swimming-article

Backstroke Ban

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Swimming pool bans backstroke

A local council has banned it’s swimmers from doing backstroke in the pool as it fears they could injure themselves if they collide. Swimmers at the Daisyfield pool in Blackburn have been told they can do only forward strokes during busy periods when the pool is divided into lanes, officials said. “This is not about threats of legal action,” said Kate Hollern, of Blackburn and Darwen Council responsible for culture, leisure and sport. “We are simply limiting the times when people can swim backstroke to prevent dangerous collisions. “We would expect that people would be concerned for their own safety as well as that of others so we are being proactive in introducing these rules.” She said the new rules complied with guidelines issued by the national Institute of Sport and Recreation Management, and were “designed be inclusive to ensure that all people can use our facilities in a safe way”.

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Heidi’s Channel Swim

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A COALVILLE woman has made a splash raising money for a spinal injury charity.

Heidi Spiller, 35, has now finished swimming the length of the English Channel a massive 1,408 lengths of Hermitage Leisure Centre’s swimming pool.

All of the money raised around £1,030 will now go to Aspire, the Association for Spinal Injury Research Rehabilitation and Reintegration.

Heidi decided to dive-in and help the charity after overcoming her fear of the deep-end earlier this year.

She said: “Just before the summer holidays I swam 64 lengths, which is a mile, and I felt like I wanted something more to aspire to.

“When I went back to the leisure centre I saw the information for the Aspire Channel Swim and I thought I could actually exercise, lose weight and do something good for somebody else.”

Every day four people in the UK are told they will never walk again.

Aspire works with these people to offer practical support and innovation from the time of their injury for the rest of their lives.

The charity works towards reintegration by creating an environment where the barriers that divide able-bodied and disabled people are removed.

Having completed the task, Heidi said: “I feel fantastic – I’m jumping for joy.

“People are asking me if I’m going to swim back now that I’ve swum to France, but I’ll give it a rest for now!”

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Your Infant’s First Swim

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Taking the Plunge – Your Infant’s First Swim

Aaaah, spring! With the last remainder of winter gradually melting into the ground, its easy to let your mind begin to wander to the firsts of summer: that first evening BBQ with friends, that first softball game being played in the park, or that first whiff of freshly-mowed grass.

But before you start day-dreaming about your little one’s first toe dip in a wading pool for swim lessons, consider the following: According to the American Academy of Paediatrics, swim classes may not be a good idea for babies. Research shows that, in children under 3, the risk of infections increases with time spent in swimming pools.

Your child may be more likely develop swimmer’s ear (due to water entering the ear), diarrhoea (due to germs in the water being swallowed), swimmer’s itch, and other rashes. Along with these greater risks, children under 3 who have taken lessons prove to be no stronger as swimmers in later years than their non-lesson counterparts.

Nor could an infant’s tendency to float in water (due to high fat content) be called upon in a life-threatening aquatic situation! So, should you shirk all water activity with your infant, and, on a hot day, ignore the enticing, glistening waters of your local outdoor swimming pool?

The answer is no. As long as you are aware of the risks, and do not expect your little one to develop self-reliant skills in the water, it is perfectly acceptable to use the pool as a place where you can both cool off.

Do keep in mind some common sense advice, however.

– Small children with colds and flus should refrain from water activity. If your child is prone to ear infections, seek the doctor’s approval before he takes the plunge.

– Don’t submerge a baby’s face. Swallowing water can cause water intoxication, a watering down of the blood that produces nausea, weakness, convulsions, and even coma.

– A baby who does not maintain good head control should never be taken into a pool. His head may bob under by accident, so wait until he is stronger.

– Lastly, have fun with your baby, but do not expect to “teach” him swimming skills. Allowing your child to feel comfortable and safe in the water is the first and most important step in his water safety training.

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Teach Your Baby to Swim

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Taking the First Steps

Water makes us very afraid when we know how easily a baby could drown. Today we are going to tell you how to teach your baby to swim from when he is very small. They will start to have confidence in the water and you will feel much more secure and calm.

The first contact with the water should be in the bath since you can support the baby much better. Put the baby in the bath and fill it with water until it covers the chest. Do this several times. Also, if you use toys in your bathroom it would be advisable to take them to your lessons in the pool too, so that your baby feels secure with familiar things. After, swimming lessons will come in the pool.

It is very important that your baby feels relaxed in the water and learns to float, but that does not mean that he is out of danger of drowning. You must always be with your child and either hold him or keep him at arm’s length at all times. Never leave it alone near a swimming pool or even a smaller body of water, like a bucket with three fingers of water, not even forfor such small babies.

