Water Babies

- April 7, 2008

1. Babies can exercise more muscles in the water; they are less restricted by gravity and their inability to sit or stand.  This increased strength often manifests itself in early acquisition of physical skills, like walking.
2. Swimming improves babies’ cardiovascular fitness.  Although babies are limited in how much they can improve their endurance, swimming does have a beneficial effect.
3. Early mastery of water movement gives children a head start in learning basic swimming skills.  Just watch our three year olds who are Waterbaby grads!
4. Water helps improve coordination and balance by forcing babies to move bilaterally to maintain their equilibrium (vestibular stimulation).
5. Warm water, combined with gentle exercise, relaxes and stimulates babies’ appetites.  They usually eat and sleep better on swimming days.
6. Doctors often recommend swimming as the exercise of choice for asthmatics. Swimming stimulates less wheezing than other forms of exercise.
7. Babies flourish in the focused attention their parents lavish on them during swimming.  Parents often confess that the lessons provide the only time they can spend 30 pleasurable, uninterrupted minutes with their babies.
8. As babies learn to maneuver in the water, their independence and self-confidence blossom as evidenced by the ear-to-ear grins stretching across their faces.
9. Swimming provides babies with lots of skin-to-skin contact with their parents.  That, psychologists say, may deepen the bond between parent and child.
10. Learning to swim is not only a fun and healthful activity; it is a necessary life skill in the prevention of drowning.