Teach your baby to swim

"How to teach your baby to swim: from birth to age 6" by Douglas doman. I read this book and really liked many of the points and suggestions. So as not to invalidate the book, I'm not going to comment on every aspect of it but more my general thoughts and how I have started to apply the concepts.

First off, babies have been floating in your (assuming you're the biological mom, if not then floating in someone else's) belly for 9 months, therefore the concept of floating in water is not new to them but the need to keep airways open is new. Your baby is not going to be swimming as soon as he/she is born but there are things you can do.

1. Priority number one is to make sure your baby enjoys being in the water. Make sure your baby is fed before taking a bath. I would suggest taking a bath with your child at least some of the time, this allows for snuggling in the water, which makes then feel loved and secure. The book offers suggestions for games you can play and things to help your baby enjoy the water.

2. The second point I care about has to do with development. There are studies that tell us adults that exercising in water is easier on our joints. We also feel lighter in water and can "defy" gravity when we float (once we learn how). For the same reasons this is an ideal place to help baby exercise and strengthen his muscles. When my first son was born we would take him in the bath (after the umbilical cited fell off). We taught him to float by holding one hand begins his head and neck and the other under his back. Gradually (over weeks), we no longer had to hold him under his back. He had learned to strengthen his abs and keep his body up. However, he liked to push back on his head so that hands had to stay and still does. But over time we were able to hold him with just a few fingers. He loved when we would move him around in the water and he loved wiggling his head from side to side (not a yes or a no movement).

We also would have him "kick". We'd put his legs against the wall of the tub and say, "one, two, three kick". The book says to always use the same language so it's easier to learn what's coming. We had to use our hands on his legs and help then push against the wall the first few times. But then we would reward him by floating him around the tub, slowly or quickly depending on how strong his kick was. This strengthened his legs.

We practiced sitting in the tub. We practice standing and walking. Unfortunately crawling would mean he would be face down towards the water, so we DO NOT practice crawling in the tub.

The Doman book gives other ideas, as far as how to use certain natural responses to teach things. Like at a certain age they automatically close their hand when something is pressed into the palm. It tells how to teach your child to use this instinct to eventually transfer into holding onto the edge of a pool. It teaches exercises to teach your child to hold their breath and a lot more.

It emphasizes routine so your baby knows what to expect and making sure your baby loves the water. It is always easier to learn something you enjoy rather than something you hate.

Our son is big for his age. There are some things that he is advanced at and others just average. The doctor was surprised when I told him he was already rolling. (Granted it was an average time, but I guess bigger babies that have to move more weight usually are behind. ) My son is 6 months and unfortunately not crawling (though that may happen soon) but he is awesome at sitting and can almost pull himself up to a standing position and loves walking while holding my hands. As far as sitting and rolling goes, I thought he was just average, but I guess for his size and age he is advanced. As for pulling himself up (or almost pulling himself up) and walking with help I feel he is advanced and both of these I attribute to our bath time.

We don't float as much, since he wants to sit or stand so I don't know if he'll actually learn how to swim early but this book has definitely helped us in other ways.