Baby Swimming from Age 0: Should You Sign Your Baby Up?

Why this topic is on your mind

From around six months after birth, the topic “when should we start baby swimming?” suddenly increases among parent friends, in parenting magazines, and on social media. “The earlier you get them used to water, the better.” “Babies are born loving water.” “They’ll grow up to be athletic.” Pushed along by words like these, an invitation to a trial session arrives from a nearby class.

At times like that, questions like these come up at home.

• Is there really any point in putting a baby in the water from age 0? Or is it just for the parents’ own satisfaction?
• Do children who start early really become better swimmers?
• If they get used to water as babies, will they be less likely to drown in the future?
• The monthly fee isn’t cheap, and taking the baby every week is hard. Is it good value for money?
• If we don’t sign up, will our child fall behind in some way?

Research gives fairly frank answers to these questions. It is an answer that takes some of the pressure off: excessive expectations are not supported, but there is no reason to reject it either.

What does the research say?

Research on baby swimming has been carried out from several angles: motor development, drowning prevention, and parent-child interaction. Here, let’s answer the three questions mothers especially worry about with each body of research.

Question 1: Does baby swimming make children more athletic?

This is the phrase most often seen in class advertising. How does research sum it up?

is a frequently cited study. In this study, children who had done baby swimming were said to score better on “balance” and “hand movements”, such as standing on one leg and grasping small objects.

However, there are limitations we want to keep calmly in mind here.

• It is a small study, with 19 children in each group, 38 in total. Caution is needed in generalizing
• It is an observational study (not one that randomly assigned children, but one that compared, after the fact, families who were already doing baby swimming with families who were not). Differences between “families who choose baby swimming” and “families who don’t” (parents’ interest in exercise, having the time and money to attend on weekdays, etc.) may have affected the results
• The effects were seen in balance and hand movements; there was no difference in the timing of starting to walk, or in locomotor movements such as running and jumping

also examined the effects of baby swimming on both motor and cognitive development, but as the paper itself states clearly, it is a “pilot study”; the sample is extremely small, and it is not on a scale that allows firm conclusions.

In other words, the summary at present is that there are studies saying “baby swimming is good for motor development”, but all are small and cannot be called strong evidence. It is reasonable to consider the advertising phrase “your child will become athletic” somewhat exaggerated in research terms.

Question 2: If children get used to water early, will they be less likely to drown in the future?

This is probably the question that matters most to mothers for peace of mind. Here, research and official views are summed up quite clearly.

states clearly: “At present there are no data supporting the effect of swimming lessons for infants under 1 year in preventing future drowning”. Not only is the effect as early education unsupported; beyond that, because water lessons for babies under 1 also carry medical risks (hyponatremia from swallowing water, gastrointestinal infections, dermatitis, hypothermia, etc.), the AAP recommends considering swimming lessons for the purpose of drowning prevention from “age 1 and up”.

On the other hand, research has also shown that for children aged 1 to 4, formal swimming lessons may reduce the risk of drowning.

reported that among children aged 1 to 4, those who had taken formal swimming lessons had an 88% lower risk of drowning (odds ratio 0.12, 95% confidence interval 0.01-0.97). However, note that the confidence interval is wide (the 95% CI ranges from 0.01 to 0.97), so the uncertainty in estimating the effect size is large. Also, the subjects of this study were “age 1 and up”, and whether lessons for babies under 1 have a drowning-prevention effect was not tested.

To sum it up:

• Baby swimming under age 1: at present there are no data supporting a drowning-prevention effect (AAP)
• Formal swimming lessons at ages 1 to 4: a possible reduction in drowning risk has been reported (but with large uncertainty in the estimate)
• Important for all ages: at any age, having taken swimming lessons does not mean constant adult supervision around water can be skipped. “Being able to swim = not drowning” is not true; this is the shared view of all experts

Question 3: Then what is it for?

Here, let’s put the advertising phrases aside for a moment and sort out “what families who actually send their babies to baby swimming are getting”. Even without strong research evidence, several reasonable purposes can be considered.

• Reducing resistance to water: for children who come to fear water as toddlers, water play from early on may work in the direction of easing resistance (though, again, rigorous comparative studies are limited)
• Fun time together as parent and child: once a week, time in contact with water on a different scale from the bath can be refreshing for parent and child. It has not been measured in research, but it has not been rejected either
• An opportunity for mothers and fathers to exercise: in the period after giving birth when it is hard to find time to exercise, time in the pool together with the baby can also be physically and mentally refreshing for the parent
• A place to meet parents and babies of the same age: at a time when isolation is common, chances to see parents in similar situations have meaning in themselves

What to do if you actually go ahead

Here are the practical points to consider when deciding “whether to sign up”.

1. It’s fine to go to a trial session (you can’t judge without actually seeing)

The atmosphere of the class, the water temperature, how the coaches teach, and how other parents and babies are doing cannot be known from written information. The most reliable thing is to see how your baby reacts at the trial session. Some babies don’t cry even when water is splashed on their faces in the bath, while others wail even in a shoulder-deep bath. If, after actually getting into the pool, your baby “seems to enjoy it”, “isn’t scared”, and “is in a good mood afterwards”, it is likely to be an activity that suits your baby well.

2. Try putting “the purpose” into words once

If the main purpose is “to make her smart”, “so she can swim in the future”, or “so she won’t drown”, the research evidence is weak and expectations are easily disappointed. On the other hand, if the main purpose is “for fun time as parent and child”, “to reduce resistance to water early”, or “as an opportunity for the mother to exercise after giving birth”, these become reasons you can reasonably accept, even though they are not measured in research. Before signing up, check whether you can say in a word “what we are going for”.

3. Safety is the most important thing in choosing a class

Baby swimming under age 1 requires medical care. When choosing a class, check things such as water temperature (whether it is kept at about 30-32°C for infants), water quality management, whether a parent always gets into the water together with the baby, the coaches’ qualifications, and the minimum age in months to participate. The AAP also does not recommend programs that make babies “go under water” for infants and toddlers, because of risks such as swallowing water, the startle reflex from sudden submersion, and hypothermia.

4. It’s fine to decide to stop

Even after starting, if a situation arises such as your baby resisting, getting sick more easily, or a heavy burden on the household budget or of taking her there, it is fine to decide to stop. Claims such as “stopping partway will make her a child with no grit” or “it’ll be wasted unless you continue” have no research basis when it comes to baby swimming. The flexibility to stop honestly because “it didn’t suit us” is far more useful over the long course of child-rearing.

5. Even without signing up, there is a lot you can do at home

Even if you don’t go to baby swimming, there are ways to build a good relationship with water at home. For example, just being conscious of “ways of interacting that don’t make her afraid of water” in the daily bath (not pouring water on her face, not forcing rinsing if she cries when her hair is washed, using water toys in the tub) gradually eases resistance to water. Around age 1, municipal pool open days and water play in a home inflatable pool also become experiences that build “getting used to water” well enough. It is worth keeping in mind that “not going to baby swimming = zero contact with water” is not the case.

For the overall framework of motor development in early childhood, please also see the related article “Sports and physical activity in early childhood: when and what to start”. The WHO’s 2019 guidelines recommend 180 minutes or more of physical activity a day for children aged 3 to 4, but the summary is that particular sports activities are not essential as a means of achieving this.

Closing dialogue