When I tell a mom or dad that we teach baby swimming classes at the Chicago Blue Dolphins Swim Studio, I often get a puzzled look on his or her face followed by the question: “They aren’t really swimming, are they?” When people think of swimming, they think of competitive strokes like butterfly or freestyle; that kind of swimming won’t start to happen until your child is at least 5 years old. So if it’s not about learning the competitive strokes, what’s the purpose of baby swimming?
- Water Adjustment: Swim lessons help your young swimmer get comfortable and relaxed in the water – a non-negotiable pre-requisite to learning any swimming stroke in the future
- Being Safe: A central component of baby swimming lessons is water safety. We teach water safety skills all the way from simple skills like parental cueing of entry into the water or breath-holding to more advanced skills like jumping in, turning around, and swimming back to the wall
- Parent-Child Bonding: Baby swimming allows you to be face-to-face, skin-to-skin, and in the moment with your child for 25 minutes at a time. No other parent-child activity in this age range allows for such intense and rewarding engagement
- Improved Physical and Mental Development: Many infants and toddlers will learn to swim before they can learn to walk; swimming offers a sense of freedom and empowerment that young children don’t get on land. Swimming skills like reaching, grabbing, balancing, turning, gliding, kicking, and listening all improve your child’s mental and physical development
- It’s really Fun! Your baby or toddler will laugh and smile and so will you. Is there a better way to spend your day?
Come join us for the fun at the Blue Dolphins Swim Studio. As one parent said recently: “I smiled so much my face hurts.”