Medical research has confirmed that swimming helps to grow and develop the baby’s brain because the brain grows by use. Early swimming provides an opportunity for your baby to move in the water in an ideal way to develop not only a stronger body, its stimulating effect has the potential to increase intelligence, concentration, alertness, and perceptual abilities.
Newborn Reflexes: Babies can swim as they are natural swimmers as they are born with 9 kinds of natural reflexes.
Moro reflex
Palmar Grasp
Plantar Grasp
Sucking reflex
Rooting reflex
Stepping reflex
Tonic Neck reflex
Dive reflex
Swimming reflex
Moro Reflex: When you fail to support or hold the neck and head, the arms of your baby will thrust outward and then seem to embrace them selves as their fingers curl. This reflex disappears at about 2 months of age. It is also known as the startle reflex.
Palmar Grasp: When you touch the palm of your baby’s hand, the fingers will curl around and cling to your finger or an object. This is a good reflex to take advantage of with other children, to allow the baby to “hold” their hand. This reflex also makes it difficult to obtain handprints until it disappears at about 6 months.
Plantar Grasp: This reflex occurs when you stroke the sole of your baby’s foot, his toes will spread open and the foot will turn slightly inward. It is also known as the Babinski reflex. This reflex is fun to watch. By the end of the first year this reflex is usually gone.
Sucking: While you may not believe this to be reflexive, it is. This ensures that the baby will nurse on a breast or bottle to be fed and occurs when something is placed in the baby’s mouth. It is slowly replaced by voluntary sucking around 2 months of age.
Rooting Reflex: When you stroke your baby’s cheek she will turn towards you, usually looking for food. This is very useful when learning to breastfeed your baby. This reflex is gone by about 4 months. You may also notice this occurs when the baby accidentally brushes her own face with her hands. It can sometimes be a source of frustration if your baby flails her arms during feedings. Simply using a blanket to pin her arms closer to her body during feeding may help.
Stepping Reflex: If you take your baby and place his feet on a flat surface he will “walk” by placing one foot in front of the other. This isn’t really walking and will disappear by about 4 months of age.
Tonic Neck Reflex: This is also called the fencing reflex, because of the position the baby assumes. When you lay your baby on her back and her head turns to one side she will extend her arm and leg on that side while the opposite arm and leg bend, assuming a “fencing” position. This reflex is present only until about the 4th month.
The dive reflex
This reflex, also called the bradycardic response, causes babies to hold their breath and open their eyes when submerged, says Jeffrey Wagener, a pediatric pulmonologist in Denver. Parents can get this same reaction by blowing in their baby’s face. The response weakens as a baby gets older, but even adults have it to some degree.
Swedish researchers studying the dive reflex in 21 infants between 4 to 12 months old found that none of them inhaled water or choked during “diving” (being pulled underwater). They also noted that the babies didn’t seem apprehensive about the next dive. In fact, some seemed eager to dive again!
Many infant swim programs rely on the dive reflex to allow babies to “swim” before they’re old enough to hold their breath intentionally.
The swimming reflex
Until around 6 months, babies placed in water tummy-side down will move their arms and legs in a swimming motion. When the swimming reflex and the dive reflex are both engaged, a baby can look like a natural swimmer.
Cautions about babies in water
“These reflexes don’t mean the baby can swim, though,” says Wagener. What’s more, they don’t protect a baby from drowning. (In addition to the risk of drowning, it’s dangerous for an infant to swallow large amounts of pool water.)
Improves flow of oxygenated blood
That said, some infants really enjoy splashing around in the water. Dr. Robert Doman, medical director of the Philadelphia Institute for the Achievement of the Human Potential provided an explanation. He explained that underwater swimming increases the carbon dioxide content in the blood. This causes a signal to warn our bodies that our oxygen supply is in danger of being cut off.
In response, the carotid arteries that carry blood to our heads dilate (widen) and allow more blood to flow through them, saturating our brains in an exceptionally rich flow of oxygenated blood.
Play some under water swimming games with your child to boost your child’s IQ and creativity, it’s easy!
The author Douglas Doman who wrote How to Teach Your Baby to Swim: From Birth to Age Six says that “By teaching your baby the proper swimming techniques, you can actually enhance his or her learning ability, as well as making your child happier, healthier, and more self-confident”
Reference:
Swimming Programs for Infants and Toddlers. PEDIATRICS Vol. 105 No. 4 April 2000, pp. 868-870.
Book Recommended:
Breastfeeding Improves Intelligence | Develop Your Baby A Genius
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