The baby’s mother Keri Morrison, 39, has become an advocate for infant swimming safety after her son Jake died when he fell off a dock and drowned in November 2013.
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And, in the video, “you’re seeing a 6-month-old sitting on the steps playing, which can be a real life situation”, Morrison told TODAY.
But mother Keri Morrison told Fox News that teaching her 13-month-old daughter Julia to swim is vital since she lost her son Jake when he was two and a half in a drowning accident while on holiday.
“That video was not just ‘hey let’s put her on the steps and see what she does.’ She was already trained to get up to that point”, said Morrison.
On Facebook, users were quick to express their outrage over the method the parents chose to teach their daughter to swim.
“I think that it is great to teach your child at a young age on how to float, but this video was reckless and risky”, said one Facebook user.
“She falls in and she turns over and saves herself and floats for over a minute and a half”, Morrison said.
Many commenters do commend the parents for teaching their adorable daughter to face the pool as early as she does.
In the video the infant is seen falling into the water and beginning to sink before she manages to flip on to her back and begin floating with her face out of the water.
Proponents claim it teaches babies to rescue themselves while critics argue it’s too aggressive. Babies are taught in 10-minute sessions, five days a week for four to six weeks.
She added: ‘Our students at ISR are taught everything incrementally in a very gentle way and honors the way they learn physically.
“I guess that brings out the instinctual nature but I would rather them be comfortable and not have the fear”, Bellerue said.
“The first thing we establish in our lessons is breath control, so before that child ever goes underwater, I know that that child can safely hold their breath”.
One comment reads: “that baby was scared and under so much stress”.
The Canadian Lifesaving Society said the ISR program instills a “false sense of security” in parents, making them believe their child is “drown-proof”. There were obviously adults around and the baby was doing well.
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The American Academy Of Pediatrics says there is no evidence that formal swimming instruction can “prevent drowning in babies younger than one year of age”.
