Swimming Lessons for Babies. When did you start?

Early Learning Early Learning General Discussions
21

My twins are now 17 weeks. We’ve been playing in the bathtub for about 4 weeks now. I bought the Doman book, but I didn’t feel that it gives specifics on how to do some of the things the Doman baby did. My baby boys are extremely comfortable in the water and can go for about 45 minutes at a time (each). Lately I’ve been working on pouring some water from a cup onto their forehead and down the face to work on them holding their breath. They are holding their breath for about 2 seconds per cupful. I will say that not really being able to see a video or read a book for exact specifics has made me nervous as to whether I’m doing an acceptable job or not.

For the next 2 months, they are enrolling into a class called “Mommy and Me”, which is 30 minutes per day Monday thru Friday. Time will tell if it will help. Regardless of the outcome, the one on one personal time I get when I am doing the swim time at home is priceless.

Has anyone found any instructional videos that explains the ‘What, Why, and How’ about all the different swimming tasks that one should do to prepare their little one to be as safe as possible in the water?

John

22

RenuPrem,

we are with Water Babies who are a UK based franchise.

This is the link to their website:
http://www.waterbabies.co.uk/

They were the only ones I found when googling for baby swimming in Ireland. We are not really spoilt for choice here it seems. They are also quiet expensive compared to baby swimming classes in other countries.
However, we are on the second term with them now and LOVE it.

23

We took 1 class when she was 1 year old. It made her love water and bath time. Now we’ve stopped for a term and she started not wanting to take her bath! We will enroll again after summer! It’s one of the basic life skills everyone should have.

24

John, have you seen this website?

http://www.infantswim.com/ Just put in your zip code.
And there are similar ones out there. Baby Survivial Swim seems to be a good phrase to google.

25

I started swimming with my son on day 2. I used and still use the bathtub. I turned the drain around so I can fill the tub to almost the brim. I did read Doman’s Teach Your Baby to Swim book and agree with an earlier post that it lacked specifics. So, I started combing Doman with the lessons on www.uswim.com and found that has worked well. I started with about 10 minutes sessions and worked my way up to about 30 minutes. We ‘swim’ in the tub almost every day. We do not have a pool in my community, so whenever I travel I try to go to a pool. The pool is easier to do some swimming stuff, but I find the tub works just fine for breath holding. My son is now 8 months. He can backfloat on his own. He will hold his breath under the water, but just barely. He used to be able to do 3-4 seconds but when he reached 6 months he started drinking the water so it has been a relearning process. I haven’t enrolled him in any lessons yet.

As a side effect of swimming in the tub so much, my 31/2 year old daughter has increased he confidence. She loves to swim in the tub and can now hold her breath under water for over 12 seconds, maybe even approaching 15 seconds. She has also just started opening her eyes under water. She practices at home in the tub and then has more confidence when we go to a pool.

26

Hi every one,

I recently read an article in baby center about swimming for babies and want to share with you.

It’s best that you wait until six weeks after your baby’s birth before you go swimming. If you go swimming sooner there is a chance you may pick up an infection. If you’ve had a caesarean section or stitches your health visitor or GP may recommend that you wait longer than six weeks.

If you are keen for your baby to be introduced to swimming before he is six weeks old your partner, or someone else, can take him. Some private baby swimming classes start at four weeks, but most start at six weeks. There is no need to wait until your baby is immunised before taking him to a pool.

If your baby is younger than six months old only take him to a pool that’s heated to about 32 degrees C. It’s best to go to baby swimming lessons which use warm pools for young babies (see below, How do I find out about baby swimming lessons?). Big, public pools are too cold for young babies.
What will I need to take?
Top of the list will be reusable swim nappies. Accidents can happen! You’ll also need to pack:
A warm bottle for after the swim if you are bottle feeding.

A towel, preferably one with a hood, or a towelling dressing gown.

A snack if your baby has started solids. Swimming makes babies hungry.

A few of your baby’s bath toys to encourage a relaxed, fun atmosphere.

Changing mat and nappy bag.
How do I keep my baby safe in the water?
Make sure the pool is warm enough. If necessary, ask the pool attendants to check the temperature for you. Babies under six months need a temperature of about 32 degrees C.

As soon as your baby starts to shiver, get him out of the pool and wrap him up warmly.

Start off with sessions of 10 minutes and build up to 20 minutes. If your baby is under a year old, limit your time in the water to 30 minutes.

If your baby has a bad cold, a temperature or seems unwell, don’t go swimming. Also, your baby should not swim with a tummy bug and should not go swimming until he has been clear for at least 48 hours.

If your baby has a skin complaint, check with your GP to make sure that the chlorine won’t irritate him.

