The benefits of the pool for babies

He amniotic fluid of the placenta does not have chlorine or filters but it is what it can most remind a newborn the water of a swimming pool. It has spent nine months in an aquatic environment, without contact with the air. Water is the medium that knows the most.

If as soon as the umbilical cord falls off take advantage of this familiarity with the water to mess with him in the pool, the experience can be very enriching both for him and for the parents.

Manel just turned ten weeks old. She was just over three when she first got into the pool. “He brought it to me as soon as the lace fell off and, although he is still very small and little time has passed, I see that you are already much more awakeas if he were more open to everything,” explains Sandra, who always accompanies her son to the pool.

Sandra had previously taken her daughter Carla, who with three and a half years not only nothing alone in the pool but also skis, speaks English and moves with unusual ease in girls her age.

Watching Manel dive into the pool, helped by his mother, one realizes that fear of water is not innate. The center’s monitor gives instructions to several fathers and mothers with months-old babies. The boy seems calmHe moves his legs agilely to propel himself forward and looks at his mother with wide eyes. Experience underwater motor sensations that he will later apply in his daily life.

What is sought with swimming for babies?

Although there are those who talk about swimming for babies, teaching to swim is not the goal. “What is sought is a early motor stimulationgive the baby patterns and sensations of movement that he can later use above ground“explains the instructor.

“As the sessions progress, the baby will gain autonomy, increase his confidence and develop his ability to survive.”

A baby from 0 to 3 months He is usually quite still, but in the water he moves his legs and arms, tone your back and learn to hold your head. The water makes it easy, because floats naturally and has much more freedom of movement.

This early stimulation, which out of the water does not usually begin until five or six months, allows learning to sit, crawl, walk or climb much earlier.

Apnea reflex in infants

Another advantage of working with such small babies is that still have the apnea reflex. Children survive in the placenta without drowning because close the glottis to prevent swallowing water. They keep that reflection up to six months.

“With time and perseverance, this involuntary movement of the glottis, based on training, becomes voluntary and the survival capacity of the child in the water increases. The longer it takes to start diving, the more you will have lost that reflex and it will cost more to learn“.

around three yearsthe usual thing is that they can start swimming alone. At that age, most children live their first contact with water coinciding with the transition from kindergarten to school.

Typical sessions take place in a well-conditioned pool, with a chlorine-free disinfection systemand they last about 45 minutes, although the little ones retire earlier, because they get tired and catch cold:

parents walk first holding the baby by the armpits and looking at him while experiencing the sensation of floating and moving through the water.Then they turn it and they hold it by the head with one hand.Then the dives are coming. The little ones look surprised, but seem to want to repeat.

Another of the benefits of these classes, and perhaps the most important, is that strengthens the emotional bond between parents and children.