Some parents worry about putting their children in a pool before they’re old enough to walk, but the benefits of getting your kids splashing around in the water as babies can pay off for a lifetime. Some of the many benefits of infant swim lessons include:

• Improved safety: Some parents worry that being comfortable in water can increase the risk of drowning for infants because they will get too close to pools or lakes. But research has actually shown that lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by teaching kids key safety skills from a young age.
• Enhanced cognitive functioning: Infant swim lessons can help your baby’s brain grow by utilizing movements that use both sides of the body. These movements combined with the tactile sensation of water can spur mental development and learning later on.
• Bonding time: Getting to play in the water with a parent or other caregiver is a great bonding experience for infants during key developmental phases. Skin-to-skin contact, water play, and songs all contribute to having fun and cultivating positive interactions.

At La Petite Baleen Swim Schools in the Bay Area, we have decades of experience providing top-quality swim lessons to kids and infants since 1979. With such extensive experience and top-quality training for our instructors, you know you can count on our team members to provide safe, reliable instruction for you and your child.

Our baby swim lessons are all offered as joint caregiver-baby classes, so you are in the water with your child at all times. We have bilingual swim instructors who can teach in Spanish or English for maximum access for parents, as well as four locations throughout the Bay Area so you can find the location that’s most convenient for you. Choose from San Bruno, Redwood City, Half Moon Bay, or San Francisco to cut down on commute times.

Contact La Petite Baleen today to get more information or to schedule your baby’s swim lesson by calling (844) 339-5015.

You may wonder how babies can benefit from swim lessons when they aren’t even old enough to walk yet, but the skills they learn in these early days can go a long way toward forming a foundation for technical skills and strokes later on. At La Petite Baleen Swim Schools, our infant swim lessons all have a 6:1 student-to-teacher ratio, so you know you’re getting safe, hands-on attention and instruction. Some of the things your infant will learn in our classes include:

• Breath control, balance, and buoyancy taught through a series of songs and games
• Safety skills, like underwater submersions, back floats, and grasping the wall
• The use of goggles and, at approximately 12 months, fins are introduced.

Starting swimming lessons early on is a great way to get your child comfortable with water and improve their safety skills around pools, lakes, and even bathtubs. While some parents worry that exposure to water at a young age will make children too comfortable around water, leading them to behave unsafely, research has found the opposite to be true. A 2009 research study found that participation in formal swimming lessons was associated with an 88 percent reduction in the risk of drowning in children ages one to four.

At La Petite Baleen Swim Schools in the Bay Area, we offer swim lessons for children as young as two months old. This introductory level of lessons focuses on improving your child’s comfort around water and learning basic water safety skills. We also help the caregiver participating in the class learn about water safety and how to keep your infant safe around water. Check out our class finder tool to learn more about which level is right for your child.