Swimming for babies – video, swimming recommendations for newborns

Keeping on the water is a useful skill for every person. Therefore, many modern parents strive to teach their baby to swim in the first months of life. In this regard, they have many questions: “Isn’t it harmful for the child? At what age is it better for a child to start swimming? Where is it better to do it ”and so on. It is to them that we will try to answer you today.

See also: How to choose a paddling pool for your child.

The content of the article:

Swimming Benefits of Newborns

Swimming for newborns is not just about teaching your toddler to float. It is difficult to call this process even learning, since it is wrong to apply this word to children under one year old.
Early swimming is one of the ways to develop a child, aimed not at acquiring certain skills, but at expanding the baby’s comfort zoneso that he feels free and confident in any element.

Video: Baby Swimming in a Home Bath

To the question “Is swimming useful for newborns or not?” there are different answers. The older generation insists that this should not be done. “The pools are dirty, which will exacerbate atypical dermatitis. And in general, you shouldn’t dip a small child into the pool and force him to hold his breath for a long time. “
But still many pediatricians find swimming is very beneficial for babies:

• It contributes to the correct physical development of the child… Children with whom they went in for swimming in infancy, 2 times less suffer from colds. These babies begin to crawl and walk earlier. Many experts say that swimming with babies up to 6 months helps to strengthen the immune system, get rid of muscle hypotonia, hypertonicity, manifestations of rickets, anemia.
• Regular swimming of newborns contributes to the development of a mechanism for maintaining a constant body temperature… Thanks to this, the child will not be so susceptible to a sharp change in the external environment, and therefore will be less likely to get sick.
• Swimming helps to increase the level of hemoglobin, since during exercise in water the child has a little difficulty breathing and the body does not have enough oxygen, an additional release of red blood cells into the blood occurs.
• Swimming strengthens the lungs and heart…
• Swimming contributes to the correct formation of posture… Since all muscle groups work in the water, and the joints and the spine are “unloaded”. Regular swimming exercises help build a strong muscular corset for the arches and spine.
• The child learns not to be afraid of water…
• Swimming with parents strengthens the emotional bond, builds close trusting relationships, which creates a favorable psychological atmosphere.

Instructional video for new parents: Swimming for newborns

Swimming for newborns – when and how to start?

You can start teaching babies to swim from 3 weeks of age… By this time, the umbilical wound has completely healed, and the child has already become a little more comfortable with the environment.
It is best to start your acquaintance with a large body of water. in a regular bath… Classes can be conducted independently, but if you are afraid, then invite a specialist home. Remember, you must feel confident during class, otherwise your fear can be passed on to your child. Because of this, he will behave restlessly in the water, or in general, he will be very frightened and will begin to be afraid of water.

In the pool, it is recommended to start classes only from 2 months of agewhen the child has already acquired certain skills in swimming in the water.

Water temperature and time for teaching babies to swim

For the first water procedures of the newborn the water temperature must be at least 34-36 degrees C… The loan temperature can be gradually lowered. However, children under 3 months old are not recommended to swim in water, the temperature of which is below 32 degrees C.
During classes, the child should feel comfortable. The water should not be too warm, because then the baby will not have the desire to move. Therefore, for each child, the ideal water temperature is selected individually, depending on his behavior:

• If during a dive baby starts crying and does not calm down within 3 minutes of being in the water, then the water is most likely cold for him;
• If during the dive the child starts crying but then quickly calms down and begins to actively move the legs and arms, which means the water temperature is optimal;
• If in the water the child is relaxed and passive, then the water is too warm.

For babies up to 4 months, the duration of the activity in the water should not exceed 15 minutes, then the residence time in water can be increase daily by 10-15 seconds…

Basic swimming exercises for newborns; Photo

It is necessary to start each swimming lesson from vertical immersion in water… Raise and lower the child several times in the water. It is imperative that you talk to the baby during classes, as well as maintain eye contact. After the baby gets used to the water, it can be transferred to a horizontal position.

Basic swimming exercises for newborns:

• “Splash-splash”
  The baby lies in some water on the tummy, the parents support the head by the chin. The entire body of the child, except for the head, is completely submerged in water. Mom or dad show the child how interesting and fun it is to splash, how beautifully the circles run on the water.
  
• “Let’s swim after the duckling”
  The child is in a horizontal position on his stomach, with our hand supporting his head by the chin. Place a floating toy in front of your child and try to catch up with it. In this case, the game must be accompanied by verbal commands, for example: “Hurry up to catch up with our duckling, Look, our boat is sailing away.” Increase the distance and speed of your swim.
• “Eights”
  After the kid has learned to swim in a straight line, you can proceed to the eights. Lying on the back or on the tummy, lead the child through the water as if you were drawing an eight with his body. The speed of the exercise is selected individually, depending on the child’s behavior. Someone loves slowly, and someone loves faster.
  
• “We work with legs”
  This exercise can be performed both lying on your tummy and lying on your back. Most often, children are happy to do this exercise. It is useful not only for swimming, but also for learning to walk. Swim up to the side of the bath (pool) and rest against it with half-bent legs. The kid will reflexively push off from the side with his legs. Parents should catch this moment and give the command “pushed off” from the side and swam.
  
• “Swing”
  For this exercise, immerse the child in water, support the head by the chin. In this position, we perform smooth swinging. While moving forward, the baby’s breast should appear halfway out of the water, backward – we return to the starting position.
  

Swimming for babies: diving

Diving is an integral part of teaching babies to swim. Having correctly taught him this exercise, you will be calm when the baby is playing in the water.
You need to learn to dive gradually, in several stages:

• After the command “One, two, three – we dive” we blow on the face of the child… At this moment, he will close his eyes, wrinkle and hold his breath. This exercise must be repeated for 10 days.
• The baby lies on the tummy, we support the head with our hand. After the words “One, two, three – we dive,” splash some water in the child’s face. Try not to do this from the bottom up, so that water does not get into the child’s nose. After mastering this exercise, you can proceed to the next stage.
  
• It is better to perform the first dive when the child is in a good mood and has already swam a little. To do this, the child must be in a prone position. After you have uttered the already familiar command, we lower the child in shallow water for a few seconds and bring it to the surface. Be sure to praise the baby after that. At the beginning, diving can be performed no more than 3 times per lesson. After mastering short dives, you can move on to longer ones.
  

After the child has mastered swimming in the bath and he is six months old, you can safely move on to classes in the pool… There classes should be held together with specialistswho are always ready to help you.