Infants & Swimming
The Benefits Last A Lifetime
By Michele Block Morse
Drowning
In addition to constant parental supervision,
swimming instruction year-round is the best way
in which to protect your child from the very real
danger that any open body of water can present.
Year-round swimmers retain a healthy respect for
the water and build skills far beyond those of
seasonal swimmers. Lakes, ponds, bathtubs, covered
swimming pools, or any open body of water can
present the potential for great danger. Drowning
is not only a summer danger. It can happen at
any time, thereby making swimming instruction
year-round much more than just "preventative
medicine."
|
|
Amazing
Long Term Benefits
Scientific studies of infant swimming in Germany
have shown that the early stimulation that swimming
provides helps to develop the child in three key
areas: Physically, Mentally, and Emotionally.
As compared with a control group
who did not take year-round lessons, the children
who swam consistently from infancy were found to
be significantly stronger and more coordinated.
Muscles developed in a process similar to physical
therapy, enabling the children to excel at all physical
activities, which was not limited to swimming. Children
that swam also scored higher for intelligence and
problem solving, which carried over into excellence
and alertness in school. Also, emotionally, children
who swam year-round were found to be more self-disciplined,
motivated, and self-confident due to the constant
goal setting, learning, and achievement that goes
on during lessons.
|
Separation Anxiety
As
they grow - 9 to 12 months
Cling Time
Believe it or not, separation anxiety is a positive
sign of a baby's healthy development. One day your
baby can be passed to and left with just about anyone.
The next day your usual baby-sitter arrives and without
warning, your baby wails inconsolably as you put on
your coat. Separation anxiety and its close cousin,
stranger wariness, generally kick in between the ages
of six months and one year. They are essential milestones
that play a major role in a child's emotional development.
For most parents, this is a difficult phase. Nevertheless,
your baby's overwhelming desire to be close to you
does serve a crucial purpose. Experts agree that it
is the basis of your child's ability to form personal
relationships.
During the second half of the first
year... Between six and twelve months of age, babies make a major emotional leap. They realize
first that Mother is a separate individual from his
or her self and, second, that they value her presence
far more than anybody else's. Eventually this special
person can be the baby's father, sibling, or grandparent
as well. By the age of two, most children can cope
with routine separations. However, over the years the bonds shared early in life will facilitate the ability and desire to develop friendships with peers and eventually personal and professional adult relationships. "Developing a secure emotional
attachment early in life is one of the most important
ingredients in a person's long-term emotional well-being,"
says Charles H. Zeanah, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry
at Louisiana State University School of Medicine,
in New Orleans. "Many children in institution
or foster homes with constantly changing caregivers
miss the opportunity to develop close relationships
early in childhood," he says. As a result, studies
have shown, when these kids enter adulthood, they
often have difficulty feeling close to other people
and, in some cases, exhibit antisocial behaviors.
"You don't have to stay tethered to your infant
until he or she gives you permission to go," notes
Leila Beckwith, Ph.D., a Professor of Pediatrics at
the University of California, Los Angeles.
What's as important
as a baby's need to feel close to his or her mother
is his or her awareness that while you can't always
be by her side, you will always return.
|
|
