Swimming Lessons for Babies. When did you start?

[Leanan]

My DD started swimming lessons at the age of 3-4 months.
We planned to start earlier but there was no class available at the time.

The pool where she has her lesson is about 30Celsius and the babies wear baby wet suits (sooo adorable). There is obviously chlorine in the water but the lessons are only 30 minutes once a week so I don't think it has a negative effect on her health.

 We are on the second term now and she and daddy seem to enjoy it quite a bit.
Over the last weeks she did plenty of under water swims and at the moment they try to build up their stamina by increasing the number of immersions

The instructor is absolutely great. She keeps an eye on every individual baby and makes sure that none of them ever gets stressed or scared. The focus is on the babies enjoying their time in the water and learning skills to survive in case they fall into the water.


This is what waterbabies say on their website regarding age and immunisation:

Your baby can begin swimming just as soon as you are ready to bring them. Our youngest client was just two days old (the niece of an instructor!) but most babies start at around six weeks. Our only criterion is that they need to be less than one year when starting the course.

All of the pools in which we operate are heated to 30° or above. However, babies under twelve weeks or lbs still need to begin lessons in a hydrotherapy or extra warm-water pool.

Thousands of babies across the world have been taken swimming prior to being immunised with no harmful effects.  The UK NHS Choices website, which gives advice about immunisations, states you can take your baby swimming at any time, regardless of where they are with their inoculations.

The reason for this is that the water treatment procedures required for any public pool make the likelihood of transmitting infections extremely unlikely.  Couple this with the fact that the diseases against which your baby are being inoculated can’t actually be carried in chlorinated water and you can see why we’re pretty confident in suggesting that any time is a good time to start your baby in the pool

[Ann2010]

I put my baby in our whirlpool tub at 1 month.  Then I started swimming lessons at 5 months.  He is now 2years old and loves the water.

[Sarah108]

Hi! Have you read the Doman book "how to teach your baby to swim? It seems natural that they have been in water for 9 months, so the sooner you get the swimming after birth, the more naturally they will take to it!

[2010BEBES]

Hi! Have you read the Doman book "how to teach your baby to swim? It seems natural that they have been in water for 9 months, so the sooner you get the swimming after birth, the more naturally they will take to it!

No, i haven't had the opportunit of reqading his book on swimming, only on teaching math. Nevertheless i would be more carefull and go to a specialized place for swimming lessons and would not do it by ourselves.

[RenuPrem]

Hi Leanan,

Whr do u send your baby for her swimming lessons. Would you be able to share the information with me? I am planning to send my son who is 4 months old now too

[Humbler9]

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

[Leanan]

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.



 

[bbqgal]

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.

[TeachingMyToddlers]

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

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.

[khatty]

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.

[Mazi72]

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.

[Mazi72]

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

[Ella87]

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

[Humbler9]

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
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/N5BYK0JzbOE&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/N5BYK0JzbOE&rel=1</a>

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.

[khatty]

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.

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