HIGH POINT, N.C — According to the Centers for Disease Control, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death in children ages 1 through 4.

Some parents are enrolling their young children in ISR - Infant Swimming Resources. It is a version of swim lessons that teach your young child how to survive in water in case of an emeregency.

Brittany Kittleson's 10-month-old son, Ryatt is one of those taking part in the lessons.

"Drownings happen within seconds, within minutes. These children just know how to roll over and get air. They just have that confidence, and they know what to do around water. He can't even walk yet, but he knows what to do when he hits the water," Kittleson says. 

Ryatt does not enjoy the lessons, but Kittleson says it is worth it. 

"If they're crying, they're breathing," she says.

She knows it is worth it because about a year and a half ago, she lost her daughter Bailey to an accidental drowning.

"Nothing prepares you for that. She had a pulse leaving our house, and she just didn't make it," Kittleson says.

Bailey was 15 months old at the time. 

"She is very friendly. She liked everybody. She loved to share her food. She was silly," Kittleson added.

The family had baby gates and a separate pool gate with two locks. Kittleson says ISR would have been another layer of protection.

"ISR would have saved her. It would have given her the time to be found because this was within minutes. The smaller the child, the quicker they can drown," she says.

Kittleson and her husband enrolled Ryatt in ISR as soon as he was old enough.

"I-S-R would have made a huge difference, and I didn't know about I-S-R until two weeks after her passing," Kittleson says.

Darlene Haskins is a certified ISR instruction who has been teaching for decades. She says any swim lesson is good, but encourages parents to make sure survival skills are a priority.

"You just want to make sure in swim lessons that are not really using flotation devices, and they are teaching them to get to a float, get that air, and are independent because if that child falls into the water without somebody there or without a floatie, they need to know what to do," Haskins says.

Kittleson says parents should enroll their kids in ISR, even though it can be difficult to watch.

"It's easier to sit through a swim lesson than a funeral. A screaming baby is a living baby," she says.

Haskin says there are only 18 certified ISR instructors across the state of North Carolina. She says parents can get their kids into ISR starting at six months old and when they are sitting up unassisted.