Yes, your baby can start learning how to swim at only 4 months old! Swimming is definitely an important life skill and helps to prevent drowning, but did you know swimming also provides benefits for babies outside the water? It’s true! Babies, toddlers and older kids benefit from learning different skills in each level offered at Goldfish Swim School, but take note of these other ways your baby will benefit from learning to swim:

1. Better Bath Time

For many babies, bath time is either hit or miss: They either love it or resist the water going near their face. If yours is one of the latter, Goldfish Swim School can help! Our instructors use integrity, compassion and trust to teach babies how to get used to being in the water and have fun, so your kids will in turn love bath time. Parenting win!

2. Increased Appetite

If your little one eats a little bit here and a little bit there, you’re not alone. But if she’s swimming and using all kinds of energy to kick around in the water, she’ll definitely be working up an appetite! Time to break out all those interesting flavors and veggies that she’ll readily gobble up because she’s so hungry.

3. Better Sleeping Routine

You may have read all the baby books out there about getting your baby to sleep, or maybe you haven’t read any –  but because you’re a mom you know that all babies are different and what helps one baby sleep won’t necessarily work for another. However, when your baby is using up her energy in swim class, her little body will naturally want to sleep and rest her body. That’s something to celebrate!

4. Better Balance

Physical therapists often use water therapy exercise to help condition and strengthen muscles as the water provides a gentle resistance. Likewise, babies will experience a similar result by developing stronger arm, leg and core muscles when learning to swim! Plus, swimming uses so many different muscle groups that it can help babies become stronger and more coordinated at a faster rate.

5. Better Motor Development

The movements required in a swim class (like swim strokes and doing a crab walk along the wall)  allow your baby to move in ways not typically done out of the water. And with the benefit of buoyancy in the water, your little goldfish will be able to try new movements that boost motor development.

6. Better Memory

Scientists have long determined that exercise helps strengthen the brain (because the brain is a muscle, after all!). In particular, exercise helps strengthen the part of the brain associated with memory and learning. You may think that swimming is great for your baby’s muscular development, but you’ll be happy to know that it is also helpful in increasing your baby’s memory – now and for years to come!

7. Confidence

One of the key benefits of kids learning how to swim is the confidence they’ll gain…especially at Goldfish Swim School. When they see their own extraordinary results week after week, you’ll see their pride. The award ribbons we hand out for accomplishments help kids become confident in their own abilities – particularly babies, who are just learning and are quick to find out they can do new things and start out with some positive self-esteem.

8. More Personal Drive

When it comes to teaching your child life skills, the learning starts young. Things like independence, self-discipline, self-control and the drive to succeed can absolutely be fostered in a baby! Think of all the memories you have of key events in your young life that shaped your personality: There are likely tons more events that you don’t remember because they happened when you were a baby. The traits your baby will learn from swim lessons can continue giving them a GOLDEN experience for life!

9. Language Development

Babies learn to talk by listening. They listen to mom, dad, grandparents, the television, the radio and every person nearby. So, the more people babies listen to, the more they learn: From speech patterns, varied vocabulary, distinctive inflections and different situations where others are talking. Listening to an instructor exposes babies to different words they may not normally hear and improves vocabulary – even if your baby isn’t talking quite yet.

10. Socialization

Having your baby interact with an instructor – along with other babies and parents – during swim class helps introduce your little one to being around a new authority figure and potential friends. Being around new people will help your baby be accustomed to socializing with others at a very young age, which is super helpful during play dates and when school starts.

Goldfish Swim School Benefits Babies!

Visit one of our many locations and you’ll see the Top 5 Reasons Goldfish Swim School is Worth the Money(including our WOW! customer service!) and sign up for swim lessons today. Take advantage of the 10 Ways Swimming Benefits Babies outside the Water and the 3 Key Benefits of Learning How to Swim Correctly.