BENEFITS OF BABY SWIMMING
As a busy baby photographer I get to speak to a lot of parents who always look for baby activities. During a recent cake smash photoshoot (wondering what a cake smash is? Click here) the parents told me about their wonderful swimming classes and how much they are enjoying it. So I decided to approach Tamsin Brewis who is a baby and children swimming instructor in Milton Keynes and is currently doing classes at Water Babies (a company specialising in swimming classes for babies and children). Tamsin is really passionate about what she does and offered to write this really useful blog about what babies and their parents gain from swimming.
Why go swimming with your Baby?
Much is now known about the benefits of baby swimming but really the benefits of water as a “learning” medium begins way before baby arrives; we all like to rest and relax in warm water and when you are pregnant, this is even more of a benefit as you can move freely, supported by water.
It can be a very magical moment when you first swim with your baby – either in the bath or the pool. The opportunity to spend quality time with a little one, sharing skin to skin contact and focusing completely on each other is worth its weight in gold.
So, let’s have a look at some of those benefits. To begin with, baby swimming is one of the first activities you can do with a newborn; close bonding practises can begin in the bath before going to a swimming pool. Having a bath with your baby and allowing them to rest or feed close to you at the same time will promote close bonding and positive emotions for both the baby and the parent, particularly if you, as a parent, are feeling relaxed and secure in this environment. Baby brain is immature when first born, so exposing your newborn to an environment which encourages repetition of activities, word association, mirroring skills, and habits will enable the positive, strong links to be build between the left and right side of the brain.
Baby swimming is also a physical activity. The moment your baby enters the water, they will be working against the water which will build muscle strength throughout the body. In water, babies and toddlers can try activities that they may not be able to do on dry land because of the invisible support of water for example, holding onto the side of a pool by themselves at the age of 10 months or rotating around a woggle; this gives a child self-confidence and improves self-awareness as well as improving co-ordination skills. Parents whose children have swum from an early age comment about the physical strength of their children as they grow.
Babies also learn social skills when swimming with others; this can also be a benefit for parents too as many friendships are established between new parents in the pool! From very early on, babies learn about sharing, taking turns, supporting each other regardless and being an individual within a group situation. These are skills which they will carry with them throughout life and help them to understand the individuality of each and every person.
I really hope that you have enjoyed this blog, it’s brilliant to learn a bit more about baby swimming. Lots of my clients really enjoy the sessions and find it really helps with their baby’s development. They all really appreciate the benefits that swimming gives to their babies, whether its the physical or cognitive benefits, and they all love the bonding opportunity the swimming provides. This is the reason why I thought some of you might enjoy learning about baby swimming benefits. The first year of a baby’s life is full of firsts, first smile, first crawl, first time in the water, first walk, first words etc. I know how these milestones are important to the parents and I am always capturing them in my milestone photoshoots such as my sitter sessions (these are for babies that have just started to sit. Have a look at some of them in my children gallery here) or my cake smash sessions (these are amazing for capturing the First Birthday milestone. Have a look at some cake smash images here)