  urlLink DrWeil. com Question:  Too Young to Swim?  :  " While swimming lessons are widely promoted as a means of reducing the risk of drowning,  a leading cause of unintentional injury and death in young children ( drowning rates are highest among toddlers between the ages of one and two)
 you may be interested to know that the American Academy of Pediatrics ( AAP)  does not recommend aquatic programs as a way to decrease the risk of drowning among young children and warns that parents should not feel secure that as a result of these lessons their children will be safe in water or safe from drowning.  It is true that one- year- old tots can learn the dog paddle and other rudimentary swimming movements,
 but children under the age of four don’ t have the neuromuscular capability to learn real swimming skills.  Furthermore,  the safety training programs have not been shown to decrease the risk of drowning.  In fact,  the AAP’ s Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness cautions that programs that emphasize making a child feel safe in water may backfire by encouraging youngsters to go into the water without supervision.
