Infant Swimming: Survial Skills vs. Water Exploration

When is comes to infant swimming, two clear approaches exist: One is about focusing on life-saving techniques, the other is about feeling more comfortable in the water.

How do you decided what is right for you or your baby? It’s sort of a trick question to ask whether or not you’d like your child to be as safe as possible in the water. Of course you would. But learning infant survival skills comes at a cost. The price can be stress, for both the parent and the baby.

To Turn Over or Not to Turn Over — That is the Question

Infant survival really breaks down to teaching a baby to turn over and float unassisted on their back, should they fall into a pool, so they can breathe. All mothers should watch this amazing video clip I posted on this entry. It shows 11-month old Miles falling into a pool wearing his jammies. Miles is able to roll onto his back, stabilize a float, and just relax, breath, and cry until help arrives five whole minutes after the fact he fell.

It should be noted Miles is the baby to a doctor who started and teaches an infant survival swim program. Miles, in all reality, has had the most and best practice. And that is what would come down to you and your baby being able to do this: consistent (as many as five sessions a week) and frequent (10-20 minutes) of just placing your baby in a face-down float and assisting in a roll over until they prove they can do it themselves.

Stress is the Price You Both Pay for Such Safety

Obviously, an infant survival approach to swimming takes a lot of nerve as well as faith in your instructor. It is an involuntary act for the infant, meaning they do not get to make a choice in the matter.

It can be very stressful to watch your infant float face-down and will them to turn over. But to deal with this,  it is good to know infants have two physical instincts when water hits the face. First, they have a Diver’s Response. This is a fancy term to describe infants sense the lack of oxygen and their bodies start conserving what oxygen they have in the system — for as long as 1/2 hour. Second is the Gag Reflex. This means the epiglottis, a flap that closes off the trachea (which leads to the lungs), creates an air-tight seal. So water does not enter the lungs. However, the esophagus, which leads to the stomach, remains open. So if your baby coughs, it is because water entered the stomach. Why some babies don’t swallow and some do is genetics — some Gag Reflexes are just stronger than others.

Developing A Confident Relationship with Water

Comfort takes a backseat with infant survival techniques, but fun and “water exploration” comes first with a baby class like my Mommies-in-Motion or a Splash! class.

Water exploration is about learning water skills for mom and baby at a speed they are comfortable with. I reviewed an outstanding book about teaching babies water explorations skills here.

Often in my classes I can clearly see an overprotective mom with a very water-curious baby; although I encourage the mom to push her comfort boundaries, I don’t force. I use ‘exploration’ verse ‘swim’ in order to indicate our traditional definitions of swimming — independently swimming from one person to another — will not be achieved.

Definition of Swimming is Different For All

I usually ask participating parents at the beginning of any infant class what their definition of swimming is. Then I ask if they expect their baby to meet those expectations, which is met with a gasp and howl of ‘no.’ But sometimes not. Sometimes the parent has high expectations. Sometimes they want infant survival skills.

In the end, you have to ask yourself what it is you want, and whether or not you are ready and willing to do those things to achieve it. I am not against the teaching of infant water survival skills. I personally teach from a comfort-based philosophy, focused more on the mother and baby coming to terms with their individual water confidence as one, but it doesn’t mean I’m not interested in the latter.

Some might argue that in order to feel more comfortable in the water, you must first feel as if you could survive. I advise to work with the body language you have, rather than the body language you want, to address building water safety.  You simply cannot force a participant — mother or baby — to have confidence with water. They must develop it.

Tags: baby Miles, infant, Infant Swimming, Learn to Swim, Mommies-in-Motion