Swimming Games & Infants

Infants can benefit from water play and swimming lessons well before their first birthday. According to BabySwimming.com founders Rob and Kathy McKay, early lessons that combine realistic expectations with a supportive learning environment can lay the foundation for survival skills, athleticism and a love of water for the rest of a child's life. However, not even the McKays recommend introducing a baby to water play prior to 6 months of age.

What Baby Can Learn

Infants can learn to hold their breath under water, roll onto their backs to breathe while floating and relax while floating until rescued by an adult, according to InfantAquatics.com. Depending on the child's rate of development, infants can begin learning these skills between 6 and 10 months old. As with many infant and toddler teaching environments, masking instruction as a game greatly facilitates learning.

Advanced Expectations

BabySwimming.com reports that, given an early start, many babies can swim short distances between adults, successfully hold the side of the pool and perform a seated jump into the water by their first birthday. Practicing these skills as games can greatly improve water safety. Despite their budding skills, children should never be left to swim or play in water alone.

Parental Involvement

Babies are more relaxed when with the adults they know. This means your baby will be more successful playing games and learning survival skills if you participate. Many swim programs offer infant classes as a parent-and-child opportunity.

Sample Games

Swimming instructor Kay Brick describes two good water games for babies: In chase the ball, the parent holds the baby while placing a colorful ball just out of reach. As the baby kicks her legs and reaches for the ball, the parent steers the baby through the water. This gets the baby used to the idea that kicking and arm movement can move her through water. A second game involves climbing into the water, using any popular nursery rhyme tune to sing about the safe way to enter a pool. Teach your baby to always check the depth visually, turn around, check the water with a toe, lower themselves to their stomach, and inch in feet first. This discourages children from impetuously jumping into water that is either too deep or too far away from mom and dad.

Safety Concerns

Children under 4 years old are really not developmentally ready for swimming lessons, warns the American Academy of Pediatrics, or AAP. This is because children should always be supervised while in the water and early lessons can foster a false sense of safety in parents and children alike. However, the AAP does not recommend a set age for supervised water play with adults.