Swimming Baby

Wanting to expose Adelaida to all the wonderful things in life, we decided to sign her up for swimming lessons. You might ask what a four-month-old learns in swimming lessons; after two lessons, we're still trying to figure that out as well. Personally, I think the lessons are designed to teach the parent rather than the baby.

The lessons are "parent-tot" lessons, which in our case has meant "father-daughter" lessons.

The lessons are every Sunday for three weeks, and we've completed two lessons already. We arrive at the pool about forty-five minutes before the lessons begin (because everything takes longer with a baby!), changed Adelaida into her swimming diapers, put her bathing suit on her, slather sunblock on her little arms, legs, chest, back, neck, and face, nurse her, and finally start thinking about getting into the water. All of that for a 30-minute lesson that sometimes ends five or ten minutes early if Adelaida starts getting fussy in the water!

We bought the smallest size swimming diapers that are made; they are designed for babies between 16 and 26 pounds. Adelaida just reached 12 1/2 pounds (and we're quite proud of that extra 1/2 pound!), so they're a little big for her. OK, they are a lot big for her! Her adorable little bathing suit is pink with polka-dots and has roses across the front. (It is a 3-6 month size and is far from aerodynamic on her skinny little body.)

Once they get in the water, the instructor rotates from one parent-tot pair to another, suggesting different activities for the parent to do to the tot. The lessons are for kids up to 36 months old, and Adelaida is of course the youngest one there, but there are three other kids in the 6-to-9-month range, so she's not the youngest by much. The older kids in the class practice kicking their legs and reaching toward the instructor with one hand and then the other (freestyle stroke). Adelaida really just practices getting wet!

The first day of swimming lessons, Adelaida was doing really well and was just as happy as could be in the water. (Actually, we aren't entirely sure she was aware of being in the water, but she was pretty happy being in her Daddy's arms!) She enjoyed looking at the other babies and at least once splashed everyone around her (although I'm pretty sure this was an accident) and startled herself in the process. The instructor showed Dale how to make her hold her breath and suggested the Dale dunk her underwater. He did, and she did great!



Adelaida also practiced floating on her back (really hard with a buoyant diaper and a dense head), moving through the water with her Daddy, and "jumping" out of the pool in her Daddy's arms. The lessons have been great and we're looking forward to the next (and last) lesson on Sunday. After the lessons are over, we may go to the pool a couple of times this summer to keep Adelaida familiar with the water.