The Benefits of Baby Swimming
Bringing your baby swimming has many benefits
Baby swimming has a great many benefits that are more far-reaching than the safety and swimming skills that are taught along the way.
The water gives tremendous freedom of movement
Water's natural buoyancy makes it extremely enabling, allowing babies to exercise a multitude of muscle groups.
Water resistance will make these muscle group exercises more effective, strengthening your baby's heart and lungs as well as increasing their co-ordination skills.
In addition, this activity also stimulates appetite and leads to improved sleeping and eating patterns.
The one-to-one contact helps increase the special bond between the two of you
This provides you time away from other distractions and time to focus together in the world of water. This skin to skin and eye to eye contact all help to increase your connection.
Movement in water aids brain development
Research indicates a strong link between movement and learning, especially in early swimming.
According to Lana Whitehead, the president of Swim Kids USA:
“Scientific studies show that active movement at a very young age facilitates brain development, intellectual achievement, language acquisition, reading readiness, sensory integration and the building of self-esteem.”
Essentially, movement increases a child's overall ability to learn. They are learning to learn whilst learning to swim!
Click here to learn more about Lana Whitehead's research 'Move To Learn''Early Swimmers Leave Others in Their Wake'
As reported in the Daily Telegraph the research carried out by the Griffith Institute for Educational Research was extensive.
Lead Researcher Professor Roby Jorgensen said: “Early swimmers achieved physical milestones faster, scored significantly better in visual motor skills and many mathematically related tasks. Their oral expression was better as well as general areas of literacy and numeracy.”
Aqua Babies' baby and toddler swimmers develop early water confidence skills
They are relaxed both above and below the water and develop a good breath-holding ability along with a specific set of safety skills that would help should they ever find themselves in a water related incident.
Toddlers swimming with us benefit greatly from focused activities that use play and repetition
Along with turn taking, their social skills develop during this group activity. Their achievements in the pool are also building blocks on which their self-esteem will grow and develop.
Water confidence and early safety skills are achieved without the dependency on use of buoyancy aids.
Our babies and toddlers develop an understanding of and confidence with their own buoyancy
Firstly, below the water and later, as motor skills develop, on top. This ability enables them to choose whether they are above or below the water's surface and this control allows for confidence in water rather than fear.
