Across Bath and Wiltshire, hundreds of babies are learning to swim. But how can they swim before they can even sit up? And why would a trip to the pool be a good idea for a baby who’s only a couple of weeks new to the world? Bryony Johnstone, who owns Water Babies in Bath and Bristol, explains.
– Your baby has grown in water, has a natural affinity with it, and reflexive instincts to hold their breath and move through it. This movement stimulates their developing brain, strengthens their core, improves coordination, and regulates sleep patterns.
– You can transform your baby’s natural swimming reflexes and lack of fear into learned, controlled movements by gently progressing through early swimming and water safety skills.
– Swimming could save your child’s life. Drowning is the third highest killer of children aged 1-4 years in the UK, so giving the gift of water confidence and safety is worth its weight in gold.
– Baby swimming time equals magical bonding time. Take all that delicious skin-to-skin, and add plenty of eye contact, intimate communication and fun, and you have the perfect recipe for bonding between baby and mum, dad, grandma or any other carer.
– Swimming is a great leveller. It doesn’t matter that your baby is early or late meeting milestones, has different physical or learning needs to their peers, or was born early – in the water, everyone’s equal and splashing in it together.
– Swimming is a skill that lasts a lifetime. It’s hard to imagine your tiny baby as a strapping 18-year-old, but by the time they get there, they will have had a whole childhood of splashing fun in water parks, swimming pools, rivers, lakes and oceans, swimming and trying all manner of watersports.
Healthy exercise habits start here. In the face of rising obesity, weaving exercise into your weekly routine lays firm foundations for your child’s future. Supported by warm water, swimming is a wonderful, safe, gentle way for the entire family to exercise all their entire bodies.
Babies are amazing. They’re born completely helpless, and yet they have strong reflexes to learn all the skills they need for life. Your baby has strong reflexes and no fear, which means you can teach them vital, life-saving skills for a lifetime of healthy, happy splashing. The earlier you start, the better – you don’t have to wait for immunisations.
