This is it, you are ready to swim with your baby and you are probably asking yourself a lot of questions. How to hold baby? What position should your baby be in? Even if you are registered for baby club sessions, you will learn a lot about the baby swimming activity.
Our 4 tips for swimming with your baby
Keep eye contact when swimming with baby
It’s a new experience for your baby, you must make sure he is calm in order to create a relationship of trust. Eye contact engages communication and learning skills. Swimming with your baby strengthens the parent / child bond and teaches him to understand communication – engaging listening and conversational skills.
Hold your child close to you
In the same way as eye contact, skin-to-skin contact is a crucial part of the health and development of newborns. It is also an important factor in keeping them calm, comfortable and with a sense of security. Skin-to-skin contact creates confidence. Research shows that a soft and nurturing skin-to-skin embrace offers several benefits for the baby, especially when this contact is made by the mother.. The positive effects go both ways, providing parents with positive physiological and psychological effects due to physical contact with their newborn baby. Strengthening this bond strengthens the baby’s conviction that mom and dad will be by their side. Love and skin-to-skin contact have been proven to increase children’s social skills.
Float on your back (starfish)
One of the first positions your baby will learn is dorsal (starfish) flotation. It is generally the most comfortable position for a baby when in the water. However, if your baby really doesn’t like this position, just hold him upright (arms out in front of you, hands under armpits, baby’s shoulders in the water and baby in front of you, keep your face 20 to 40 cm away so that they can see you) until your baby has enough confidence in the water to try again. The starfish is a relaxing position that allows your baby to experience the sensation of floating away from the womb.
If you have already practiced this position in a bathtub for example before going to the swimming pool, it should be easier and more comfortable for the baby.. To start, put your baby on his back so that the pool feels like a familiar environment. Make sure your baby’s head is lightly supported (contact without lifting) by your hand. It is important that your baby feels safe, so rock their body close to you so they can see you. Talk to your baby all the time to reassure him.
When you swim with your baby, have fun!
Laughter, excitement, songs and games all contribute to the overall experience around water activity. You want your baby to have a good time and to have a positive connection with water. Nursery rhymes are a great way to calm your baby down, soothe him with your voice. Music also plays a role in the development of children and facilitates their learning. Having colorful toys to play with will also make their time in the water more enjoyable!
For Nathalie Barenghi, journalist for the online magazine Aufeminin, happiness is in the pool!
To prepare well for your lesson, remember to bring back a baby pool diaper, a swimsuit and a hat for mom or dad, towels and of course flip flops.
