At what age can children learn to swim? What is the best age for children to learn to swim?

Swimming exercise can first prevent colds. Due to the stimulation of cold water, long-term swimming exercise can enhance physical fitness to resist cold, improve the ability to adapt to the environment, and enhance people's physical fitness. So there are so many benefits of swimming. At what age can children learn to swim? What is the best age for children to learn to swim?

Children learning to swim depends on their age

Playing in water before 1 year old

Parents may wish to bring babies aged 6 months to 1 year old to play in the children's swimming pool. They can sing and play games at the same time, so that the baby can have fun and get used to the feeling of floating in the water.

When playing in the water, parents should always protect their children with their arms; do not let the children go under the water. Put on special diapers for children to prevent them from urinating or defecating in the pool. In addition, make emergency preparations and place life buoys, first aid kits and mobile phones around.

2-3 years old can learn to hold breath

When the child is two or three years old, parents can teach the child some games in the swimming pool so that the child can learn how to swing his arms and kick his legs. You can also teach the child how to hold his breath in the water so that he will not choke easily when he puts his head under the water. Some children do not like to get their faces wet. When taking a bath, mothers can let them try to put their heads under the shower head so that they can gradually get used to it. Although the child is older, you must not let your guard down when taking him to the swimming pool. As long as the child is in the water, you must always pay attention to his every move.

4-5 years old formal swimming lessons

At this age, parents can enroll their children in formal swimming training classes. However, it is possible that children who usually like to play in the water may be afraid to go into the water when they start formal training. At this time, parents should never force them, but wait until they are ready before going into the water.

At this time, parents or coaches can keep an eye on their children at a safe distance. Children should be made aware of the signs for deep and shallow water areas. In addition to learning swimming skills, children should also be taught relevant safety knowledge.

Start learning swimming skills at the age of 6

Children over 6 years old can start to learn various swimming postures and skills, such as diving to the bottom of the pool to retrieve toys, or how to jump into the water and float to the surface by themselves, and swim further by changing various swimming postures. Don't relax supervision because your child is older, because even people who are good at swimming can drown. At the same time, tell your children that there must be an adult present when diving, and it must be done in a deeper pool. If you go to the beach to swim, parents should be more vigilant, because the conditions of this kind of open water are different from those of a swimming pool. Even if the child can swim, they must be protected very carefully.

Answering 4 questions for parents

Q: What is difficult about learning to swim?

Answer: First of all, we need to overcome the child’s fear of water and the fear of the coach, a stranger in this unfamiliar environment.

Q: Should I start with breaststroke?

Answer: Domestic classes all start with breaststroke, but in the United States, they basically start with freestyle. Because the freestyle stroke is indeed more "free", parents can teach their children. The breaststroke has higher requirements and is more standardized, requiring professional teachers. But the advantage of breaststroke is that once you learn the stroke, you can swim farther. Although freestyle is easy to learn, it requires higher physical fitness to swim well.

Q: What preparations need to be made?

A: If you want your child to learn how to swim, you can let him get close to water more often to eliminate his fear of water. The biggest difference between water and land is the way of breathing and the lack of support in water. Therefore, parents can help their children do some preparatory activities in these two aspects. For example, when washing their face or taking a bath, let the child bury his head in the water like playing a game. When there is an opportunity, take the child to walk in water up to his chest to let him adapt to the buoyancy and resistance of the water.

Q: Do you learn all kinds of swimming styles?

A: It depends on the child's interest. The feeling of being able to swim suddenly is amazing, which will increase the child's interest in this sport. However, it is necessary to constantly correct the movements and learn new techniques so that the child will not feel bored and can fully enjoy the fun of swimming.

Another word for swimming

Although it is generally believed that children are able to learn to swim by the age of 4, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under the age of 5 should not learn to swim. The reasons are:

The low gravity environment in the water is not conducive to the growth of children's bones;

Young children's nervous systems are not yet fully developed, so it is unsafe for them to learn to swim;

The high-intensity training of swimming can easily damage children's bodies.

However, researchers admit that there is currently no definite research data to show when is the best time for children to start swimming.

Comprehensive protection is essential

Prevent eye diseases and eye pain

Children's eyes are very delicate. If the swimming pool is contaminated by germs or chemicals, the most likely thing to be transmitted to children is eye diseases. If you are not careful when swimming, it may cause acute conjunctivitis, commonly known as "pink eye". To prevent the spread of eye diseases, it is best to wear swimming goggles when swimming, and wash your hair and face with clean water after each swim; if your eyes are itchy and painful, you can also drop a little eye drops or eye drops after getting ashore.

Prevent body cramps

If a child is just starting to learn to swim, he or she will be nervous and afraid. In addition, cold water and long soaking time in the water may cause cramps in the child's body, usually in the calf. Therefore, children should not swim when they are too hungry or tired. In addition, the swimming time should not be too long - the swimming time must be determined according to the child's age, physical condition, physical strength, etc.

Prevent water from entering the ears

For water in the ears, older children can be taught how to drain water: tilt the head to the side of the ear where the water is, pull the earlobe hard, and hop on one leg with the same side; put the palm of your hand towards the ear canal and seal the ear tightly with your hand. If water is in the left ear, tilt the head to the left, then quickly move your hand away and the water will be sucked out. For younger children, parents should put a sterilized cotton swab into the ear canal after each swim to gently suck out the water.