Forget the floats. If you bought them to make them feel safer in the water, the experts do not recommend them. Not only can it give them a false sense of security, but they will also adopt an incorrect way of staying afloat, as it makes them take a vertical position in the water when they need to be able to stand horizontally. If you are already used to swimming with them, it will be difficult to take them off. If you want your child to learn to swim more easily, try these water games:

Give your baby a straw and encourage him to blow into the water.
Drag him holding his arms while he kicks with his feet.
Put him to float on his back, supporting his head and back. Move in zig-zag.
Teach him to jump from the edge, holding him first from below with his hands. Then encourage him to jump without help, but stand up, not head down.

After 15 months, although it also depends as soon as the child begins to become familiar with the water, their learning is a little faster, because they already know how to walk and this makes them move better. Babies who have contact with water will begin to crawl , walk, move, communicate with other children much quicker.

Finally, it is important, to teach certain basic rules about swimming from a very early age, which will provide some extra safety measures to enjoy the lessons safely:

Do not get into the water without first tellng an adult
Do not jump in without permission or supervision of an adult
Shower before and after the pool
Use other protection methods such as sunscreen, flip flops to avoid fungus in swimming pools or goggles to protect the eyes from chlorine or salt
Do not run or play on the curb of the pool

Baby Swimming

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Read about us in Woman Magazine

Our Baby Swimming site is an offshoot of our nervous swimmers program offering the opportunity for mothers and babies to :

Learn about baby swimming
Read articles and find information about teaching baby to swim
Purchase Little Dippers Baby Swimming DVD
Book one-to-one Baby Swimming Classes in a small private pool
Arrange Mother and Baby Swimming Sessions
rImprove Mums confidence in the wate
Get in touch with other Mums in your area

Babies enjoy much in the water. Swimming is the most complete sport and the first thing to start practicing, even before babies learn to walk or crawl. Until recently, doctors and experts recommended not to take the kids swimming lessons until they met four years, but in recent years has appeared a type of baby swimming highly recommended:
Stimulation exercises in the water with the baby.

Baby Swimming Classes

Baby classes are not lessons for babies to learn to swim, among other things, because it is not until about age four when the musculoskeletal system is developed enough to swim. These baby classes are an activity that seeks aquatic baby stimulation through a series of games that allow you to learn to float and move through the water with the help of their parents.

In this method the role of the father or mother in the water is essential. Through technical guidance of the teacher in charge of the activity, parents participate in the aquatic adventure of your baby. Besides this initial contact will reinforce the bond between parents and babies, living an original, unique experience.

At what age should we begin these baby classes?

The age at which infants begin to learn is not clearly defined. What the experts recommend is that you wait until the baby is four months since it is at that age when you finish the immune system mature small, and the risk of ear infections or colds is lower. The Committee on Sports Medicine and Training of the American Academy of Pediatrics for many years opposed to children under four years give swimming lessons, on the grounds that they considered that the risks – as cooling child, possibility of water poisoning and infections – and the false sense of security that could produce some parents that their children would be able to swim and self-care in the water were downright harmful to the child’s health. But since 2000 this position has changed dramatically: the Committee stated that the risks can be avoided through precautions and safety measures.

Finally, if you’ve had a good or bad experience trying to find baby swimming, please drop us a line.

Thanks for visiting Baby Swimming and we wish you and your baby every joy and success as your baby learns to play swim.

Baby Swimming DVD

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Teach Your Baby to Swim with this inspiring BBC produced baby swim dvd

Teach your baby to swim and love the water

An amazing DVD from award winner Lauren Heston, UK’s most respected instructor of water safety for babies.

All you need to know about:

Water Awareness
Self Rescue Skills
Fitness
Bonding
Fun

Are you wary about introducing your baby to swimming? Are you looking forward to getting your baby in the water but think it’s a long way off? Many new Mothers and Dads too, think they can’t take their baby swimming until they are at least six months old or even older. Actually there is no sound basis for this. All babies have a natural affinity to water and will play and exercise quite safely in water from birth without anxiety. Water-babies is a unique DVD that explains you all you need to know about when and how to get your baby swimming or playing happily in the water.

Water-babies is the brain-child of Lauren Heston, who has been running the highly-successful Little Dippers baby swimming program across the UK for almost 20 years. The DVD was produced by the makers of BAFTA-Award winning BBC series The Human Body.

The DVD/video shows carefully-designed exercises focused on developing skills for safety, increasing fitness and most important, enjoying the water with your baby. Throughout the DVD, emphasis is placed on safety in the water, revisiting past exercises and steady progress – from simple and fun things to do in the bath to begin with, the program takes you and your baby through progressive development until you feel confident and safe in water with your baby.

