Swimming Lessons for Babies – What happens?
What happens at swimming lessons for babies? It might surprise you!
We all know that one new mum…the baby is barely born and she’s got him learning Japanese, piano and tennis! Yes, we know what you’re thinking… but there is one lesson program that is best started early – swimming lessons for babies.
“A study in March 2009 by the USA’s National Institute of Health concluded that ‘participating in formal swimming lessons was associated with an 88% reduction in the risk of drowning in children aged between 1 and 4 years.”
Why? At swimming lessons, your baby can not only develop a love of water but he can also get a head start on building co-ordination, muscle strength, social skills and confidence. It’s not ALL about safety (although, it’s a lot about safety!) Teaching a new little person to swim is one of the greatest gifts you can give – but you may not be aware of what a delight baby swim programs can be for mums too!
So, what happens at your baby’s first swimming lesson?
Here’s what doesn’t happen – you don’t just hand your precious little bundle over to a stranger who dips them in and out of a pool! When you take your baby to their first swimming lesson, you’ll meet your (highly qualified and experienced) instructor. S/he’ll explain the program and how we use play and exucation to encourage a love of water and safer water practices. You will swim with your baby and other parents and babies. You’ll partake in kicking games and floating games and if you’re really lucky, one of our instructors might even break out a song (we accept no responsibility for their terrible voices).
Swimming with goals – our programs
At first your focus will be on getting your bub used to being in the water but soon, we’ll start training your baby to instinctually head for the side of the pool. Baby swimming lessons aren’t about taking out gold at the Olympics, the goal is for your baby to know how to turn and move in the water, so if the worst happens, she can find the side of a pool. With safety as our first priority, we’ll encourage your baby to learn skills like holding her breath, successfully submerging herself in water and turning and reaching for safety. They may not be Olympic Goals but we think they’re not just important but vital.
Your lessons will be around thirty minutes long. As your baby grows used to the lessons, she may be moved up from our Baby Begins program (link to baby begins page) to our Baby Steps program (link to Baby Steps page) to help her develop further skills.
That awkward moment when yours is the only bubba screaming
Some kids just don’t like swimming. I don’t like ironing. It makes me want to scream…everyone has preferences. Some mums put off swimming lessons for their baby for fear that the baby won’t like it. This could be a terrible, terrible mistake. After delivering so many swimming lessons to so many little people, we’ve seen all kinds of reactions – don’t stress, things will be fine, we’ve got this covered. We work with little folk to help them gain the confidence they need – and if they absolutely can’t be convinced – there’s always our Not Happy Chappy program. We believe that every child should feel comfortable and confident in the water so we work to understand their fears and balance our approach to lessons to help babies and toddlers overcome them.
What you may least expect from swimming lessons for babies
What many parents don’t see coming is the pride they feel watching their baby thrive in the water. Have you seen your baby glow with delight after figuring out how to take lids off pots? Open and close a peg? Flick a tag back and forth? Imagine the pride they feel when they manage to swim back to the side, or kick their way over to a favourite toy – it’s a whole new world of achievement for them! Parent report baby swim lessons to be an unexpected delight – jam packed with powerful “I can do it mum” moments from their tiny little babies. More importantly, swimming lessons for babies give you peace of mind that you’ve done something great that will benefit and protect your child for life. There’s not many activities that can claim that!
Is your child ready? Talk to one of our team today about what the next steps are.