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Rather than going to the local public pool we signed up with a local swim school company,which is a company that specialises in teaching very young babies to swim. I'd been told that I

may have to change by the side of the pool, or in the disabled toilets as there will probably onlybe Mums and babies and there is a good chance I'll be the only man. Luckily there was another

Father there so I didn't feel as uncomfortable as I could have.

We wanted to take a few photos and some video footage, I refused point blank to sit and filmyoung children and their mothers in swimming costumes. I guess it is a sad reflection of the

times we live in, but I had have felt like some kind of sick perv like the only clothed person on anudist beach and didn't want everyone to give me the nickname 'Peter File'. So I got donned a

pair of trunks and got into the pool while Clare watched.

We dressed Amlie in some 'little swimmer' nappy/diapers and some little bottoms over the top.I'm sure Clare will write an article with more of those details in for those of you that are

interested.

First we had to shower with the babies for hygiene reasons. Then one by one we handed ourbabies over to someone in the pool before we got into the pool ourselves and then took ourbabies back, they tell you to never climb in while holding the baby yourself as that is dangerous.

I was last into the pool and missed any initial instruction so just held her under the head with one

hand (exactly the same as when I bath her) and floated her towards the other babies and mothers.

There were about 10 babies in total, ours looked the youngest apart from one baby who lookedabout 3 weeks old. The others looked about 3 months to 10 months old, I'd say the average was 6

months but Clare would have a better idea so read her article if you are interested in that.

The first thing we did was to hold the babies under their arms with both hands and bounce themup and down a little as we all walked (I was walking on my knees) around in a big circle. Babygoing backwards facing parent upright, parent walking forwards.

We were then taught the swim position, the baby horizontal in the pool facing the parent. The

parent supports baby under baby's chest with hands cupped together upwards, thumbs fullyextended pointing up to the sky and a little outwards. They said it was important not to hold the

baby, just to support and let the baby float. We were then to walk backwards so baby wasswimming forwards.

Not a single baby had cried to this point and none of the 10 cried at all from the start to end of

the session. The other babies seemed better at this swim position, they put their heads up out ofthe water and faced their parents. Amlie faced to the side and almost fell asleep.

Next the instructor took each baby for a little swim in this swim position to make friends withthem all.

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Then in preparation for the underwater part we held our babies and said 'Amlie ... Ready ... Go'then scooped up some water in our hands and splashed it over their heads and wiped their faces

with it. Amlie seemed quite happy to do this, and I'll be doing this every bathtime now.

Then we were taken to the side of the pool and told that the babies would be submerged. Their

natural instinct should make them hold their breath, the reactions we should expect were 1. noreaction, 2. a little cry, 3. a pause and then a little cry, 4. they may still be holding their breath fora little when they come up out of the water.

One by one each baby was taken by the instructor facing the parent, about 3 feet or 1 meter away

(could by done by the other parent or a friend I guess if you were thinking of trying this outyourselves but don't have water babies or similar organization in your area). The parent then said

'Amlie (or whatever the babies name was) ..... Ready ..... Go' This we were told is importantword association so eventually the baby will learn to hold their breath when we say 'Ready'. The

instructor then dunked the baby under and forward then up again into the parents arms.

All the babies coped well, and Amlie just looked a little bemused for a few seconds but didn'treally seem bothered.

Next we learned the 'splish splash' move. It 's basically just holding them vertical under theirarms, then lifting and dipping them into the water while moving them side to side a little. We did

this in a big circle walking forwards and every so often we spun around 360 degrees and liftedthe babies right up into the air and back down again.

The last move was 'Humpty Dumpty' you lift your baby up and hold them up sitting on the side

wall of the pool. Then (as if you hadn't guessed already) you say the popular nursery rhyme andpull them into the water with you at the appropriate time in the rhyme. You pull them in so their

chest hits the water first.

To wind down we did the whole, 'splish splash' thing again with the little pirouettes and up into

the air now and again. We had to sing twinkle twinkle little star while we were doing this. I'vegot to admit I didn't join in the singing, I couldn't even bring myself to mouth the words but I did

manage the Humpty Dumpty thing earlier much to Clare's mirth.

That was pretty much the end of swimming lesson number 1. I felt that although it was mainlymothers there, that this was one of the best moments for me since the actual birth. I did a lot of

the initial feeding, first bath, and a few nappies but this was the first time I felt I was doingsomething very natural with her rather than just trying to be involved.

I may be old fashioned, but I think a baby needs to be mainly with their mothers early on and

that fathers are more of a supporting role at that stage. Doing the odd, bath, feed, and nappy. Thiswas something different, I didn't feel I was making an effort to be involved and doing this

instead of Clare, I felt this was something I should be doing with my young daughter. So I thinkthat this is something the Father should get involved with if at all possible.

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You could do a lot of this in the bath at home or in a public pool but if you are lucky enough tohave Water Babies or a similar scheme in your area I would highly recommend investing in

using them for at least the first few sessions.

I'll leave you with a few more bit's of info you may find useful before I sign off.

We were told the pool needs to be 30 degrees Celsius or warmer, 32 degrees for very youngbabies like ours (12 weeks and below).

The sooner the better, babies start to lose their affinity with water and natural breath holdingreflex by 10 to 15 months old.

All information we researched says it's safe to do this before any immunisations. So long as baby

is healthy.

The company we used offers 4 terms of 10 lessons each. We paid around 10 per lesson, we

think it's great value if you can afford it.

