Swimming pool activities are not only great fun for the child. This type of activity is completely safe and has a very positive impact on the health of the toddler. How to prepare for the first visit to the pool with your child? We suggest!
Swimming has a positive effect on shaping the child’s figure – incorrect body posture is a common problem among toddlers. It is associated with the fact that they spend more and more time in front of the computer and at school desks. Swimming takes care of proper body posture, allowing for safe and effective correction of incorrect figure. A child who suffers from scoliosis or other abnormal curvature of the spine should also be enrolled in swimming. Regular swimming contributes to relieving intervertebral discs and increasing their volume, and thus improving their performance.
Low risk of injury – swimming is an extremely safe sport in which it is difficult to get injured. This is due to the fact that during swimming classes we do not strain our joints. Instead, we are relieving them, contributing to the improvement of their functionality.
Muscle development and stretching – participation in swimming classes guarantees good condition, physical fitness and motor coordination. During the classes, the muscles work intensively, effectively developing. The effects of this type of activity are visible after just a few visits to the pool. The child becomes more resilient and gets tired slower. This makes swimming a pure pleasure for him, instead of an unpleasant duty. While swimming we also deal with stretching of muscles, which results in improvement of the range of movement. This plays an important role especially during puberty. This is because short muscles generate little power and limit mobility and joint motility.
Help in the development of the respiratory and circulatory systems – children who swim regularly have their circulation and blood flow stimulated. This stimulates both heart function and heart growth. Swimming is also a great way to stimulate the lungs and increase their volume, resulting in improved performance.
To make sure that a visit to the pool with a toddler will be one hundred percent safe, it is worth following the tips below:
– Before enrolling your child in a swimming pool class, it’s a good idea to see a pediatrician to see if your child is ready for this type of activity.
– The swimming bag should include: swimming trunks or a swimsuit, flip-flops (a proven way to protect against foot fungus), a towel (preferably one thick and one quick-drying), body soap, olive oil, swimming gloves and/or a swimming wheel, an extra set of clothes, and in the case of the youngest children – diapers for water and traditional diaper changes.
– A toddler should enter the pool area wearing a bathrobe or wrapped in a towel.
– While swimming, the child should be submerged in water up to the shoulder line.
– After leaving the pool toddler should be wrapped in a large towel, and then washed with a special soap for children. Then dry his skin, taking into account hard to reach places, such as ears or spaces between the toes. It is also worth rinsing the baby’s eyes with saline. In this way you can prevent their irritation and the development of infections. Finally, lubricate the body of a toddler with olive oil, so that it does not dry out.
Swimming classes can be attended already by a few months old toddlers, whose body weight exceeds 7 kilograms and who rigidly hold their head, in addition, still have an active reflex of non-swallowing derived from fetal life.
Featured photo: Freepik