27

It’s long article. For those who are interested in, Here’s the link:

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/development/swimming/

Good luck and have fun with your babies

28

Good article mazi72,

Thanks a lot. I think it’s better to wait till 6 month immunization. But some people send their babies as soon as 2 months old. If you are sure about the pool you want to send your little one (about the hygeine) then go on.
Babies love water and bathing time.

Good luck mommy

29

Hello everyone!

My twins are almost 7 months old now, and they continue to do the swim lessons in the bathtub and the occasional swimming pool. My family and I went on vacation last month, so we were staying in quite a few hotels. I was extremely impressed with how well both my babies did. They are totally relaxed in the water, enjoy splashing their hands on the surface of the water, and they did extremely well when I took them under the water. The bathtub has been a great opportunity to improve their breath control. One child can hold his breath for about 6 seconds, and the other a touch over 5 seconds.

Like a previous poster, I found that I my twins have regressed a little bit with breath control. I’ve had to shorten the amount of time they need to hold their breath because they were ingesting water a little too often. Tonight was actually a great session for both. I dialed into their comfort zones with how long they can hold their breath without ingesting any water, and repeatedly used the time to condition them. They never get tired of being in the water. I’ve been teaching both of them how to hold onto the rim of the bathtub to increase there independence.

My next goal is to start working on back floating. From what I’ve researched, this is going to be a bit challenging.
Unfortunately for me, there are no swimming schools within 100 miles of where we live. there is a YMCA close by, but the water is a little too cool. One of my babies arms begin to turn bluish purple after about 15 minutes, so we usually have to get out shortly after.

If anyone would like to check out some good websites that have great information, the links will be below.

http://www.youtube.com/user/worldwideswimschool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5BYK0JzbOE

and another website from Australia:
http://www.uswim.com/submersions

I hope people find this useful. Enjoy and take care.

PS. Thank you TeachingmyToddlers for your response.

30

Humbler9, I found the backfloat skill on the uswim website to be relatively easy to implement in the bathtub. I like how uswim breaks it down into really small parts that makes it comfortable for the parent and baby and slowly goes from there. I think it is skill 3 on the baby levels. Nice to know someone else had the breath regression. I still haven’t really refound his comfort level and we booth seem to be a little all over the map with it. I keep trying and reducing the time and he keeps swallowing, but I know at somepoint it will work out again.

31

Khatty,

Have you been using trigger words? ie: , ready, go! ?
How big is the cup that you are using? How fast do you pour it? Can somebody watch the child’s face as you pour the water? Are they closing their eyes? Are they opening their mouth?

In the past, how long were you able to pour the water without your child ingesting water? Are there distractions going on while you are doing the swimming lesson? I found that if my babies aren’t paying attention to me, they are more apt to take in water.

Perhaps it’s just a minor issue and things will get better very soon. I’ll be crossing my fingers for you!

John

32

This is a nice thread on baby swimming. I like it. It contains nice information. Thanks for sharing this thread with me.

33

Until he/she’s at least 3 years old. That is because youngsters basically are not developmentally prepared for single swimming training. Most 2-year-olds are not able to pay attention to the trainer for any time period or to adhere to guidelines.
I agreed what is said above!!!

World’s Best Quality Semi-Inground Pools | Above Ground Pools

34

My daughter started at 3 months of age with WaterBabies in the UK. She’s now 9 months old and loves the water. We have been on a few holidays in this time and have taken her to the pools at the hotels and we have been able to increase her stamina, in addition she’s been on water slides with my husband & I. I had actually taken her at 8 weeks of age however I wasn’t impressed by the teaching or the facilities by the provider so formally began at 3 months with WaterBabies who’s pools and teaching staff are excellent.

35

We did 1 term of lessons at 6 months old. But it was so incredibly boring and repetitive that we stopped going to lessons. Every single week they did the exact same thing. And this class was meant to go up to 18months old! It is a shame that this is our closest pool and has the best water treatment system in town (no chlorine). I just wish their lessons were better. The next closest pool has really high chlorine levels and only has 2 showers available.

My daughter is now 17months and I am considering putting her back into lessons but I am hesitating. She goes swimming once a week with her grandparents so she is familiar with the water. She loves it - well most of it… not water on her face. We did do the ____, ready go for months and months when my daughter was a baby. But we stopped. I wish we had continued to do that so we wouldn’t have this problem now.

Maybe I will get them to watch some Uswim videos and see if we can follow some concepts from that. Also I found this blog very interesting - it is someone who details what their child did in swimming lessons over a year or more, and includes the lessons content/activities, even diagrams etc http://www.bringemup.com/sections/Infant-Swimming

36

My DS is 18 months and we are looking for a school nearby now. Do you think two sessions a week is a good start?

37

Very simple your kid ready for lessons on his/her own when he/she is able to pay attention to a trainer for the whole session and adhere to his guidelines. He/She should also be comfortable around water.