"Teaching babies to swim turns out to be more than just fun. Baby swimmers have better balance and are also better at grasping at things than non-swimmers. This difference persists even when children are five years old, when babies who have been taught to swim still outperform their peers."
Here are nine great reasons to get babies swimming.
1. Deepens parent-infant bond. Being face-to-face with your child and having skin-to-skin contact in the water deepens emotional bonds and gives the child a sense of attachment, commitment and connection to you.
2. Enhances neurological development. Children experience tactile stimulation through the whole body while in the water, which encourages neurological development. This experience and interaction are important for overall neural organization.
3. Two-month- to four-year-olds adapted better to new situations and had more self confidence and independence than non-swimmers.
4. Expands cerebral communication that children's brains develop through bilateral cross pattern movements like swimming, walking and crawling. Nerve fibers develop this way which helps with communication from one side of the brain to the other. It can also heighten cognition and increase the ease of learning.
5. Increases memory capacity. The more movement and exercise a person does can affect the size and memory capacity of their hippocampus – the part of the brain associated with memory.
6. Accelerates cognitive development. Studies have shown that children under the age of five who are involved in swim lessons are more advanced in their cognitive and physical development than their non-swimming peers.
7. Improves motor development. Studies show that babies who swim develop better balance, movement and grasping techniques than non-swimmers.
8. Boosts development. Studies show that early, year-round swimming can accelerate development physically, intellectually and emotionally. Children who swam consistently year-round from infancy were stronger and more coordinated, scored higher for intelligence, had more self-discipline and self-control, and were more independent.
9. Reduces the risk of drowning. Studies show that formal swim lessons could reduce the risk of drowning by 88% among children aged 1 to 4 years.
About Goldfish Swim School
Established in 2006 by husband and wife team, Jenny and Chris McCuiston, Goldfish Swim School provides swim lessons and water safety instruction to infants and children ages four months to 12 years. Classes are offered by specially trained instructors in a safe, kid-friendly and fun environment. Goldfish currently teaches more than 31,000 students per week to swim and be safer in and around the water. Headquartered in Birmingham, Michigan, Goldfish Swim School opened its first franchise in 2009 in Farmington Hills, Michigan and is in the process of expanding franchise opportunities throughout the country. Currently there over 30 schools open or in development in more than 10 states. For more information, visit www.goldfishswimschool.com.
Sources:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/187087.php
http://www.sosswim.com/blog/scientific-proof-of-the-benefits-of-baby-swimming http://www.slideshare.net/NDPA/lana-whitehead-scientific-benefits-of-early-swim-lessons http://charlotteaquatics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/9-scientific-benefits-of-swimming.pdf
http://www.bluebuoy.com/pdfs/lana-whitehead-scientific-benefits-of-early-swim-lessons.pdf
