Benefits of Baby Swimming
When my first little one Finn came along I knew I wanted to get him into swimming early, as I had been lucky to spend a lot of my early years abroad and learnt to swim at an early age. I didn’t realise though how early you can start babies swimming and that there were so many benefits to it.
My main concern was safety, drowning is the third biggest cause of accidental death in under 5’s in the UK. But, with the help of swimbabes’ vital water safety techniques I could always rest assured knowing that from an early age Finn was confident enough that if he ever fell in water he could turn around and get himself back to the side and hold on.
Swimming is also a great way of bonding with your Baby. We are all guilty of having less time than we would like to spend with our children and time spent in the pool giving your baby your undivided attention and that all important skin to skin contact will strengthen either yours or dads’ bond.
Finn was a shocking sleeper but I could always guarantee on the days he had swam with the swimbabes teachers at Cedar Court Huddersfield, that he would sleep like a dream as swimming can promote healthy sleeping patterns in babies. However the next night he would be back to his usual wakeful self so during the week I would take many trips to the pool in hope of a good night’s sleep.
We found out from a very young age that Finn has a bone condition called Multiple Hereditary Exostosis. Swimming for us was and still is a great activity for him to partake in as its very easy on the joints, helps with muscle growth, stamina and strength and not only that it improves the development of the heart, lungs and brain. Finlay is now 11 and up to the age of 9 swam with swimbabes, then onto swimstars at Inkerman pool and still loves being in the water now.
We have been on many holidays where Finn, and my now youngest Layla have wowed onlookers with their confidence and ability in the water and are both keen on swimming and water sports. I would definitely also put this down to being a huge benefit of baby swimming.
Written by Katie, a previous Swimbabes mum and teacher.