Baby will start to swim through the water using primitive actions like a dolphin wriggle or the crawling action. Baby is starting to become increasingly independent in the water.
Between 12 to 18 months baby becomes very mobile. They will have mastered crawling, walking and will begin running. Baby’s ability to move purposefully will correlate to the learn to swim lesson. Babies will swim through the water using primitive swimming actions that often resemble a dolphin like wriggle or their land crawling action. These early swimming attempts allow baby to become increasingly independent in the water and capable of performing water safety skills such as turning underwater and even returning to the side of the pool.
Baby’s comprehension is also starting to improve. They can follow simple instructions and may group objects by shape, colour and size. This increased comprehension means that if a baby is regularly exposed to water through swimming lessons and water play they will begin to learn their boundaries and gain a respect for the water. Adult supervision at arms length is mandatory during all water based activities.
There are a number of skills that you need to understand and learn how to teach important elements of the learn to swim process, even if you are a parent.
Here are 8 important skills that you need to learn to help your child;
- Introduction to the water,
- Keeping the child feeling safe at all times,
- Predefined Goals we want to achieve,
- Conditioning your child
- Importance of Floating,
- How to improve Propulsion,
- Building independence in the water,
- Turning in the water.
Now take a look at this short video to give you an overview of what you need to Know!
Well done, that is the first step to being better prepared and equipped with the knowledge and skills to assist your little one through to becoming a confident and happy little swimmer.