Your baby’s brain grows more during the first 2 years of life than at any other time. It is with this information that we are now finding new ways to take advantage of this time. It is said that babies are born knowing how to swim, it is unclear if this is true; it is true however that they are born without fear of the water. This a wonderful time to instill the basics for a lifetime of love for the water.
If you live in Rockland County New York, and would like to have your baby learn to swim, there are as of yet no formal classes available before age 1. The American Academy of Pediatrics, advises that much care be taken when trying to teach a child under the age of 4 to swim, as they can take in a lot of water and become sick and possibly die from water intoxication.
There are many books available on how to teach your baby how to swim. How to teach your baby to swim from birth to age 6 by Douglas Doman is one of them. There are also DVD’s available on the subject and a quick search on the Internet will turn up many articles on the subject as well. Please see the link on the final page of this article to see Mr. Domans book on Amazon.
If your baby is at least a year old in the Rockland County YMCA in Nyack NY has classes available in a Mommy and Me type style. These classes will teach your baby to learn the difference between moving on dry land and in the water. The classes will also teach you how to keep them safe in the water and around it. You must participate in these swim classes by being in the water with your baby. Parents learn appropriate expectations of what the child can in the water at this young age, and the baby will learn some basic skills and have the ability to explore the water independently by the end of the class.
The classes for babies 1-4 years of age run for one half hour once a week for 7 weeks. If your are a member of the Rockland County YMCA the classes will cost $60-100 depending on the type of membership you have purchased. all others will pay $130. Please see the link at the end of the article for more information on how to become a member, and to see a full schedule of the classes and availability.
The infant Swimming Resource website is dedicated to preventing infant drowning by teaching swimming skills early on. It is their belief that your baby can at least learn to float on their backs from age 6 months and possibly save their lives by learning this simple technique. Wile they strongly advise there is no substitute for adult supervision, the skills they can learn from this early age can keep them safe wile bathing and wile doing other activities around water where they may otherwise be totally unsafe if not supervised.
The Infant Swimming Resource also has a zip code search feature where you can search for a certified Infant Swim Resource instructor in your area. Rockland county has 6 available instructors. Please see their link at the end of the article to find an instructor in your area.
Even if you can not find an instructor in your area, its important to get your baby in the water for supervised play so that they can build a healthy relationship to the water.
AAP Does not recommend swimming lessons for babies under 4 http://parentguidenews.com/Catalog/Baby/H2No/
How to Teach Your Baby to Swim: From Birth to Age Six By Douglas Doman http://www.amazon.com/How-Teach-Your-Baby-Swim/dp/075700198X
Rockland County YMCA swim classes ages 1-4 http://www.rocklandymca.org/aquatics/ages_1_6.htm
Rockland County YMCA membership fees http://www.rocklandymca.org/membership/membership_fee.htm
Rockland County Infant Swim Recourse instructors search page http://www.infantswim.com/instructors/locator.html?zip=10984&radius=20&x=0&y=0
