LA Water Babies

This was one of the best decisions we could have made for our boys — 1.5yrs and 3yrs old. At first they hated every second of it. By the 2^nd week our 3 year old couldn’t get enough of his lessons with Andrea. It took our 1.5 yr old a little longer, but by the end of the 6 weeks he was loving it too!
Andrea is great with the kids. I definitely wouldn’t be able to handle having kids scream at me all day :)
It’s astonishing to see how good they are with the water now and know that if an accident ever happened around the pool, they’d be able to AT LEAST float and cry for help. Our 3 year old would be able to swim to the steps and walk right out.

We decided to do swim lessons with my 15 month old niece for safety reasons. We wanted
her to have fun in the water but wanted her to have the skills needed if she were ever to fall in our pool. With that said she gained so much from taking this course with Andrea. Andrea is so amazing and has such a great teaching technique with her students. My niece took to Andrea instantly and was so receptive to her teaching technique. My niece has so much confidence in the water. Even though she knows the pool is fun she also knows she can be safe while in there. Though we feel sure that nothing will ever happen you never can be 100% sure and in the event something did we know she would know just what to do. We feel confident in all the skills Andrea taught my niece. Thank you Andrea! You are the best!

When I was 8 months pregnant, I stumbled upon a blog of a family’s journey in caring for their son who had drowned. While he had miraculously survived, the injuries were insurmountable. The fear that crept in was always there. A few months ago, my brother sent me the link to ISR. We knew it was a perfect fit for us and our 1 year old daughter. Through extensive research, I was connected with Andrea Berman at LA Water Babies, featuring ISR Self-​Rescue™ Swimming Lessons. I try to reserve use of the word amazing for when something leaves me speechless. Andrea and this method are exactly that… AMAZING. In just a few short weeks Andrea worked with our daughter to learn to float on her back as a method of survival, but also to SWIM, flip over to rest, then back to swim and head for safety. My daughter LOVES the water and we are constantly dumbfounded, along with everybody else at the pool, while watching our little fish swim back and forth between us. While it’s never an excuse to relax in our diligence in watching our baby while in the water, the skills… the life saving skills that she has learned give us hope in a situation where there would otherwise be none. We cannot recommend or thank Andrea at LA Water Babies enough.

I took this class with my 2-​year-​old son and I could not believe that Andrea had him floating on his back in such a short amount of time and how much he progressed everyday. He started the class by crying and not liking the lesson but about one week into it he started to really enjoy it. Not only was I extremely happy with the class but I am much more relaxed around the pool knowing that he has the tools to survive in the water.
I would highly recommend this class to anyone with kids.

I have a 18 months old toddle boy. He is now can swim and float on his back! It’s not quite as easy as it sound. It takes the right person who has patient and understanding of my son. The most importantly who has an expertise to guide my son to the right path.
I was not sure at all for the first whole week how my son will take this. I was scared the most that he would not cooperate and ending hate the water.
I’m glad that I was wrong. Andrea is so wonderful to the children. She has builded trust with my son. She is consistent and in control of the situation which makes it easier for me. I can not denied that my son cried most of the time. He cried not that he hurt or in danger. He was crying because he had to follow new instructions and learned new things. My cheers and smile validated him that he was doing great and I’s just right here. If I show fear or worry, that would give him the wrong message. He trusted Andrea.
After first week he swam to me and my husband with joy. He had improved his skill every week. Andrea tries to know her students as individually. Thank you Andrea.

My family COULD NOT BE HAPPIER with our decision to enroll our daughter in ISR and wholeheartedly recommend ISR classes to any parent with a young child.
We enrolled our daughter in ISR — Infant Survival Resource — swimming classes a few months ago because we have a swimming pool in our backyard and many of our family friends also have pools in their backyard, some with pool gates and some without. Although our pool has a gate with a child-​safe lock, we had a scare last year when we had guests over and the pool gate was propped open. Our daughter got into the pool by herself and it must have been a few minutes before I realized she wasn’t playing in her bedroom as I had thought. I nearly had a heart attack when I ran to the pool and saw her playing inside the pool on the first step. Had she fallen in, I just don’t even know whether she would be here today.
We looked into ISR and were very much on the fence about enrolling her, after reading stories of kids being «traumatized» by the water after the lessons. We also read heart-​wrenching stories of parents who have lost their children because of drowning and, ultimately, my husband and I felt that we would rather our daughter be a little scared by the water than overly confident and unaware of the dangers that water can pose. My daughter is 2 and we started ISR classes with Andrea Berman (owner of LA Water Babies) 6 weeks ago. Classes are 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week for 6 weeks.
Brace yourself that your child will scream and cry at first. My daughter put up the fight of her life and didn’t like having to learn swimming skills on someone else’s terms. But *every time* she got out of the water, she was all smiles and full of «swimming is fun» comments. And once she mastered a skill (e.g., swimming to find Andrea’s hand, swimming to the step, floating, swim/​float/​swim sequence), she would stop crying and be full of smiles in the water. Andrea was great with her. She was so patient and persistently taught her the skills she needed to ultimately float in the water for 3 minutes fully clothed in heavy winter clothes and be able to swim for a distance and float to get air. During the final exam, the teacher is in the water with her, flips her into the pool, and tests to see if she can float for 3 minutes. My daughter could have easily floated longer, which is amazing and gives us the peace of mind that she would know what to do if, God forbid, she were to accidentally fall in. Andrea also tested her to see if she could swim to the wall and grab on to the ledge, and whether she could swim the step and stand up… all fully clothed in wet winter clothes (heavy jacket, pants, shoes, boots, mittens, hat). She was able to do it and I can’t tell you how happy and relieved I felt. And my daughter was SO proud of herself afterwards because she could tell she really accomplished something amazing.
Is she traumatized by water? Absolutely NOT! We swim with her on weekends and she is just happy as can be in the water. During the 6 weeks, she had ups and downs but parents, stick with it for 6 weeks and it will pay off. Stay positive and stay strong for your child during the lessons, and your child will reap the benefits. Totally worth every single penny! Thanks, Andrea, for your guidance, patience, and masterful instruction!!!