when I realized that swim lessons would be a necessity. We tried a couple different ones until we found something that worked for us. Now that we are entering our second season of winter swim lessons I feel good about the progress they’ve made.

If you’re fortunate to have access to an indoor pool, swimming in the winter is a great workout for preschoolers that seem to have more energy than we know what to do with, especially when cooped up in the cold. However, as a safety-conscious mom, I am constantly thinking about drowning prevention. After all, drowning is the leading cause of preventable death for children in the 1 to 4 age group, and the younger the child, the greater the risk. While drowning deaths peak in the summer months, it’s a risk year-round, and getting a head-start on water safety just makes sense.

It took me until I was eight years old to finally learn to swim, albeit poorly, after several false starts that involved my father or grandfather simply throwing me into a body of water. Spoiler alert, that didn’t work. I finally figured it out on my own well enough but with little to no technique to speak of. I’m glad that my kids at least will have a more positive experience learning to swim and hopefully will have better life-long proficiency.

That isn’t to say I won’t continue to monitor them in the water — drowning can occur even with proficient swimmers, and the best advice is to keep small children within arms-length in the water. Remember, safety first — children should never be alone near water. Lifeguards and lessons don’t mean that you can stop paying attention. Having a designated water watcher is a good idea. This can be a parent, guardian or other trusting adult — preferably one with first aid training. And if you brush up on your CPR skills, you can be prepared to save a life, just in case.

Every child is different, but after talking to swim instructors and seeing the results with my own children, I’ve learned that it may take up to a year or more for a child to learn to swim. If opportunities to practice those water safety skills are few and far between, it will certainly take even longer, so don’t wait.

It may be never too late to learn to swim, but it’s also never too early to start!I was lost in this book for a few days on vacation and highly recommend it. And yes, I would be telling a fib if I did not admit that the title of the book was the initial lure in sparking my interest in reading it ;)