If you’re looking for a fun way to spend some more time with your baby or toddler, why not take them to a swimming class? Yes, swimming!

Have you ever watched your little one playing in the bath? Babies and toddlers absolutely love the sensation of being in the water and they’re natural little swimmers. In fact, teaching them how to swim at a young age not only has benefits for their health and overall development, it’s an important potentially life-saving skill for your child to learn.

Water Babies is a series of structured baby swimming lessons that are designed to help YOU to teach your child how to swim. Here we tell you all about the latest parent and child activity to take Ireland by storm…

In a nutshell, what is Water Babies?

Water Babies involves teaching you how to teach your baby or toddler to swim. The classes focus on helping to develop a baby’s mental faculties, their motor skills, their emotions and their bodies. The classes also aim to teach children how to save themselves from drowning.

How will swimming help my baby?

Babies have a natural talent for swimming and most of them absolutely love playing and bouncing around in water. A Water Babies class can help increase your child’s mental faculties by teaching them simple exercises such as kicking, rocking and reaching for objects.

Recent research published by Lancaster University has shown that exercising from birth can also improve babies’ balance and co-ordination. In fact, by the age of five, babies that swam regularly outperformed others when it came to their ability to reach for things.

The movement of the water provides amazing stimulation for your child’s vestibular system – the part of the body that allows us to sense motion and to balance ourselves. Therefore swimming can help your baby to keep their head upright, pull themselves onto their feet, balance and, when they’re ready, take those all-important first steps.

Does swimming have any other benefits?

All the physical activity involved with learning how to swim will help keep your baby healthy and it’s a form of exercise that you can do with your child straightaway – babies can learn how to swim literally from birth.

There are also some major emotional benefits to be had for your child. As they learn to move in the water on their own, your child will experience independence and their self-confidence will grow as a result. Learning to swim at a young age increases your child’s self-esteem and will boost their mood.

How old does my baby have to be to take part in a class?

Your baby can actually start swimming as soon as you’re ready to bring them, although most babies start when they are around six weeks old. The only criterion that Water Babies have for their classes is that your child must be less than one year old when they start taking lessons.

Won’t my baby get cold in the water?

No, not at all. All of the pools that Water Babies operate in are heated to 30? or above. This keeps your child nice and warm and ensures that they won’t catch a cold.

It sounds great! But what about me? Do I need to be able to swim?

Another no. The water is always shallow enough so that you can stand up if you feel a bit anxious and you don’t ever have to put your head or face underwater if you don’t want to. The classes are designed to work with you and your child, not against you.

 

If you'd like to learn more about Water Babies you can check out their website here. 

Check out GloHealth for a variety of personalised packages to suit the needs of your family, like money back on baby swim classes with Water Babies when you choose the Family Health and Leisure Package.