Swimming babies

Event of the month

Swimming babies

New sensations against a background of laughter.

Cries, laughs, mats, balls, etc.

The atmosphere is guaranteed in the small pools where swimming babies splash about in hot water. From four or five months, toddlers can acquaint themselves with the joys of water along with their parents. There is no question of learning to swim here, the key word is pleasure.

A whole world of discovery opens up to the swimming babies when they arrive at the pool, which is heated at 32° for them. They discover the pleasures of water, of course, as well as the sounds of aquatic games and children’s laughter, the colours of the numerous toys used in support of the activities. And, above all, during the half-hour of aquatic recreation, they have various affective contacts with their parents. The latter, guided by specialised coordinators, organise games for their child that are intended to help him to learn to feel comfortable in water.

There is no question of learning to swim here: before the age of five years, the activities remain essentially playful. And it is no accident that, among the coordinators, one often finds young-childhood specialists, and sometimes even psychomotricians or psychologists, alongside the swimming instructors. The FAEL (Federation of Aquatic Early Learning and Leisure Activities, which brings together a number of swimming pools and associations, advocates this multidisciplinary-team principle. It actually encourages a mindset based on play activity geared to the psychomotor and affective development of the infant.

For:

The swimming babies activity is perfectly suited to handicapped children, and certain associations, like L’enfant d’eau (The Water Child) (piscine Jean Dame), accept them gladly.

Against:

For Dr Eric Saban, a paediatrician at Levallois-Perret, this activity is not recommended for children sent to a crèche, given that they are more likely than other children to have minor problems such as a blocked nose, cold, ear infection, etc. Children who have recurrent ear infections should obviously avoid putting their head under water once a week. Finally, Dr Saban points out that chlorinated water is bad for children who have sensitive and dry skin, or who are probe to eczema.

Practical information:

Babies are accepted as soon as they have had their second (or, for some associations, third) Pentacoq injection. That is to say, at the age of four or five months.

Some swimming pools open to the public devote specific time slots to swimming babies: the water is then heated at 32° for them. These are usually the school pools that accept toddlers: smaller than swimming pools (they are usually 10 to 20 metres long), they have a maximum depth of around 1.40 metres, and their water is heated at 32° and permanently tested.

Take toddlers to them in the morning: this is when the water, having been recycled throughout the night, is cleanest.

Plan to feed the children before and after the activity.

As the demand is fairly heavy in Paris, the facilities are often fully subscribed. But some swimming pools have more places. Enrolment is usually for one school year, but it is still possible to enrol during the year and to pay only for the months remaining.

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