The best time to learn to swim is yesterday.
COMPLETE FAMILY
The best time to learn to swim is yesterday.
By Gabriela Maalouf March 13, 2019
I'm glad I'm not afraid of water! Throughout my life I've been put in various situations where everyone was swimming, jumping into the water, and I was never part of the "I can't do that" group. I've always felt good in the water, near the water, and in any activity that involved "splashing around."
Somehow, I always felt the sadness of those who couldn't get past this barrier and were always forced by their own emotions to stand on the sidelines and watch. I think it was really hard for them to want something, but simply not be able to unlock and strip themselves of the emotion that was holding them back.
When I became a mother, my first internet search was about the age at which children can start swimming lessons, before I dug into solutions for colic and other baby issues. Back then, about 10 years ago, some said 6 months, some earlier, and some said much later.
We chose the 6-month option, but we were not successful at all because we did not go to a swimming class, but we tried to get her used to this activity ourselves (some people do very well, others apparently not). My little girl did not want to touch any water other than her own in the bathtub. She did not want a lake, the sea, the pool, or anything. She cried every time just as loudly and protested very vocally!
Each time we managed to get in and feel relatively comfortable, but a possible swimming lesson was out of the question. She just sat in the water, held in my arms. I carried her like that for the first three and a half years, with repeated exposure to the water, but always in the same conditions.
When my little boy turned 6 months old, I decided to take him to the pool and see what would happen. This time, I didn't go to a hotel pool or a sports club, I decided to go to a special swimming club for children. I also took Charlize with us in the hope that she would want to try it too.
We chose Acvatic Bebe Club and I think we made the best choice. Everything there was gentle and to the taste of every child. We were greeted by the swimming coaches, one for each child, and they were very playful with the little ones. They spent quite a bit of time with them outside the pool, in a colorful space where the pool was not visible, and that was a good thing for us, because the little ones didn't have to deal with the stress of going there right away. They had time to make friends and play with the two coaches.
Very important for us was the fact that we were allowed to adapt gently to this activity, meaning I could go in with them and we all played in the water. I would pass them from me to the coach, playfully, with a lot of good will. I thought it would take a while, but they spent more time with the coaches than with me from the first session. They were obviously much more fun!
Am intrat cu ei și a doua oară că să nu zic că nu fac o adaptarea că la carte, dar nu ei au fost cei care au insistat. Se puteau duce lejer doar cu antrenorii. Deja la a doua sesiune, Charlize trecuse de la ” doar joacă” la treburi mult mai serioase. A învățat foarte repede să înoate, iar eu nu am crezut că acest lucru vă fi posibil atât de ușor. Karim a învățat și el să iubească apa, pentru că până să treacă la înot, profesioniștii recomandă doar sesiunile de ” prins drag de apă” și de simțit confortabil în mediul acvatic. Acum înoată și el foarte bine.
What did I like about Acvatic Bebe Club?
The friendly and playful environment for children outside the pool area
Clean and uncrowded swimming pool
Discussions with parents and explanations about everything related to swimming
Coaches open and eager to make friends with the little ones
Choosing coaches based on the child's personality (this helped Charlize the most)
Why do experts say the best time to learn to swim is yesterday?
Babies are not born with a fear of water, just as they are not born with a fear of fire or heights. Their fear takes shape when parents intervene in shaping the child and warn them, set limits, scare them with lines like “stay away from the water”, “don’t come close”, “get out of there, you’re not safe”. These, as well as unpleasant experiences with water, can lead to exaggerated fears of the child regarding the aquatic experience. However, the ability to swim is one of the child’s primary needs, which must be trained from the earliest ages. As parents, from the age of a few months, we have the choice between giving them the chance to learn how to love water and protect their life in the water or inoculating them with a permanent fear of it.
What would you choose for your baby?
The basis of a parent's justification for enrolling a baby of a few months old in swimming sessions (the optimal recommended age is 4 months) is the stimulation of primary reflexes, among which the most important are: the glottic reflex, namely the automatic holding of the breath when the body is submerged, as well as the pushing of the water with the feet upon contact with it.
Stimulating the two reflexes from an early age allows aquatic education instructors to:
– to transform them into automatisms;
– to introduce the baby to survival techniques in the aquatic environment;
– to achieve important aquatic acquisitions (aquatic breathing, floating and sliding on the chest and back, independent aquatic movement)
According to statistics conducted in 2016 in the USA by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention:
– drowning in the aquatic environment is the 2nd cause of death in children under 15 years of age;
– 881% of children who drown do so under the supervision of an adult.
Drowning can be prevented!
Through aquatic education lessons and consistent attendance at aquatic education lessons (at least once a week), you can ensure your baby's early development of the capacity and ability to save himself when pushed or slipped in a pool. For this, in the case of a normally developed baby (eutrophic) and depending on the age at which this activity is started, an average of between 50 and 100 hours of work in the water are required (at 8 months the average is approximately 100 hours, and at 2 years 50 hours*).
Through a personalized, constant and POSITIVE approach from an individual instructor, within dedicated centers, with qualified staff, in a safe and controlled environment (regardless of the season), with facilities specifically designed for babies, parents can be assured that their little one:
– DO NOT have traumatic experiences;
– You will benefit from swimming sessions always adapted to your child's own pace of development and comfort level;
– Develop a strong and harmonious body;
– Improves your balance, coordination and spatial-temporal orientation, acquisitions that will contribute to motor independence and the emergence of walking earlier;
– You gain increased immunity;
– Enjoy early socialization with a positive impact on separation anxiety, once you enter the community (kindergarten, school) and manifest the desire for socio-affective independence;
– Increase your learning capacity and self-confidence with the help of demonstration games, repetition, appreciation and encouragement of successes.
In addition to the rapid development of certain skills in the first 3 years of life, it has been proven that through swimming, which is the most effective motor activity that can be started from a few months and continued throughout life, the following aspects are also fulfilled:
– solid foundations are laid in the transition to other learning contexts (foreign languages, creativity, spatial-temporal orientation, etc.) and future formal education;
– symptoms associated with neuromotor, respiratory (asthma), behavioral (autism, ADHD), etc. can be alleviated and/or improved;
– conditions resulting from premature birth or as a result of being underweight can be corrected.
Also worth noting are the spectacular results identified in the study by Griffith University in Australia, which concluded that, unlike others, babies who swim:
– develops communication skills 11 months earlier;
– develops mathematical skills 6 months earlier;
– develops reading skills 2 months earlier;
– develops orientation skills 20 months earlier; all of this has a positive effect on increasing confidence and self-esteem, shaping personality and providing a healthy start in life.
