How to teach a baby swimming?

Posted On September 5, 2020

I am 100% pro-swimming with babies since early age. Swimming has so many benefits! Some of them include:

It is the best physical activity for babies – it strengthens their arm, leg and neck muscles, their heart and lungs, and also helps to develop their brain.
Swimming develops their balance what helps kids outside the water, too – when they start crawling and grabbing things.
Building water confidence. Kids that start swimming since early age won’t be stressed about water getting on their face and head during bath time. When they get a little older it’ll be easier for them to really learn how to swim independently if they are used to be in water a lot and love it.
It’s a great work out for the little ones to get them a little tired so they eat better and sleep better, too! 🙂
It’s a great family activity that provides quality bonding time! I love swimming with my two daughters, it’s just so fun 🙂
And lastly, being able to swim is just an essential skill that can save your kids life.

Having known all that, I’ve started to swim with my first daughter when she was a tiny 2 weeks old baby. I watched all the videos I could and I’ve read every article about teaching the baby how to swim. Milinda was fearlessly jumping into water when she was one year old, swimming underwater on her own when she was two and swimming like a pro by the age of three. Everyone who saw her were amazed and so many adults told me she swims better than them 🙂 She’s a little fish, strong and brave!

When Milinda was 4 years old I decided to learn more about baby swimming and I started working as a swim instructor at the YMCA. I’ve done all the training and I was working with little babies and their parents to create a positive water experience for the little ones and encourage the development of swimming skills.

Feeling convinced?:) so how exactly do we teach the babies how to swim? I started doing some water exercises in a bath at home when my first daughter was 2 weeks old. I was filling the bath tub with warm water and moving her on her front and back from one end of the tub to another, placing one hand on her chest or holding her with two hands, and blasting off the sides of the tub. Babies have a reflex to kick their feet so encourage their movement in water.

Little babies (under 3 months old) also have a reflex of holding their breath when water gets on their face. They’ve just spent 9 months in water, after all 🙂 And this skill can stay with them if they swim in a bath or pool and keep practicing.

You could notice that babies hold their breath when it’s really windy. You can use that to start them holding their breath before going under water. I also use a simple phrase to let the baby know that she is going to dive in, something like “going under!”. For the first few days, start with blowing air on the baby’s face and then sprinkling it with water. You’ll notice that the baby holds his/her breath – then you can use more water – like a small cup – and get the face wet. When your baby is comfortable with this and really holds the breath – that’s when you can start going under water. I used to say “one, two, three” – blowing on the face – “going under!” – and putting the baby under water for just one quick second. When the baby gets older and feels comfortable in water I let her go under for couple seconds and swim underwater. When Milinda was 2 she was jumping into the pool, swimming under water towards the stairs and getting out of the pool – all on her own! And really, really enjoying it 🙂

If you aren’t comfortable with putting the baby underwater – that’s ok too! But still try to pour some water on his/her face every time you give the baby a bath. I love making a game out of it and singing “rain, rain, go away, come again another day… Milinda wants to play, rain, rain, go away” 🙂 I’ve seen so many kids that are scared of getting their faces wet and so many moms that can’t wash their baby’s hair without baby’s tears and few extra grey hair on mommy’s head 🙂

Here are some exercises you can do with your baby in the pool and also there’s a short video at the end of this post for you guys with some of these exercises!

Getting into the pool:

Standing on the edge of the pool and jumping in with the head getting wet or not depending on the baby’s mood and confidence.
Sitting on the edge and diving in. •
Crawling in like Nicole does on the video 🙂
Encourage your baby to ask for permission before getting in, say something like “swim, please”. It’s crucial for babies to understand that they can’t jump into the water before mom/dad allows them to.

Getting out of the pool:

Assist your child with getting out and say “elbow, elbow, tummy, knee, knee, turn around and look at me!”.

In water:

Front tow, facing the parent of facing out, holding the baby with both hands under arms. B
Back tow, encouraging the baby to look up and “count stars”
Back float with the baby’s head on a parent’s shoulder, kicking feet with the parent’s assistance.
Blowing bubbles with chin in water and then with mouth in water when the baby becomes more confident.
Rolling from tummy to back, assisted by an adult.
Blasting off the wall – getting the baby close to the wall and encouraging him/her to push from the wall, gliding from the wall on their tummy and on the back.
Reaching for toys. Kids usually love it! Bring toys that float and practice front glide.

You know, what’s the most important thing to do in the pool with your baby? Just being there on the regular basis 🙂

Come to the pool as often as you can, bring all the floating toys and balls and cups, play with your child in water and have fun! Kids will naturally fell comfortable in water and gradually will start going underwater and swimming on their own. Watch them develop their skills, practice some things and just have fun!