National Baby Swimming Week, which runs from Sunday 13th- Saturday 19th October, aims to raise awareness of how much swimming can positively impact on a baby’s development both physically and psychologically, allowing them the opportunity to reach key milestones sooner.
As well as providing great parent and baby bonding experiences, according to The Early Years Swimming Research Project by Griffith University, compared with non-swimmers, baby swimmers are generally 11 months ahead in oral expression; six months ahead in mathematics reasoning; two months ahead in brief reading; 17 months ahead for story recall and 20 months ahead for understanding directions.
A separate study by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology found that compared with non-swimmers, baby swimmers generally have stronger heart and lung functions; have better balance and are significantly stronger and more co-ordinated.
The benefits are clear to see and that’s why Queen’s Leisure Centre’s teaching pool is a perfect haven for families who want to swim with their little one.
Heated to 31 degrees, the teaching pool offers ‘Adult and Child’ sessions which are designed so babies can start to learn the fundamentals of swimming in a safe environment as only children under the age of five can join in. There are toys and floats for children to enjoy, which helps to build their confidence in a fun way.
Once they have reached the age of three, there are options to further their swimming skills on Derby City Council’s Learn to Swim programme.