A young baby is guided around the swimming pool by their mum

Benefits of baby swimming

On top of learning valuable water safety skills, baby swimming lessons offer a wide range of benefits to little ones and their grown-ups – from better sleeping habits to meeting new friends, strengthening hearts & lungs to brain development.

Why should I take my baby swimming?

There are many benefits to baby swimming, even if it is a slightly daunting experience for parents taking them for the first time. Your baby will have spent the last nine months or so in your womb, where it was protected by amniotic fluid. This means that being in the water isn’t a completely unfamiliar experience for them. The sound, feel and warmth of the water can re-ignite your baby’s senses, which is a truly magical thing to watch as a parent. Swimming also offers a great opportunity for skin-to-skin contact with your baby, which can really help with parent-baby bonding.

Being in the water gives your baby complete freedom of movement, and places no additional strain on their little body. At the same time, though, swimming helps to build and strengthen your baby’s muscles. It also helps to improve balance and coordination, with research showing that babies who learn to swim have better balance outside of the pool.

One of the main benefits of swimming with your baby, of course, is that it starts to build water confidence early – and this will help them enjoy the water safely as they grow up. And, in case you needed any more convincing, swimming can help improve your baby’s sleeping pattern – something that we are sure most parents will welcome with open arms!

What happens at a baby swimming class?

Baby swimming lessons are FIN-tastic for parent-baby bonding

It depends where you go, of course, but at a Nemo Swimming class you will be in the water with a small group of parents and babies (all of whom will be of a very similar age). The instructor will also be in the water with you.

While you’re in the water, you can expect lots of songs, which provide comfort and reassurance to young children. We always use games and repetitive play patterns to help your baby learn – even at a very young age – how to blow bubbles, hold on, kick their legs, and float. To help you understand what your baby is learning, we share details as to what they are working towards via our online booking system – so you can track your little one’s progress, and be assured that Nemo Swimming instructors are doing the same.

Find out more

You can find out more about our baby swimming classes in the Nemo Babies section of our website. Or, if you have any questions, get in touch with your local Nemo Swimming team.