So I never planned on being a "Mommy Blogger". It was more of a way for me to save ideas, or write for the masses of people that will probably never read my blog as a way to just 'tell' someone my opinion. But here I am, actually kind of hoping someone will read my posts.
I read a book by Glen Doman called, "Teach Your Baby to Swim". He has other books as well. I would recommend the book. For me, I don't believe in being fanatical about anything but a few impressions that I got from his book I've been trying to implement. First, help your baby to enjoy being in the water. Create a loving, safe environment. I jump in the bath with baby. Not for myself but just for him and his baths. I hold him and snuggle with him. When a bigger tub was available my husband also got in and we were able to pass our baby between the both of us. He LOVES his baths. We support his head and let him float. They are used to floating in your womb, so this is helping them keep this ability. But, babies do not like going under (and it's not safe to just let them go under), so you have to support their head and then a hand under their back. Gradually we were able to do just a finger under his back and under his head. Now, sometimes we can do one hand on his back (he's learning not to push his head back).
Another thing the book points out is that it's easier for them to strengthen their legs in the tub and work on balance. We are lighter in water and this makes it easier for baby to support his weight without supporting his full weight. We help baby bend his legs and 'kick' off the wall. We make a game out of it by making a sound, "weeee" as we float slowly or quickly away from the wall (depending on the strength of his kick). We also let him sit in our laps and now we let him try standing. His legs are much stronger than most babies his age and I attribute it to our bath exercises. I don't know how to strengthen his arms to the same extent.
I won't go into everything the book says, so there's still a reason for you to read it. But pick one up for checklists of activities to do and examples of ways to do things. Other things mentioned in the book includes helping them learn to hold their breath, and using their natural way to grip things placed in their palm as a way to help them learn to grab onto the side wall (for safety reasons). We are starting to do those two things. We've started teaching him to grab onto our fingers while he's upright. We'll eventually transfer that to holding himself up on the wall.
I don't know if we'll train him to be a good swimmer- that's not my purpose in doing this. But I can tell that it's helping him strengthen his limbs in a fun way that is helping him improve. I'm so proud of the milestones we've already reached with him and can't wait to see more. Like I said, we haven't been good with arm strength, but to give you an idea- he just rolled over for the first time on his own the other day, but with holding my hands he can already stand. He may have his balance for standing before he starts crawling. (But I hope he doesn't skip crawling- I'm looking forward to that stage.).
I read a book by Glen Doman called, "Teach Your Baby to Swim". He has other books as well. I would recommend the book. For me, I don't believe in being fanatical about anything but a few impressions that I got from his book I've been trying to implement. First, help your baby to enjoy being in the water. Create a loving, safe environment. I jump in the bath with baby. Not for myself but just for him and his baths. I hold him and snuggle with him. When a bigger tub was available my husband also got in and we were able to pass our baby between the both of us. He LOVES his baths. We support his head and let him float. They are used to floating in your womb, so this is helping them keep this ability. But, babies do not like going under (and it's not safe to just let them go under), so you have to support their head and then a hand under their back. Gradually we were able to do just a finger under his back and under his head. Now, sometimes we can do one hand on his back (he's learning not to push his head back).
Another thing the book points out is that it's easier for them to strengthen their legs in the tub and work on balance. We are lighter in water and this makes it easier for baby to support his weight without supporting his full weight. We help baby bend his legs and 'kick' off the wall. We make a game out of it by making a sound, "weeee" as we float slowly or quickly away from the wall (depending on the strength of his kick). We also let him sit in our laps and now we let him try standing. His legs are much stronger than most babies his age and I attribute it to our bath exercises. I don't know how to strengthen his arms to the same extent.
I won't go into everything the book says, so there's still a reason for you to read it. But pick one up for checklists of activities to do and examples of ways to do things. Other things mentioned in the book includes helping them learn to hold their breath, and using their natural way to grip things placed in their palm as a way to help them learn to grab onto the side wall (for safety reasons). We are starting to do those two things. We've started teaching him to grab onto our fingers while he's upright. We'll eventually transfer that to holding himself up on the wall.
I don't know if we'll train him to be a good swimmer- that's not my purpose in doing this. But I can tell that it's helping him strengthen his limbs in a fun way that is helping him improve. I'm so proud of the milestones we've already reached with him and can't wait to see more. Like I said, we haven't been good with arm strength, but to give you an idea- he just rolled over for the first time on his own the other day, but with holding my hands he can already stand. He may have his balance for standing before he starts crawling. (But I hope he doesn't skip crawling- I'm looking forward to that stage.).
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