Swim Like No Otter, LLC

It’s been such a fun summer session!

I decided to re-post this today, heading into Memorial Day weekend, as I know parents across America will be deciding on the best ways to keep their kids safer ...around the water this weekend. Please, listen to my warning: The puddle jumper....the flotation device moms love. They are cute. They look fun and inviting and they give our kids independence in the water.....we think they keep our kids safe....but do they? This post is extremely hard for me. I was that mom who put my beautiful 3-year-old baby boy in one of these devices. The packaging told me it would help him stay safe-said it was a swim aid. Other moms told me it would help him stay safe. All I wanted to do was keep him safe. That’s it. That was my sole reason for buying and using this device. I learned after my beautiful baby boy drowned that my using this device with him was a major factor in his accident. This is why... 1) Puddle jumpers automatically put children in a vertical position in the water... and that is the drowning position. Puddle jumpers teach children muscle memory for that position so that when they get in water, they will automatically go vertical, whether they have the device on or not. This makes drowning faster!!! Given 67% of all childhood drownings happen when children aren’t supposed to be in the water, and therefore aren’t going to have the devices on, this point is very important. 2) Puddle Jumpers teach children to bicycle their arms and legs in order to propel through the water. This expends huge amounts of energy and contributes significantly to drowning incidents because it cannot be sustained for very long and does not lead to forward motion in the water. The child will continue this behavior even if they aren’t wearing the device. 3) Puddle Jumpers prevent kids from learning to reach their arms out in front of them for any swimming stroke and from putting their heads in the water to help get into a horizontal (swimming and breathing position) in the water. 4) Puddle Jumpers contribute to water phobia because they don’t allow water on the face and therefore don’t allow children to become used to the water being on their faces. If the water does hit their face in an emergency situation, the child is more likely to panic and freeze and then not be able to help themselves. 5) Puddle Jumpers (and all flotation devices) can create a false sense of security for the child. The child thinks they can swim because they have built confidence in the water with the device, using it during swim times. They don’t know how their own bodies react in the water, without a flotation device on, and then they don’t make the connection that the device is what keeps them floating and not themselves. So, when the opportunity arises for them to get into water (often when they aren’t supposed to be in it), they are much more likely to do so without the device, thinking they can swim on their own, when they really can’t. 6) Puddle Jumpers (and all flotation devices) create a false sense of security for adults. Adults tend to not be as vigilant around the water when they put their kids in these devices. So, as an example, during a break when a parent might be attending to another child, their little one may have their puddle jumper off temporarily and because the parent has trained themselves not to have to be as vigilant, they have a lapse in supervision for a few seconds. In that time, the little one can end up in the pool without the device that holds them up in the water and can drown! It only takes 20 seconds!!! 7) Puddle Jumpers are coast guard approved but at the lowest level possible-below life buoys. They are not reliable as a safety measure in any water that is not completely calm. They are marketed as a swim aid. But flotation devices of any kind should never be used as a swim aid because of reasons number 1-6 above. Children should learn survival swim and have one on one touch supervision (a parent or adult never being outside of an arm’s reach of a non-swimmer) in and around the water instead. My son thought he could swim, because I put this device on him during all swim times. He learned and adopted the 6 points above. He went to the water without his puddle jumper...he drowned...he died. He was by my side, not supposed to be in the water anymore and then in the minute or two it took for me to look up and headcount my other kids, he had slipped away from me and back to the water. Another minute or two to find him and it was already too late for my son. It only takes 20-30 seconds for a drowning in a small child to happen. Why not puddle jumpers? Because your child’s life is not worth the very real risk that using these devices can and do pose. #dontletthemdrown #beavoice #saynotopuddlejumpers

A missing child can be a very scary thing. Understandably, most parents are panicked in this type of situation. To improve your chances of finding your child un...harmed, always check the pool first! During your search, you'll want to be thorough. Still, before you run indoors looking for likely hiding places, you should be absolutely sure that your little one hasn't fallen into the water. After all, the pool is a high-danger location. It should actually be among the first places you look. Remember children are curious risk-takers. It may not seem logical for them to be in the pool, but there are many ways for them to end up there. After all, the last place 46 percent of drowned children had been seen was in their house. This can happen innocently, perhaps by reaching for a pool toy and falling in. Source: Child Safety Store #WaterSafetyMonth

Jessica Brown has been one of my swim moms and entrusted me to teach her 3 children water survival skills. She is an AMAZING mother and friend. Jessica lives in Nesbit, MS and will be able to offer lessons in the surrounding area. She will be the first Infant Aquatic instructor in North West Mississippi. However, leaving her family for 6 weeks to train in Texas is expensive. Jessica has stepped out in faith to pursue her passion to eradicate childhood drowning. I am SO glad that she is going to be joining Infant Aquatics!!! I will be her biggest cheerleader. I love you Jessica!

There is no remedy for love but to love more. Henry David Thoreau We are not immune from further child-loss. We have not been checked off of some master ...list. The fear of losing another one of our children follows me, always; the grief, the joy, the hope, the fear are all intertwined. It would be so easy to give in to the panic that seems to greedily wait for me to surrender. How can I ever let these girls out of my sight? How can I ever feel like I can breathe easily when I know how quickly life can change? But, I refuse to let the fear win. We didn’t choose to live so that these girls who are so deserving would have some sideline, hazy version of life. My husband and I said, and we ACTUALLY said this verbatim to each other: We will not let this tragedy steal their childhoods, too. It isn’t always easy, but their happy, effortless smiles prove it’s possible. Just look at them- these girls, each one has breathed life back into us with her own special magic. Yes, the days can be crazy, but I never take for granted the gift of watching them grow and living real lives.

I’m sorry to post that SLNO will not be scheduling any lessons any time soon. This is because of some recent health issues I have learned of this past week. Unfortunately, this horrible pandemic has made it easier to cancel my swim season. Please, please take this virus seriously and stay home, play games and enjoy family time. If our community recovers by the end of June and I have a good prognosis...maybe some swim lessons in July. I’m hopeful.

Happy New Year from SLNO! I hope you’re enjoying your winter. Unfortunately Swim Like No Otter will not be taking any new families this summer. This includes those that are on my waitlist. For returning families I don’t have a registration date or lesson start date yet. It was a crazy end to 2019 and a busy start to 2020 for the Packer family. I will have a better idea in March and keep you updated as much as I can.

Thank you Michelle for sharing your story and making sure your children are safe in and around the water.

I will have time for maintenance lessons as long as the weather is warm. Text or email me if you’re interested.I will have time for maintenance lessons as long as the weather is warm. Text or email me if you’re interested.