Baby Swimming

Babies have spent nine months in the womb floating in warm water, so water is a completely natural environment for them. It is easy for babies to maneuver in water.

Kim Clowes, a swim instructor at Burnaby's Eileen Dailly Pool, says that while infants can be taken to a pool recreationally as young as 6 weeks old (this being a factor of immune system development), starting swimming lessons is generally recommended after 6 months of age.

"Baby swim lessons are a great way to interact with your baby while learning an important life skill. The water pressure against your baby's body is beneficial to the circulatory system and development of muscle tone - in fact swimming provides a gentle full body massage."

Placing your baby in water is indeed calming and soothing for the baby, and provides comprehensive exercise to a child who might otherwise not be fully mobile yet - swimming also improves babies' cardiovascular fitness. Babies who have had swim lessons can learn to sit, stand and walk earlier as it is easier to exercise muscles in the free environment of water. Babies are often both hungry and tired after a swim lesson - this can be a great way to help your little one eat and sleep better!

Baby swim lessons are normally about 30 minutes and consist of songs, exercises for basic swim skills such as kicking, blowing bubbles and playing with toys in the pool. Depending on the class, life jackets, noodles, and other props can also be utilized. Submersion, and back and front positions can also be practiced. It can be a good idea to go to visit the program you are considering ahead of time - some are more geared to play, some are more skill driven. Some programs even offer certificates and report cards, and participate in curricula that offer multiple levels of swim instruction.

Sharron Crowley, owner and founder of Vancouver's popular Aquaventures points out how beneficial swim lessons can be for babies with developmental difficulties as well - they regularly welcome babies with Down's syndrome or other genetic conditions to their lessons. The therapeutic gains can be immediate.

Avid swimmers are aware that there are different water cleaning methods, chlorination being the general standard. The problem with chlorination is that it can irritate the swimmers' skin as well as affect the air quality of the facility. Ozonation is a newer system of water filtration that greatly reduces the need of chlorine in water, and is preferred by many. Another excellent modern system of water filtration that further reduces chlorine is Ultraviolet sterilization.

Local pools that are ozonated include Killarney, Hillcrest (at Olympic Curling Venue), West Vancouver Aquatic Centre, Eileen Dailly in Burnaby and Coquitlam's new Chimo. Aquaventures and Renfrew pool have an UV system. (All outdoor pools are generally chlorinated.)

Planning for swim lessons is easy as there is so much choice. Aquaventures' classes fill up so don't miss the registration dates (see their website). Municipal pools offer many classes as well - check with your preferred facility. Municipal pools allow babies to swim in a baby swim suit, provided it has a tight fitting leg to contain 'possible number 2 accidents'. Aquaventures requires snug, washable swim diapers (available at the pool) for all baby swimmers.

One thing to remember is that babies are slippery when wet, and the change rooms invariably have hard surfaces everywhere. Some people take their stroller or bucket carseat to the change room to have a safe place to place the baby into. Some pools even allow strollers on the pool deck. It can be helpful to go with a friend the first few times - and the more swimmers the merrier of course!

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