Most babies love water. In fact, having a direct and continuous relationship with water from a very young age is essential to help prevent the typical childhood phobias of pools and beaches from developing later on. Take advantage
of this aquatic enthusiasm by signing up for parent-and-baby swimming classes—a great idea with multiple benefits. It also gives you the opportunity to enjoy a family activity , strengthening the mother-child or father-child bond.

Benefits of infant swimming

In addition to having fun and sharing quality time as a family, practicing infant swimming from an early age has multiple benefits for development and babies’ health. Among them, we could highlight the following:

• Source of relaxation: Exercise in the water helps babies release tension, reduce stress levels, and relax, which also promotes rest and better sleep.

• Psychomotor development: The aquatic environment gives babies the opportunity to move with a freedom and agility they don’t have outside of it. This encourages movement, improves coordination, and increases awareness of their own bodies.

• Improve your physical condition: Even with low-intensity exercises like those performed in baby swimming classes, moving in the water helps babies strengthen their main muscle groups and improve their physical condition.

• Strengthen the cardiorespiratory system: Physical exercise in an aquatic environment strengthens the heart by improving oxygenation and blood circulation, and it also helps strengthen the lungs.

• Create a positive link: The water invites "skin to skin," helping your baby feel protected and accompanied by mom or dad while you share time together. All of this, in turn, helps strengthen the bond between your little adventurer and you.

5 tips and precautions

Nowadays, almost all public or private sports complexes offer parent-and-baby swimming classes, as it is an increasingly in-demand service among mothers and fathers
due to the multiple benefits for babies’ development. If you're thinking of signing up with your little one, here are some tips and precautions you should keep in mind:

1) Edad : There is no specific age to start baby swimming classes with your little one. You can begin whenever you feel that both you and your little explorer are ready. That said, most experts do not recommend starting before four months of age .

2) Short classes with progressive duration : It is recommended to start with initial sessions of around five or ten minutes and gradually increase them
as both of you gain confidence. In any case, baby swimming classes, especially at early ages, usually do not last much more than 20 - 30 minutes.

3) Warm water : Babies lose heat very easily, so it is important that the water in the pool where baby swimming classes are held is kept at a comfortably warm temperature, at least 32º.

4) Choose the right schedule : With babies, you can never take anything for granted, but it’s worth trying to find a schedule for baby swimming classes that doesn’t coincide with their usual sleep and feeding times. This way, your little adventurer can enjoy contact with the water even more.

5) Always be very careful: With a baby in your care, parents are always attentive in a way that’s typical of the Navy SEAL . Needless to say, this attention is even more important in an aquatic environment, since a baby can drown in just a few seconds in a puddle of water.

Essentials for infant swimming

The changing bag that accompanies every mother / father with their baby is almost like Mary Poppins’ bag—you can find everything in it! That said, for water familiarization classes, it’s a good idea to prepare a sports backpack with all the utensils and items that will make your aquatic sessions with your little adventurer easier:

• : LILLYDOO Swim Diapers : With our swim diapers, your baby will be ready for their next aquatic adventures in the pool or at the beach, free to move and protected from leaks! The LILLYDOO swim diapers are designed with turbo tunnel technology, which distributes liquid evenly across all layers of the diaper. Thanks to this technology, the diapers do not swell, even when wet, so they do not interfere with your baby’s freedom of movement.

• Goggles de buceo: The goggles are for mom and dad, of course. They’re not mandatory, but if you do submersions in baby swimming class, it doesn’t hurt to pack them in your sports bag. You’re going to be amazed watching your baby swim underwater!

• Bathrobe or large towel: There’s no swim without a towel, so include a bathrobe or a large towel in your backpack to wrap your little swimmer as soon as you get out of the water. As we mentioned before, babies lose heat very quickly, so there’s nothing like wrapping them warmly with a towel after the swim to help maintain their body temperature.

• Fruit and water: The pool is exercise and, as such, it stimulates the appetite. If your baby is under six months old, they will manage with your breast or bottle, but if they are older than that, you can also add some fruit and water to satisfy their hunger after the swim.

• Juguetes de agua: As a general rule, infant swimming pools usually have multiple objects to make the class more fun and playful, but it doesn’t hurt to bring some age-appropriate toys from home so your baby can stay entertained in the water and have a familiar point of reference that encourages them to move around and interact.

We hope this article has sparked your interest in infant swimming and encourages you to try it with your little adventurer. Dive in! :)