11 Reasons to Put Your Baby in the Water & How to Teach Them to Swim

It is incredibly beneficial to get children to discover that being near the pool’s edge without adult supervision is dangerous.

You can teach your little one this in the early years of life, and it should be the very first thing you say at every swimming lesson until your kid reaches the appropriate age. While this alone doesn’t prevent children from drowning, it builds a metaphorical fence around the pool in your child’s mind. Check out these Basic Baby Stages of Development to understand what they can grasp at different ages.

That being said, even if babies do not learn to swim from the very beginning, they absolutely enjoy being in the water! The benefits of playing with water are exponential, both physically and in their overall development.

11 Reasons to Put Your Baby in the Water

• 1. Develop greater awareness and respect for water: As stated above, the child needs to learn the consequences and dangers of being too close to the pool’s edge. This message conditions the child’s alertness to their environment.
• 2. Future health benefits: In a world filled with distractions, leading a healthy, active life from a young age is critical. Not to mention, after a rigorous swimming lesson, kids are left hungry and tired—always an advantage for exhausted parents!
• 3. Coordination, muscle strengthening, and flexibility: Swimming is a natural resistance training routine. Over time, coordination and muscles develop, becoming longer and leaner, which is key to good flexibility.
• 4. Brain development: For babies, simply feeling the texture and different temperatures of the water with their hands is a tactile experience that aids brain development.
• 5. Social interaction: Swimming lessons at an early age encourage social interaction. A good swimming teacher sings songs and plays with young children in the water.
• 6. Bonding: Sharing time in the water creates a remarkable bond between the child and their teacher or parent. The little one learns that the adult watches over them for safety, creating a unique feeling of trust.
• 7. Stability: The routine of swimming lessons gives the child a sense of stability. It is an organized and scheduled activity, which creates consistency essential for good behavior.
• 8. Confidence Building: When a child learns to swim and is successful in their techniques, their self-esteem grows tremendously.
• 9. Relaxation: Children will relax in the water if and only when they feel safe. A calm environment is highly conducive to a child’s peace of mind.
• 10. Build discipline: Like any sport or exercise, incorporating swimming into a child’s life leads to the practice and improvement of personal discipline.
• 11. Competition: Learning to swim early provides enough time to master the skill, eventually offering the potential to compete, which further builds discipline and drive.

Tips for Teaching Your Children to Swim

The main and best advice that we can give you is: Play with your child in the water!

One of the keys is to familiarize them with the aquatic environment as soon as possible. For this reason, we always recommend taking babies to the pool from six months of age. Once the children are familiar with water and enjoy it, it is time to start working on movement lessons. Here are some steps to start teaching your little one how to swim:

1. Make them feel safe

Some children feel like fish in water, while others are terrified. You must help the child lose their fear of water, or it will be challenging to learn. An excellent strategy is to enter the water with them. Never force them to be in the water if they put up a lot of resistance, as it could backfire.

2. Always start where they can touch the bottom

Many parents think the best way to teach a child to swim is to take them to the deep end so they instinctively learn to stay afloat. This is a lousy strategy that can trigger a lifelong phobia. Start where they can comfortably stand; having the certainty that they are safe if something goes wrong gives them an extra dose of confidence.

3. Show them exercises to control their breathing

A fundamental skill in swimming is knowing how to control your breath underwater. Start with the bubble game: ask them to breathe in air through their nose, hold it, submerge their face, and exhale through their mouth while blowing bubbles.

4. Teach them to kick

This requires coordination, but with a bit of practice, your child will get it. In the beginning, hold them by the abdomen so they stay afloat while practicing, or have them hold onto the edge of the pool. Encourage them to move their legs up and down without heavily bending their knees.

5. Encourage them to use their arms

Arms help to stay afloat, propel the swimmer, and advance quickly. Explain the stroke technique: ask them to raise their arm, pass it over their head, introduce it into the water at an angle, and pull it back under the water. Practice this while standing first.

6. Coordinate arm and leg movements

Once they know the individual techniques, it is time to coordinate them. Hold them by the abdomen while they do both exercises. After several attempts, gradually release them so they learn to do it on their own.

7. Motivate them to practice

Practice makes perfect. Once they have the theory down, let them practice alone in a shallow area. Later, when they have learned to stay afloat, you can allow them to swim in deeper spaces. Of course, never lose sight of them!