Baby swimming lessons is my favorite part of infant training.

Infant swimming is a magic tool which benefits child development, strengthens them physically and soothes emotionally in a short space of time. This is the time given by nature when babies adapt to water easily and without stress. They learn to love it, feel quite at home in the water environment and have fun. Use this chance to its fullest! Practice home infant swimming training, this way you will also take care of your future. Isn’t it wonderful to feel confident about your child’s safety at any age, because he takes to water like a fish? Your baby will thank you one day if you seize the opportunity and teach him to swim now, in his infancy.

Why infants learn to swim so easily?

Babies acquire swimming skills with ease due to the natural inborn reflex which remains for up to 3 months. But at about a month and a half they start developing fear. Infant emotional development grows by leaps and bounds from the moment of birth. Gaining experience, they analyze the world around them and learn to think. Thereby, early start in baby swimming lessons brings the best results. I begin working with a baby as soon as the umbilical cord stump heals.

Baby swimming lessons at home. Stage 1

Use your home bathtub. Be sure to leave the bathroom door open to keep a consistent humidity level in all rooms. It will be much easier for the baby to breathe. Water temperature should be the same as for everyday bathing. Bear in mind, though, that cold water is more beneficial for babies’ health. It fortifies the body and stimulates active movement of the little swimmers.

Toys floating in the water may distract the child’s attention and interfere with swimming. Or to the contrary, stimulate his movement. Watch the little swimmer. If he shows interest in the toys and is overly engaged in his new experience, take away everything that may distract him. Undress the child and hold him by the armpits facing you. Thus, you will be able to control his mood. Developing new skills is not the only goal we pursue. We need to make sure that swimming lessons bring joy to the baby.
Keep in mind that at this age children form emotional bonds with other people and the basic level of trust to the world depends on it.

Holding your baby under the arms and watching his reaction, dip him into the water. Start with his feet and gradually go deeper submerging all the body. You can play by dipping him in the water and taking out several times. Save your baby from possible stress by talking to them, for example, you can recite a short child poem.

Baby swimming lessons at home. Stage 2

After that, put the child on his back. Support his head with your left hand and help yourself with the right one. I always use my left hand as the dominant one during the infant swim classes. Then make a figure-eight shape movement using the whole space of the bathtub. The tempo should be medium not to frighten the child, but to get him interested. We use figure-eight moves as a warm up before the real baby swimming lesson. At some moment we turn the child on his belly and support his chin to prevent the water from getting into his mouth and nose. Many children stick their tongues out like kittens to lick up the water from the bathtub. 🙂 We mustn’t let them to! 🙂 From this very moment the real swimming lesson begins. You need to know that it is impossible to swim with your head over the water unconsciously. Newborns cannot grasp this concept! That’s why they swim under water.

So, it is important to use the reflex the right way. Turn the baby on his back, make a few shape-eight moves, let the child look around and get used to a new position. Then turn him in such a way that his head is closer to the right side of the bathtub. Halt for a second. Give voice cue “Under!”. At the same time scoop some water with your hand and pour it over the baby’s forehead so that it flows down onto the bridge of his nose. At this moment the child will hold his breath, and you are likely to hear it. A few seconds after the baby will start breathing again. You will hear it, too. 

Train for a while, don’t put the child’s head under water just yet. Later I will explain why babies can’t swim over the surface of water, only under it. On the 3^rd or 4^th time fully submerge the child in the water and take him out in an instant.

Don’t worry, your child won’t drown, the nature will take care of it. 🙂 Important! If you waste too much time, the baby may start breathing and will cry a lot afterwards. So submerge him in the water quickly, without delay!

Baby swimming lessons at home. Stage 3

I haven’t seen anything more fascinating in my life than swimming infants! Just imagine, he doesn’t know how to talk, walk or eat by himself yet. But he swims beautifully under the water with his eyes open, and even looks around curiously.

Getting back to our lesson. You already know that we use the reflex to teach the baby to swim. Let’s see how it works. When the water runs down his forehead or when we blow into his eyes, the baby holds his breath. It is exactly at this moment, that we should submerge the baby in the water holding him horizontally on the stomach and supporting his chin.