Following the DVD will strengthen your baby’s hearts, lungs and respiratory systems improve your baby’s mental outlook. Your baby will soon be swimming.

This baby swimming DVD will give you countless opportunities for fun and bonding, an ideal beginning as your baby turns into a confident swimmer as he or she grows.

Order the DVD

Click Babies and Swimming Pools for guidelines on information on immunisation, swim nappies, skin care etc.

Teach Your Baby to Swim

Little Dippers DVD is no longr available

Baby Swimming Classes

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When it comes to baby swimming classes, we are a little nervous of using that term. It conjures up visions of the local pool crammed with at least 6 or 8 babies and a swimming teacher on the side barking instruction and expecting every baby to be the same, leaving mothers whose babies don’t seem to conform feeling lost and vulnerable.

There is also the issue of how Mum feels too. New mothers especially can feel very vulnerable in this situation. Perhaps they book the obligatory baby swimming classes because they want baby to learn to swim when they have never been a strong swimmer themselves.

Baby Swimming Classes

If you are a strong swimmer and comfortable in the water and are lucky enough to have a resilient baby who will cope with anything thrown at him or her, then go ahead and book those baby swimming classes at your local pool.

If not, you might want to consider booking private swimming classes for you and your baby. You and your baby will have the total and exclusive use of our small ‘baby-friendly’ pool for your class and the undivided attention of an instructor who will tailor the sessions to both you and your babies needs.

The pool at Swim-Easy is largely used by swimmers with phobias and other nervous non-swimmers as well as individual mother and baby water awareness sessions. If you see anyone at all before or after your session, it will be a nervous swimmer or another mum with her baby occasionally Dad. Occasionally they will be leaving as you arrive for your class, or arriving for their class as you leave after yours. That’s it! What you won’t see is loads of people lining up for their swimming classes and a frenetic noisy environment that often terrifies babies before they even get in the pool.

We are based in Swadlincote, Derbyshire and can offer baby swimming classes on a week to week basis for those within traveling distance and residential packages for those a bit further afield.

Whilst we offer baby swimming classes phrased as such, each and every session is tailored to you and your baby. You may book a mother and baby swim that turns into something more adventurous when you and your baby are ready, or you may book a baby swimming class and find that you’d rather have a relaxing play session with your baby.

Mother and Baby Swim

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Mother and Baby Swimming Classes Mother and Baby Water Awareness in our Private Small Pool

Our private pool is 18 feet by 10 feet. You and your baby will have sole use during your session.

First please forgive the use of the words Mother and Baby Swimming. Sadly we live in a world now dominated by search engines and if that is what people search for and we want you to find this page, then Mother and Baby Swimming, although not what we would choose to call it, is a phrase we must use. So lets start again.

Water awareness for Mother and Baby.

Everyone agrees that getting your baby used to water / getting your baby swimming at the first opportunity is one of the best starts you can give your baby. Opinions are divided on exactly when to start, but babies are welcome at our swimming pool from as early as a few weeks old providing Mum comes too. Swimming with your baby builds confidence, trust and communication skills. Sessions are kept short so that your baby can experience the glorious sensation of letting the water support him or her and leave the water looking forward to more.

Many mothers feel structured baby swimming classes are a little more than they want whilst struggling to balance a very busy life with a new baby. A chance to chill out and just relax with in the water is just what is needed so mother and baby both have the opportunity to enjoy the water without any pressure.

For those who can reach us easily, we offer courses ranging from 6 sessions, one a week, and discounts for those wanting to commit to longer. When Mother and Baby live further afield, we offer a residential to suit.

We are based in Swadlincote, Derbyshire. Why not come and have a chat or phone.

Swimming Lessons for Kids

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Lessons for Kids

Swimming lessons are a great way for kids to stay active and learning to swim is an essential tool for kids to at an early age to keep them safe and at ease around water. Learning to swim if a skill that will stay with a child forever and our swimming pools are used by olympic swimmers and kids alike, giving the kids the chance to see where their new hobby could lead.

Swimming Lessons for Kids

Why are swimming lessons great for kids? It’s one of the very few areas where kids are completely independent, especially before they are school age. The water supports their weight and they are free to move their legs and arms as much as they want. Kids love it! Swimming classes are also a great bonding experience for kids, moms and dads too.

We know other Mums (and Dads) would find it useful to see testimonials here for Baby Swimming Classes in Aberdeenshire so if you can help with this, we would love to here about your baby swimming experience with local swimming classes. Research has shown, kids take swimming classes, are far better developed socially, mentally and physically. Did you know that kids sleeping and eating patterns are improved by regular exercise?