Another OT subject - babies and swimming

[Still Kate]

Hi all,
             I keep getting conflicting answers to this question ......

When can I take Millie swimming. (Shes 10 weeks old, weighs over 10lbs but was 5 weeks early.)  My health visitor and doctor have said that it is up to me, there's no set age anymore.
the local swimming pool wont commit to an answer for me (obviously), my Mum says not yet..... So all you Mums and Dads out there ..... what do you think?
I know I'll get some sensible replies here.

The local pool has a baby pool that is like a bath - lovely and warm.

Thanks in advance.    
Best Wishes    Kate. X

[Shadow]

New born babies know how to swim. Unfortunetly they lose this if you don't keep up with it. They forget how at right about 8 weeks. If you have been letting her swim someplace then you should be able to take her swimming just about anywhere you would go swimming. Keeping in mind that she will get cold a lot easier than you will. They even make special diapers (nappies) for swimming.

As for swimming lessons for babies that young, good luck. We spent the first two years trying to get Connor into swimming lessons and finally gave up and taught him ourselves. It seems that everyone knows that babies can swim but the person who did the infant classes always seems to have "just moved out of town".

[Still Kate]

Thanks for your reply, not too worried about swimming lessons, I taught Ryan so I'll do the same with her.  

I just keep getting told,   "Yes, you can take her in a pool", or " Oooohhh no, she's too young."      I just wasn't sure whether to take her or not.

I'll take her now.

        Blessings to you and yours.     With Love   Kate. x

[Jennie]

Just be sure that she is out of the sun. Sunscreen isn't safe for babies under six months old, and neither is sunburn!

Bright blessings,
Jennie

[Fillionous]

With my Tadpole I was advised that it would be best after her first set of vacinations - just to give her a little bit of extra cover from all the bugs also swimming in the pool. But that you can start water play / swimming as soon as you like.

The trick in my area was finding a pool willing to take such a small one and be warm enough... not to mention finding swim nappies small enough, mine is 7 months old now but only 14-and a bit-lb, tiny like her Mum  

Some places have little tots swim times or special sessions for babies where there is more cover, or the tempratures are turned up, advice, toys provided and the whole meet other mums thing going on.

Be bright, be bold
Fillionous

[Shadow]

Some places have little tots swim times or special sessions for babies where there is more cover, or the tempratures are turned up, advice, toys provided and the whole meet other mums thing going on.

I think some of the problems I ran into with Connor was the whole mum meets mum thing, and not just trying to get him swimming lessons. Jennie was working and I was staying home taking care of Connor.

It wasn't the groups themselves that seemed to object to having a stay at home dad in the group, it was the organizers, who mostly set things up and then never showed up themselves. They just seemed really reluctant to give me the information or let me sign up for anything.

And I was actually stupid enough to think that stuff was actually designed to enrich the kid's early eductaion.

[Fillionous]

I'll admit the whole Mums meet mums thing gets to me too ... and I am allegadly a Mum.

I think it is the inane convasation that gets to me... either it rotates around how much better thier kid is in comparison to every other one... or it is about the same things that left me cold in school. ie makeup, boys, pop stars, tatle from the papers and soaps not to mention that gross waste of time which is reality TV.

For a man comming in to such an enviroment, add the whole fear of men thing (oh my gosh there has to be something wrong with a man wanting to care for children... even his own!) I should think it is a total nightmare  :x    add swiming and the next thing you know is someone mentions the 'p' word and all hell breaks loose...

Sad and frustrating...

Ok I'll get off my soap box now... and go back to taking my dauther to see the ducks!

Be bright, be bold
Fillionous

[Zorro]

I am no expert, so this is just my opinion here.  But I think that one of the things that makes people, even little kids, no longer able to swim is fear.

A liquid world is a rather familiar environment for a newborn.  After a while, they get use to our 'out of water' world.  And I think the self-preservation instinct kicks in. I have often seen people who are fearful of the water take their first swim strokes just as soon as they relax and stopped thrashing about.  

My friend David was an awesome swimmer.  He said he swam ever since he could remember.  

I think it was one of the things his parents did right!  They believed that knowing how to swim was essential and so he was in the water from day one.

And I could be wrong, but isn't it an instinct or something to hold your breathe if your nose goes in water, even for an infant?  Does anyone know?

[Still Kate]

Jennie,    
            Fat chance of sun here in freezing England till at least June so no danger of that and we'll be in an indoor pool.

Blessings    Kate. xx

[Still Kate]

I've shied away from the Mum meets Mum thing too. I didn't do any of that with Ryan. I'll probably take Millie on my own or with my friend Anna, who's little boy is a month younger than Millie.
My health visitor has been trying to get me to go to mother and toddler groups but I don't think I can handle the inane conversation either.  

Thanks for all your advice ...... I'll let you know how the swim thing goes.  

Blessings

Kate. xx