When Should My Baby Start Swim Lessons? When you’re a new mom, there are 1000 questions like this per day. ‘When should I start….’ When it comes to teaching babies safety, it’s so important to teach them as early as possible. At most swim schools you can take your babies as early as 6 months. We go to Goldfish Swim School and you can start lessons at 4 months! We started Lilly at 6 months and she has come such a long way in the 3 months we’ve been attending.
5 Reasons to Start Your Baby in Swim Lessons
Aside from the obvious reason of starting early for safety’s sake, there are 5 other awesome reasons to start them young. Goldfish Swim School talks about the 5 reasons in class but I wanted to share with you how I’ve seen them work for our baby.
Balance
Core balance is crucial to little babies learning to sit up, crawl and eventually stand, walk and run! Lilly is in the crawling phase where she’s able to pull herself up on furniture and swim lessons have helped her shoulder muscles be strong enough to do that at an early age. She sits up on the ducky mats and learns to control her body while crawling on a floating mat. All of this core work out is essential for making sure she has excellent balance going forward.
Confidence
Babies, like us, fear what they are unfamiliar with. When we first started, Lilly was curious to watch others but not as interested in participating. Now, she’s splashing, kicking and pinching with the rest of the babies and squealing with excitement throughout. She’s now comfortable doing the sea otter float the entire length of the pool and back on my shoulder where a month ago she was constantly trying to sit up. Today, she leaned forward into my arms from sitting on the side. This was the first time she’s ever done this part of the class correctly! She’s confident in herself and bold enough to try new things!
Socialization
I am a stay-at-home parent. We get out a lot because that is my nature. I am used to exploring and adventuring with our oldest daughter so Lilly has become familiar with tagging along. At the same time, she doesn’t see many babies at the events we usually go to. At swim lessons she gets to see babies and it always makes her so happy to splash with them! It’s also a chance to be around a few adults which is always a plus.
Entertainment
It can be hard to fill the day with little ones who don’t yet speak. I remember being very lonely when I only had one baby (which is why I started this blog!) Swim days are now our favorite day of the week. All of us have a chance to move our bodies, get out of the house, learn new things and have fun! Swim days also make for the best nap days.
Building Strength
Swim lessons always seem to short to me but for babies they’re the perfect amount of time. 30 minutes is ideal for them to be active, learning, and exercising without being overstimulated. When you’re sleeping 12-14 hours per day, 30 minutes of exercise is substantial. My tiny swimmer has definitely gotten stronger through these lessons and is just weeks away from walking!
Are you ready to sign your child up for swim lessons? Goldfish Swim School has different levels for kids ages 4 months and older.
Find a location near you and sign up today!
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