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Infants learn life-saving skill they could use if they fall in water

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With the weather warming up, pools and the beach will become popular hangouts, especially for children.

But did you know there’s a life-saving skill being taught to infants that they could use if they fall in the water?

Because when it comes to water survival skills, you’re never too young to start learning.

“Babies can drown in inches of water,” survival swim instructor Amy Borden said. “It takes seconds.”

Borden teaches kids from age six months to 18 months old how to survive if they fall in water. Children older than 18 months typically begin learning how to swim.

However, the right breathing technique and learning how to float on their backs are some of the key skills that are taught to infants.

“It all starts with breath control,” said Borden. “They have to know how to hold their breath when their face hits the water”

This life-saving skill only takes about six weeks to learn too.

Colleen Ghoghawala, the mother of 13-month-old Jacob, signed her son up for lessons three weeks ago. And he’s already learned how to float on his back.

“He flipped over by himself for the first time today,” said Ghoghawala. “I just feel so much more at ease.”

She and Sarah Brown are both mothers of young children who are often around pools during the summer. But they both now say there is extra reassurance when their kids are around water.

“It’s a great lesson for him so he can rely on himself basically if anything ever happens, he can save himself,” said Brown.

Borden also recommends having high locks on back doors that are hard for children to reach, build a fence around the pool, or purchase a pool alarm system, which triggers an alert when a person or animal falls into the water.

For more information on survival swim lessons, click here.