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Q.  My baby has attended swimming classes regularly for almost two years but he doesn’t actually swim in the pool although he loves to go underwater. At what age would you expect a baby to really swim?

A. Babies in my classes can swim unaided distances between 5m-10m by their first birthday because at this stage of their development they have strong neck muscles that can support the head. Younger babies have not yet developed a neck or muscles to raise their head above the water independently. However when these neck muscles have strengthened the head is easily raised upwards enabling the face to be above the water and an intake of breath. Quite inspiring to watch!

There are lots of companies that only submerge babies and do not use my proven swimming techniques that will develop independent swimmers. They will usually have large numbers of infants who cannot swim and eventually at around 2-3 years old these children move on to enrol in regular swimming lessons. In fact most of these classes only take babies up to 2 years old because they do not teach them to swim.

Q. My baby always loved bath time but now she refuses to sit down in the bath at home and will only stand up. When we go along to the swimming classes she spends the whole lesson clinging onto me. I feel I want to stop going to these swimming classes, what should I do?

A.  Infants who suddenly stop playing and enjoying the water have usually had a bad experience and will show signs of distress such as standing up in the bath and clinging on tightly when you go to the pool. At this point you must observe your child and especially useful with older infants is to ask this question, “Why don’t you like swimming anymore?”

If infants have been forced to swim underwater and are at the stage when really they would like to explore and develop their swimming skills so that they can put their face in the water before a swim and raise the head upwards out of the water when they need to take a breath. However many classes teach using only submersion swims, a few nursery rhymes and little else resulting in a very frustrated and often stressed out infant who can only tell you that this method is wrong by stopping swimming altogether. Literally the ‘brakes’ are on and your infant is refusing to swim anymore.

It is time to change classes and the sooner the better otherwise your infant may never go back into the water!

Q. Some swimming groups insist babies wear two swimming nappies in the pool, is this really necessary?

A. Firstly, the right size single swimming nappy in the pool should be adequate therefore a double swim nappy will reflect on poor management of a class by not informing parents to  never swim a baby too soon after a feed or if your baby is unwell.

Soiling in the pool is a very rare occurrence but can happen if a child is frightened and stressed. If swimming underwater is causing your baby to soil in the water then you must stop the swim immediately. Wearing two nappies will indicate that your baby is not happy going underwater and that the method you are using may be causing your baby to have an involuntary bowel action, you need to stop the swims immediately and seek expert advice.

Q. My twins spend more time swimming underwater than on the surface. They hate wearing goggles in the pool and as a result their eyes are often very sore, can you suggest an alternative?

A. Try applying clear Vaseline around the eye area and onto the eyelashes BEFORE they go into the water. It acts as a barrier and dispels the water away from sensitive eyes.

You can also try introducing floats and mats to play on so that they spend more time with their head up and face out of the water.

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