Modern methods of teaching your baby to swim involve patience, smiles and a three-way-partnership.
Although the 1960’s brought a breakthrough in finding that an infant would instinctively hold their breath if they were underwater, a certain amount of controversy has always surrounded the issue.
Understandably, some parents can feel a little apprehensive at seeing their defenseless baby being immersed into a swimming pool.
Now there is a new approach, and it is proving to be one that is very popular with parents that want to teach their babies how to swim. This method involves a union between teacher, parent and baby.
Steve Graves, President of the World Aquatic Baby Congress suggests that a baby’s swimming teacher should have a personality that makes the child happy in the pool environment and maintains that a smiling teacher sensitive to the child’s feelings is [most]desirable.
In Florida USA, this is the methodology used in the Lifestyle Swim School program. Their method encourages the infants to enjoy the water before becoming involved in teaching them how to swim.
In these lessons there is no pressure to achieve any specific level or ability within a set time frame. Instead, the infants are allowed to progress at their own rate just as they do with every other facet of their natural development.
The initial lessons simply deal with the baby enjoying the water and learning to have no fear of it. As the lessons progress, the baby is introduced to games where the teacher gradually brings the baby to accept the water environment more and more by doing things like gently pouring water over the baby’s head, allowing it to run down her face.
Throughout the learning process, the parent is essential to the lesson. In fact the YMCA and the Red Cross insist that parents should be in the water with their babies until they are at least 3 years old.
The role of the mother or father should be to help the infant feel relaxed in the water and to make the swimming lessons fun so that the baby enjoys them and is not anxious or troubled by being in the water.
“Swimming and water safety behavior are rightly learned at an early age,” says Steve GravesIn fact the Lifestyle methodology shares the view that the earlier your baby starts in the swimming pool, the better.
Even so, their teaching does not encourage babies to be swimmers at too early an age. They still prefer to wait until the baby is able to understand when to hold their breath.
