Newborn

The first few months of water exposure are in the bath at home. Children are not born with a fear, it is a learned emotion. Children pick up from their parent / caregiver so at this time we need to be confident, relaxed and with no distractions (turn off the phone, don't answer the door, have all equipment ready, clothes, towels, toys).

Check water is at a suitable temperature should be at about 32 degrees C, you can test with elbow. Insure the temperature of the room is warm and draft free when you start bathing.

Never leave the child unattended or in the care of a sibling, children can drown quickly and silently.

Swimming with the very young, we don't advise swimming infants before 6 months of age or until they can hold their heads up which is generally after 4 months of age. 6 months is the ideal age to start lessons for your child, as by then they are alert, and their immune system is stronger.

Newborn Exercise: At home we can introduce water awareness from birth, through bath time, where massage, play and being in the water are introduced.

New born babies' movement is controlled by over70 different reflexes and writhing movements the infant has limited head control, learns through sensory exploration and repetition. Bath time stimulates most of these reflexes, and can be a special time for parents. Bathing with your child can be a bonding time for you and baby, babies respond to skin on skin contact.

It is much easier to hold baby on your legs where you can use two hands to wash and play.

Infants are adapted to swimming, when submerged they automatically hold their breath and make swimming movements however these skills start to fade at between 3 and 6 months we can stimulate this reflex by running water over the forehead eyes and face and by using cue words repetitively "Fulton are you ready 1, 2, 3" squeeze sponge over the head, we can ready them for submerging on cue when they do go to formal lessons. (Progress to larger amounts of water for example cups, watering cans, when baby feels comfortable).

Over the next few months we are going to follow Quinn and Sarah on their aquatic adventure.

Quinn was born on the 1st of January 2010 and Sarah had a water birth. Quinn is happy in the water and Sarah showers and bathes with him. Lets look at Quinns development he is primed to hold his breath and move the arms up and down, his head is larger than his chest, his neck muscles are weak, arms and legs move randomly. Implication for swimming Quinn, needs lots of support for his head on his tummy, make sure you support his chest and chin.

In Quinns bath time his eyes were moving around looking at animals stuck on the side of the bath, every time Sarah spoke his eyes moved to her face so she had eye contact with him when using the cue words. His arms and legs moved on their own accord with no prompting. He was smiling and happy.

Try these exercises at home, next month we will be exploring controlled movements.

This is just a guide, please note Fulton Swim School and Lola and Ben take no responsibility for the actions taken out by parents and caregivers.