There are supposedly health and mental benefits to swimming this early on. Finnish and Germanstudies show advanced intelligence, motor development, social skills, and muscle control. It can

also be shown to improve feeding and sleeping patterns and early swimming can ward off futurebreathing complaints such as asthma.

I'm not so sure about all the beneficial claims for early swimming but I can tell you it's great fun,

and a good bonding experience. I will keep you updated as we continue with the course, and as Ihave said Clare will be writing an article which may have more information on the types of

nappies etc.

UPDATE:

This was our first swimming article and since then we have prepared diagrams to show the

different moves. Click here to see the first diagrams. More will follow in the near future.

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Teach your baby to Swim - The Diagrams

Part 1

By Dad

There are now quite a lot of articles about teaching your

baby to swim on the Website. I've put together some

diagrams, which you may find useful to reference as you

read the articles.

Our computer generated Baby.

I've spent all Weekend drawing the Baby Swim Shorts and you can't really see them in the

pictures. What you can see though is the exact positions that we use in the lessons. I think beingable to see under the water helps too.

I'll add more of the swimming routines and positions, in part 2, possibly even get someanimations up if I have time. I've mixed in real life pictures of myself and Amlie, although my

body doesn't quite measure up to the computer version.

Swim Position

This is one of the most basic positions and is used for many routines. Keep yourself low in

the water, and try to allow your baby to float rather than supporting them too much withyour hands.

Neutral Position

This position is used for many routines. Your baby is vertical, held by your hands under

their armpits. The position doesn't really have a name, I just called it neutral position as it ishow we hold our babies most of the time.

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Back Floating

The first back floating position (there are others) we were shown was how I naturally held

our baby during bathtime. Supported with your hand under their head. I'm left handed, righthanders will want to switch hands. When your baby is small you can have their feet

pointing towards your tummy. As they grow you will need to have them slightly to theside.

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Teach your baby to swim - The diagrams part

2

By Dad

More detailed diagrams showing the moves used during our

baby's swimming lessons. Following on from part 1 of the

baby swimming diagrams.

Some of the techniques such as 'Humpty Dumpty' and 'holding on'

need a swimming pool to illustrate correctly so I've been working on a 3D Swimming pool. I've

based it on a cross between where we have our lessons and the baby pool at our local publicswimming pool. Both are a similar size and depth (a little less than waist deep).

The bar that the babies hold onto is different though. At some pools it's a kind of gutter, wherewe have our lessons it's a thick bar (very difficult for a baby to hold onto), and our local pool has

the water level so high the edge of the pool is where you hold on. For the model I've used a metalbar.

Cradled Head Holding Back Floating

Here your baby is actually floating on their own. Your hands are cradling them under their headto support them if necessary. Older babies may be less willing to lie still enough. We were told

to allow their ears to submerge. I remember this feeling a little precarious at first.

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Sitting On The Side

This position is the start of many routines. Your baby is sitting on the side, held by your hands

under their armpits. There is a variation in the more advanced lessons, which I will show inanother diagram. The first routine using this start position is 'Humpty Dumpty'.

More Cradled Head Holding Back Floating

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Teach Your Baby To Swim The Diagrams

Part 3

By Dad

No baby swimming lesson this week, so I spent some time on

diagrams for the assisted underwater swim.

For some reason I thought it would be clearer to ditch the swimmingpool I created for the previous teach your baby to swim diagram article, and replace it with a

clear glass pool.

I don't think this really added anything, and I prefer the realistic pool to the glass pool so may

switch back next time. Let me know what you think.

Anyway onto the diagrams, there is only one routine here as adding another would have ended

up with too many images on one page. I hope you find this useful.

Assisted Underwater Swim

This was the first underwater swim technique, and we did it in the first lesson when Amlie wasjust 6 weeks old.

2 Adults are needed, your baby is passed from one person to the other with enough gentle

momentum for your baby to travel a short distance unsupported.

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Assisted Underwater Swim In Detail

The baby is held by one person while the other waits to catch the baby. The baby is held in side

holding swim position. This is where you hold them to one side of your body, with one hand ateither side of their torso just below their armpit level.

As always, you prepare your baby by saying 'name ... ready ... go ...'. This is said by the person

waiting to catch the baby, and is the trigger for the other person to begin the move.

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There are variations on this move, which I will explain. The first is for more advanced babies

who have done many underwater swims. Here we simply remove the hug at the end of theroutine. Instead they are immediately placed in side holding swim position by the catcher and

taken on a little swim away from the side of the pool. They are then turned around and takenback to the side still in side holding swim position for a reaching hold on. The reaching hold on

is explained in other articles and I will produce diagrams in time.

The second extension is for the catcher to be underwater for the catch. Here the move starts the

same, but once the catcher has said 'name ... ready ... go ...' they go underwater. This is great funfor the catcher because they get to see the baby swimming towards them underwater. The catch

is made under the water and then the catcher surfaces with the baby ending up with a hug.

Here are some tips for the catcher if they decide to do the catch underwater. Firstly wearinggoggles will allow you to see the baby better. Don't take a deep breath as it will be harder to stay

underwater, try breathing out instead. Use the gutter or bar to help you stay under, I use one handon the bar to help me get underwater. Finally it's very easy to kick out and accidentally hit your

baby. Crossing your legs will avoid this, I doubted this advice but when you do the move it'seasy to see how you could accidentally kick out.

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