Swimming

Since we are going to head to the pool tomorrow for a swim I thought I would put together all the notes from when I first started reading up on the best way to get Frankie into the pool - and have her enjoying herself.

Swim Nappies:
We bought a reusable swim nappy from here. But you can buy ones from the supermarket. The thing to know about swim nappies is they are only keeping in the solids. You really can't keep in the wees and that, everyone, is why chlorine pools smell :)

There is a good little section in Robyn Barker's Baby Love book - otherwise known as the baby bible in this house which covers the following:

Main aims for babies swimming:

1. Learning to love water
2. Skin to Skin contact with mum or dad
3. Confidence in the water - leads to water safety 

We shouldn't have to worry about sun protection or cold water at the aquatic centre but she suggests limiting swimming to 30 mins for these reasons (though I'm not sure Frankie could do one activity for 30 mins yet anyway). 

I found a video on introducing babies to water: http://www.uswim.com/baby-swimming. I like the 'Name, ready, go' command idea.

We have had a swim with Frankie in a relative's pool but we didn't put her under or try and make her 'swim'. It was really just about getting her used to her bathers, the pool, and her splashy cousins!