What Makes Swimming the Best Sport for Babies and Toddlers?

Published 20 January 2021 at 13:16

Tickikids Blog Abu Dhabi >  After-School Activities >  What Makes Swimming the Best Sport for Babies and Toddlers?

What’s the point of taking a toddler to the pool when he can’t even walk? Many parents wait until children reach the age of at least 3 years and only then introduce them to the pool. And how wrong they are! There is no need to wait for such a long time as swimming has a tremendous benefit for the health and intellectual development of babies!

Being in the water is a new experience for a baby with loads of new feelings, emotions, sensations. That provokes the creation of billions of new neuron connections in the brain and boosts cognitive recognition, let alone the advantages of health development. And teaching kids how to swim is vital for their safety. During the lessons, children learn how to behave in and out of the water safely.

So, let’s dive deeper into the depth of the benefits of swimming for infants and toddlers!

Photo credit: Freepick

Health benefits

• The perfect exercise for muscle development

Water-based exercises involve the entire body and improve muscle strength and stamina. Also, they strengthen the lungs, heart, and blood vessels.

• Improvement of coordination and balance

Swimming gives less exertion on the joints and connective tissues in comparison with other kinds of sport. It requires coordinated work of different groups of muscles, and that makes the joints more flexible. And as the baby’s body is supported by water, his or her main task is to maintain balance and stay afloat. As the result, kids have better balance in and out of the water.

• Improvement of sleeping patterns

Regular aerobic activity is beneficial for anyone, actually. Yet, apart from many other benefits, swimming makes kids sleep deeper and longer.

• Better appetite

Swimming calls for lots of energy! No wonder kids are hungry after the exercise, and they want to eat after they get out of the pool. Thus, regular swimming activity will work its magic, and kids will have a better appetite.

• The benefits of early start

And by early we mean REALLY early. All babies are born with a kicking reflex that works perfectly well in the pool. So, they all can swim already! However, babies lose this reflex when they are around 6 months of age. And if you don’t take your little champ to the pool earlier this reflex will soon fade away. As the result, it will be harder for your kid to learn to swim in the comparison with babies who swam since they were knee-high to a duck.

Photo credit: Pixabay

Cognitive development advantages

In 2012 The Griffith Institute of Educational Research revealed the world’s most comprehensive study into early-years swimming. It showed that kids who learned to swim at a young age followed instructions better; they have better visual-motor skills. Plus, according to this research, young swimmers outgrow non-swimmers in different activities from 2 to 20 months ahead. One of the main reasons for this success is the way infants move in the water. When swimming, kids make specific cross-patterning movements that improve brain development. It boosts language development, spatial awareness, and reading skills.

• Swimming boosts attention span

Professor Win Wenger always highlights the importance of holding a breath in the improvement of intelligence. In his books, he explains that when you focus attention on something you hold your breath, and that stimulates your brain. And the longer you hold your breath, the more efficient your attention span will be. And swimming is the ideal activity to boost your lung capacity and, therefore, improve your concentration. 

• Swimming teaches determination

Swimming is not that kind of activity that you can leave half-done and stop halfway in the pool. So, it shows kids the necessity of keeping going no matter what.

Swimming is a great family activity!

It is possible to use swimming activities as the perfect tool to create new sweet memories together.

• The pool is a place with no distractions. All attention is focused on a baby, and that makes swimming the perfect bonding activity;
  
• Water-based exercises have a lot of skin-to-skin contacts and that is very important for the infants;
• You create a more relaxed atmosphere of training for your infant and he or she swims more eagerly and willingly;
• There are many parent-child lessons where instructors offer different fun and engaging exercises for the families;
• It is a great exercise for parents too! Your kid is not the one who can get the most out of being in the water.

In a Nutshell

Well-organized swimming family activities under the supervision of experienced instructors can become your favourite pastime! It is beneficial for you and your baby, it is entertaining and has loads of positive impact on the physical, emotional, and cognitive development of your little champ. And, who knows, maybe it is the start of a lifelong love of sports!

So, get the most out of the early start for your baby, take your swimsuits and have fun!