Talk to the baby during the lesson. Explain to him what you are doing. You may make up little verses to accompany the exercises.

Boston Infant Trainer recommends the following scheme for your first lesson:
– check the reflex without influence – repeat 2 times

– make a dive and immediately pull the child out of the water – repeat 2 times

– make a dive and float the baby under water for a little while from one side of the bathtub to the other – repeat 2 times, then take the baby out. Never make them dive right away! After you take the child out from the water, pause for a second, hold him in a vertical position for some time. Talk to him, praise him, help him to release the stress. Move in a figure-eight pattern for a few times, and only after that dive again.

Baby swimming. The sooner the better and easier!

As I mentioned before, training based on the reflex is the easiest and the least stressful way to teach a baby to swim. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll succeed. In my practice, dozens of children learned to swim just after 2-3 classes. And that’s only because they were 1-2 weeks form birth! To the contrary, there were children who couldn’t learn to swim, because they were 2,5 – 3 months of age, and “switched on” their brain. This is not a tragedy. You will teach your child to swim a little bit later. But unfortunately, you will be past that magic period when the water works wonders on the nervous system, muscles and even micro perception of the baby. There is no logical explanation of this phenomenon, but in my practice I saw many of my trainees change tremendously in a matter of days as a result of infant swimming lessons. I worked with a baby girl born via Cesarean section. Her nervous system was noticeably unstable. She had high intracranial pressure and excess fluid in the brain. She hardly ever slept. And if she did, the sleep would be light and restless. I started working with her when she was 2 months old. After only three sessions (we did swimming and baby gymnastics) her mom took her for a medical examination. The doctors were surprised with the results. Her pressure stabilized and the excess brain fluid was almost gone! The girl became much calmer, her sleep and appetite improved considerably.

Recommendations for parents who decide to train their baby to swim. 

I have to warn you that infant swimming lessons is a physically demanding work which puts a lot of pressure on your spine. The trainer has to be an able-bodied person. It is even better to undertake this task with a partner, taking turns to let the other rest.

But the most valuable advice I am going to share with you is this. If you are planning to teach your newborn baby to swim, naturally, you’ll need some water and the baby. 🙂 But moreover, you need to be confident in your actions. This is the crucial component to succeed. Otherwise, it’s better not to start!

Newborns are exceptionally sensitive to the emotional state of grown-ups. If you feel nervous or insecure about your actions, postpone the lesson until the next day. Spend some time reading and gathering information about the topic. Learn how much infant swimming lessons aid you child’s development. Remember how great it is to be able to dive for a seashell whereas others around you can’t even swim if they feel no bottom under their feet. Feel how supportive and accepting the water is, and you’ll find the confidence. So that your next baby swimming training will be the most beneficial, effective and fun.

Every day the baby will be able to stay under water for a longer. Start from 1 second and gradually extend the time. You will have to control everything: how long the baby stays under water holding his breath, when to resurface, how many submersions to do in one training session, etc. Moment X to expect is when the baby starts moving his legs and arms. It means you are on the right path and things will only develop from now on.

One infant swimming lesson lasts for 10-15 min. Number of submersion’s is up to 5 or six in the course of one class. Right after you take the baby out of water, feed him or her. Immediately! Don’t dress them up, don’t towel them off, give them the chance to release the stress. Put the baby to the breast even if only for 5 min. Then dress them up.

You can have infant swimming lessons in the first as well as in the second part of the day. It makes no difference, because at this age babies spend most of their time sleeping. First few days after you start the swim training, you baby may sleep more and eat less. But it’s only a matter of a few days. The baby’s body will adapt to the physical exertion and the daily routine will get back to normal.
This is just a small batch of information I would love to share with you. Baby development is an endlessly beautiful topic one can talk great length about.

Boston Infant Trainer can help your child grow up healthy, strong and intelligent. Boston Infant Trainer knows how to help your children in their development. Contact us for 50% off your introductory session in Boston, Massachusetts area.