How to Enjoy Swim Classes With Your Baby

Most parents enroll their toddlers in a swim school primarily for safety reasons but there are many other benefits to teaching toddlers to swim. Learning to swim can encourage the positive development of the whole child by encouraging their emotional and social development.

Baby swimming lessons are stimulating and are beneficial for better sleep patterns. Early swimming lessons provide the child with a positive interaction with the water and set them up for a lifetime of enjoyment in a wide variety of water related activities. The social interactions experienced at early learn to swim classes can foster good self-esteem and confidence.

Teaching toddlers to swim can provide them with the safety skills that could be lifesaving; however it is always the parents? responsibility to keep the child safe. There is no substitute for constant parental supervision, never leave your child unattended anywhere near water, not even for a moment. This includes small ponds or buckets of water. Be prepared and vigilant, look out for potential accidents and take evasive action where necessary.

Private lessons are not necessarily the best solution for younger children as they learn by watching and copying their friends. Make sure your teacher or swim instructor is sensitive, firm and fair and offers encouragement to the children. When choosing your instructor, observe a lesson of theirs first to ensure you are happy with their teaching style and methods. Observe the way they handle the children to ensure they are going to make it a positive and happy experience for your child.

Water familiarization should begin in the home with fun times to be had in the bath and in the shower. If you are lucky enough to live in an area with a warmer climate make the most of it and play with water outside.

For early swimming lessons taught by the parents try include some familiar activities such as singing songs. Support the child using inflatable armbands or a floatation device so they are free to move in the water with or without your support. Encourage them to kick their legs and try to get them to swim to you using whatever natural propulsion method that they can. Demonstrate dog paddling to them and show them with their hands how to do this motion. Make it into a game if possible. Don?t do anything that they are not comfortable with. If they do become distressed try to distract them with something happy, make it a positive experience and praise them for being brave.

It is not a good idea for very young babies to immerse their ears in public pools as they have very short ear canals and they can become infected quite easily. From a very early age make sure that you reinforce correct and safe behavior around a pool such as no running, no diving, no rough play and no spitting.

Teaching your toddler to swim is not only an essential for water safety but can be a fun and enjoyable experience for the whole family. If done right it can set the child up to have a very good relationship with water activities for the rest of their life.

Lisa Baade is the author of Toddler Interpreter, A Parent’s Guide to Baby Sign Language for Hearing Babies and Toddlers. The program is structured so that the most relevant and easiest baby signs are introduced first. For more information visit Toddler Interpreter

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