Infants and Swimming: Debunking Common Myths

It’s no surprise that becoming a parent leaves you with a lot of questions. Millions of books have been written on infant sleeping and eating habits alone. Of course, there’s no shortage of questions when it comes to teaching your baby to swim. While some parents see exposure to swimming as a natural course of action, others can’t imagine submerging their baby in water. That’s why it’s important to know the facts when it comes to teaching your infant to swim. Here’s a list of common baby swimming myths debunked.

Myth #1 It’s Not Safe for Infants to Swim

While you might feel the instinctual desire to keep your infant far from the water, they’re actually much more comfortable in the water than you think. Babies will often naturally mimic swimming motions when they’re in the water and will naturally hold their breath when being submerged. Safely exposing them to swimming lessons in Los Angeles, CA, during their first few months is completely okay and recommended. 

Myth #2 Babies Won’t Remember Instruction

Many new parents will often wait until the child is in preschool or kindergarten before bringing them to their first swimming lesson. They feel as though their child won’t remember any instructions as a baby, and it’s better to wait. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Much of learning to swim is through muscle memory. Just allowing your infant to enjoy being in the water will help them to grasp onto the action of swimming. 

Myth #3 Babies Will Catch a Cold 

This is a myth that follows us into adulthood. Many people believe that being in cold water or in and out of water will bring on a cold. However, this is entirely untrue. You can only catch a cold from a transference of a virus from another person who is infected. Colds don’t spread through the pool water. In fact, swimming can even strengthen their cardiovascular system.

If you’d like to learn more debunked myths, give Lenny Krayzelburg Swim Academy a call.