5 Health Benefits of Swimming for Your Infant or Toddler
Opening up new and exciting opportunities for your child to learn and develop skills is one of the most priceless gifts you can give as a parent. Teaching your kid how to swim as early as possible is not only vital for their safety, but it also promotes their mental and physical health.
Swimming is an excellent way for your infant or toddler to explore and engage the world around them. Naturally, as a parent, you want to ensure your child’s safety first. The first step you can take is to arm them with proper swimming techniques. Take note that children who have taken formal swimming lessons have been shown to have 88% less risk of drowning.
Beyond safety, swimming can improve your children’s health. The infographic below shows all you need to know about how swimming can be healthy for your children and how to get them excited to swim.
Health Benefits of Swimming for Your Infant or Toddler
1. Aids muscle development
Swimming for infants and toddlers provides a gentler type of exercise that involves the entire body. Water-resistance helps build muscle strength, as well as promote cardiovascular health by strengthening the lungs, heart, and blood vessels. Best of all, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that people enjoy water-based exercises better than land exercises.
2. Builds cognitive skills
A study from Griffith University in Australia found that children who learned to swim at a young age have more advanced visual-motor skills, such as cutting paper, coloring in, and drawing lines and shapes. They also score better in performing mathematical tasks and following instructions, with the swimmers being 20 months ahead of non-swimmers.
3. Boosts appetite
Given the physical exertion needed in swimming and the energy your child uses to stay warm in the water, it’s no surprise that he/she will be hungry after the activity. With regular swimming time in their schedule, you can expect your child’s appetite to increase.
4. Improves sleeping patterns
Swimming provides a good source of regular aerobic activity, especially for children. Experts agree that children who do regular exercise sleep better at night. Incorporating swimming into your child’s active routine can improve their sleeping patterns. Not only does this mean that they’re better rested, but their bodies will repair and develop in ideal conditions.
5. Promotes coordination and balance
Compared to other sports and exercises, swimming causes less strain on the joints and connective tissues due to the natural buoyancy while in the water. In addition, it allows kids to improve both their strength and flexibility. Swimming as an exercise can also improve your child’s balance and coordination even outside of the pool.
Tips to Help Get Your Kids Excited About Swimming
As you look for swimming lessons in Singapore, it helps to start getting your child excited about it. This way, your toddler or infant will look forward to joining a swimming class and genuinely enjoy themselves. Here are some ways you can get them to discover the joys of swimming:
Watch fun swimming videos together
Part of the excitement in swimming is appreciating the beauty and fun of the sport. Videos that demonstrate the excitement, such as relays or synchronized swimming routines, can help pique your child’s interest. Additionally, videos that promote fun and safe swimming activities can also serve as inspiration for them.
Plan a swimming trip
Making plans for swimming—whether at a local swimming pool or the beach—can be exciting for young ones. From there, you can let them know that learning how to swim is an excellent way to prepare for the upcoming trip.
READ THIS RELATED ARTICLE: Swimming Safety Tips: How to Keep Your Infant or Toddlers Safe
Make swimming a bonding activity
One of the fun things about swimming is that it is an activity the whole family can enjoy. You can even have fun competitions, like doing laps or breath-holding underwater with your family members. Swimming and playing in the water with them not only makes the activity more fun but can also help build wonderful new memories.
Join your child in the pool
Watching over your little ones from the sidelines has its own merits, but being with him/her in the pool can help calm them down and put them at ease. Something as simple as sitting on the steps of the pool while they get used to the water can go a long way in making them more excited to learn. This will help build their confidence in the water early on.
Attend a swimming class with your child
Go one-step further—aside from joining your little one in the pool and being part of their swimming school experience, consider looking for parent-child swimming lessons that allow you to be part of their learning experience, too. Not only will your child learn how to swim, but you may also pick a thing or two up from it.
READ THIS RELATED ARTICLE: A Guide to Your Infant or Toddler’s First Swimming Lessons: FAQs
Having Fun and Staying Healthy in the Water
Swimming is more than just a water-based sport—it’s a great and exciting way for your child to get active and improve their overall health. With careful supervision, any infant or toddler stands to get stronger, more coordinated, and smarter through swimming.
Marsden Swim School offers swimming lessons for toddlers in Singapore. Conducted by certified swim coaches, a safe and fun learning experience awaits you and your child.