Human life has been significantly related to water since time immemorial and humans don’t need anything more than water to live. That’s why we have (mostly) a very positive relationship with water probably defined by how we develop and come into the world. Moreover, swimming and its benefits have been proven for a long time. So, it was natural for me to start thinking about enrolling my newborn son in a swimming course for infants.

Worth to mention it wasn’t a new experience for me. I attended a similar course with my older son, even though the Covid pandemic significantly disrupted it (the course, not my son :)).

Until We Decide

I don’t certainly recommend taking the course without considering several factors. I can’t describe them all as it’s a very individual step, but I’ll try to generalize and formulate my thoughts.

First, it is about you and your offspring. We are all different, and likewise, a child will certainly deal with situations differently. Try to assess how your child behaves and how reacts in non-standard situations. The well-being of the child is very important. If the child is under constant stress, neither of you will enjoy the experience.

Another factor was time. It is difficult to find a course that will correspond to all your options. Not everyone finds time during the busy working days and there are only a few weekend courses (our case) mainly due to great interest. It is also necessary to take into consideration that the course will last for a couple of weeks.

My research started here although the name of the site was misleading in my case: https://www.babymamas.at/index.php/spiel-und-bewegung/782-uebersicht-schwimmkurse-fuer-babys

I finally selected a course in Floridsdorf, quite far from our home, but my son always had time to get a nap on the way there which positively affected his mood during the lessons.

It’s also important to consider what you expect from the course. For me, a pragmatic approach pays off, I simply accepted that the child will not learn to swim during the course as that is not even the goal. So my expectation was that we both would enjoy it and that my boy would deepen his positive relationship with water.

What to Bring?

I’m sure that every swimming school will give you a list of the necessities to take with you. Just to be sure, I will briefly summarize my experience:

• A swim diaper or swimsuit for small children. Be sure to take more than one in case of swim diapers, anything may happen, you know…
• Towels, big enough to wrap the baby.
• Snacks, just to keep your child fueled during the class and after.
• We used arm swimming rings as a floating device, but it is good to confirm with the instructor what type you need.
• Clothes easy to change paid off for me especially due to the limited space and equipment in the changing room. I rarely managed to keep my son’s clothes dry during changing, so something extra is always useful.

The Class

About ten children attended our course and most of them were accompanied by their fathers, which was the opposite of my oldest son’s course and in fact personal surprise for me.

We were lucky to have an experienced instructor evidently trained to work with children. She made the learning experience fun and enjoyable. The instructor usually demonstrated everything, so it didn’t even matter that I’m not able to fully understand German. We have been living in Austria for the second year and my German is still limited to “Mahlzeit”, which is typically not used during the swimming course.

The course started with practices to help the baby be comfortable in the water with exercises like merging on the water, catching floating toys (and their subsequent nibbling), and involvement of legs by kicking (there I taught the new German word “strampeln”) all that with the support of the parent.

Then we continued with the most advanced techniques like surface floating with swimming circles without the parent’s direct support. 

And after all, diving. When we talk about diving, it’s actually about teaching a child to withstand a situation of being head-submerged and it is often one of the most stressful things for parents.

Although the idea of submerging an infant underwater can be traumatic, nothing wrong should happen if you follow the instructor. The diving reflex also plays a role; babies retain this specific reflex for several months after birth. It helps them hold their breath and open their eyes while submerged, as seen in the title photo. By the way, the photo in the header is my son during one of the final lessons.

Finally, don’t hesitate to relax during the lessons. It’s always up to you to judge if your child has had enough and don’t force him into something that causes him stress or discomfort. It’s perfectly fine, and everyone is ready for this.

Recapitulation

My feeling about the whole course is definitely positive. For me as a father, relatively exhausting things were connected with the preparation, i.e. changing the baby’s clothes before and after the course.

I can clearly see a big positive shift in relation to water in my son. Visiting the pool is always a joy for him, and for me too, all the stress and worries associated with the possibility of taking him into the water have disappeared.

And finally, it is completely clear that my son built a strong foundation for future swimming development.

BIO

Pavel Michalik, a software architect from Prague, the Czech Republic, is the father of two boys. He has lived in Vienna since 2021 and has been working with Erste Group on their internet banking platform, George. In his free time, he is an avid astronomy enthusiast who enjoys exploring and taking photos of the universe. You can reach him on Twitter or on Instagram.