March 03 2010 by Paula Hickman www.enjoyswimming.org  

Teaching your infant to swim is not only about safety!

My answer to parents is that there is an infinite list of benefits infants receive from swimming lessons beyond learning to swim.

If not for safety reasons, why should I choose to participate in swim lessons with my one year old, or even my six month old? I believe exposing your infant to the water at a young age you are setting them on a path to positive development. By that do I mean you will be raising a more intelligent child or one who is a better athlete than the child who is not exposed to water at an early age? YES! Do I believe that an incredible amount of bonding can be achieved in the water? YES! Do I believe a child will gain new cognitive and physical skills by being exposed to the water? YES!

“An infants’ brain is a fertile feed for stimulation and much of the brains pathways and connections are developed before their third birthday. This places a huge importance on the auditory (voice), visual (colors) emotional (hugs), intellectual (music) and physical (swimming) opportunities we present to our children.”

How does swimming fit into this arena? Infants spend much of their time in a prone position before they can walk or crawl. They lay on their bellies or backs or are being held by someone or more frequently today are encased in plastic car seats or carriers. When we place an infant in the water they begin to develop skills related to floating in a supportive yet fluid environment - similar to their time in the womb. They are stimulated by the water and their parent’s hands. They learn breath control and balance and buoyancy. They stimulate those synaptical neurons in their brain. They may not be able to walk or run or even sit up but with appropriate stimulation that can float through and under the water while holding their breath. The time bonding with a parent in warm water is also amazing!

So in your journey to raise a happy, healthy, well-adjusted child, get them in the water; start at home in the bath, or the shower, and then progress to warter confidence sessions. Check out the course carefully first by observing a session ensuring it is gentle, holistic and child-centred, such as Enjoy Swimming or Birthlight accredited.

 And if you need a reason other than fun, think about all of the physical and emotional benefits they receive by returning to that aquatic world where they spent those nine months.

Report from the World Aquatic Baby Conference 2009 By Paula Hickman

With so many important subjects discussed and debated at WABC, it is difficult to relay all of this information in one article. Therefore, instead of writing a short, non-descript synopsis on each of the seminars, I would like to share a more meaningful report, focussed on the one

presentation that I found particularly interesting and beneficial. It was by Lana Whitehead and Bryan Crane from SWIMkids USA, who co-presented a fascinating exploration into the areas of the brain that control learning and how they are affected and stimulated by movement,

and how movement develops the nervous system. They highlighted the benefits of early childhood movement in relation to baby swimming in a presentation titled ‘Children Must Learn to Move’. Lana and Brian are a fantastically compassionate and educated team, and their intuitive style of learning reinforced my own ideas that movement and exercise are direct

facilitators of brain development. Here is some of the theory behind their methodology which explains how movement and hence infant aquatics helps to develop three key areas of our brain - The Cerebellum, the Hippocampus and the Vestibular System. Cerebellum “The Movement Centre” Movement and learning go hand in hand. It is a misconception that learning ought to be more structured and classroom orientated. Substantial physiological

studies indicate the strong link between movement and learning. Scientists used to believe that thinking is thinking and movement is movement. They were believed to be completely separate

functions of the body and mind. However we now know better. The Cerebellum is also known as “The Movement Centre” of our brain. Its role is in posture, coordination, balance and movement. In recent years, neuroscientists have found a neurological cable running from the cortex (cognition centre) to the cerebellum. This tells us that the Cerebellum has a very important role in cognition too. Interestingly, this special ‘Movement Centre’ is only one tenth the size of the human brain, yet contains over half of all its neurons. The cable contains over 40 million nerve fibres that feed information from the cortex (cognition centre) to the cerebellum

(movement centre) and back again. Compare this with the optic nerve, containing 10 million

nerve fibres, feeding information between the human eye and the cortex. The cerebellum

has 4 times as many. This connection to the frontal cortex gives the cerebellum a specific role in cognition. It has executive functions - Judgement, Organisation, Planning, Impulse Control,

Empathy, Focus, Attention and Insight. All the elements that make us human. Neuroscientists have also found it to be involved with memory, spatial perception, language, emotion and decision making. This is scientific proof that the cerebellum processes so much more than just

movement. The cerebellum processes, and coordinates movement and thought together. Infant Aquatics plays an enormous role in enhancing all of these areas!

Hippocampus – Memory and Learning Centre Movement Creates Brain Interconnections (Synapses) Neurogenesis - the making of new neurones. This process is stimulated by MOVEMENT!

Synapse – Interconnections between neurones. The more interconnections we have, the more intelligent we are. Synapses – vital for learning and memory. A newborn has about 100 billion neurons but very few interconnections. As a baby interacts with the world or moves, the impulses flowing through his/her neurons stimulate fibres to grow more branches and twigs reaching to other neurons. The more interconnections a person has, the more capable he/she is of learning. That’s what intelligence really is. Running and swimming increases the number of neurones and synapses in the cortex of the hippocampus and makes it bigger!The hippocampus is an important learning and memory area of the brain, which is crucial for forming new memories. Draganski & Gaser studied human brains using magnetic resonance imaging. They

proved that active movement increases size, efficiency and function of brain.

Brain Protein

BDNF – Brain neurotrophic factor - is an important protein, which supports the Survival, Function and Growth of neurones in three areas of the brain. Active movement triggers the release of this. It is very important for proper development of a child’s brain.

Vestibular System – Variety of Sensory Motor Experiences

Every time a synapse is used it becomes stronger. The repeated use of a synapse for a particular sensory motor activity produces a neural memory. An internal body picture is gradually created and encoded in synapses for a person to be able to plan their next movement. It is very important for a child to have lots of active movement and varied sensory experience as it creates a diverse internal picture.

Motor Planning – involves the entire brain. It is the process of learning a sequence of unfamiliar movements executed in a particular order, for example climbing, walking, swimming. Motor planning is one of the highest and most complex sensory integrative functions in children. It requires conscious focus and attention, which involves the pre-frontal cortex and the rear two-thirds of the frontal lobes to learn a complex skill. Motor planning is the bridge between his/her

sensory motor development and the intellectual aspects of his/her brain function. In conclusion what this presentation confirmed to me, is that as baby swimming teachers we are not just teaching swimming lessons, but we are building new interconnections, new neuro-pathways and we are teaching a child how to learn. As an advocate for this teaching methodology, I believe it is so important that we focus on nurturing synapse development and promote harmony in the pool for babies. To do this however, we must take our time with infants. Tread gently, Go Softly. Compassion is Crucial. 100,000 synapses can be lost in matter of seconds in a stressful situation.

Controversial – stress causing methods

Lana’s theory also became a topic of discussion during a presentation by John Bainbridge, an Australian swim school owner, whose aggressive survival learn to swim methods created a lot of controversy due to the stress inducing techniques on the babies. During the presentation Lana stood up to comment along with another brilliant and compassionate speaker, Jonny Johnson. In response to John, Lana pointed out that 100,000 synapses can be lost when the brain is placed under unnecessary stress. During early brain development the hippocampus

acts as a PLEASURE nurturing CENTRE. I advise you to Google the hippocampus, it is a very important memory centre of the brain. The amygdala is where flight or flight kicks in. Forceful, aggressive methodology produces stress, which creates a change in the hippocampus and the amygdala. The hippocampus shrinks. These aggressive techniques can have permanent results where issues re-emerge in later life, they maybe repressed if we were an infant when we received them. 100,000 synapses can be lost in matter of seconds in a stressful situation. We have billions of synapses in the brain. More than stars in the sky – we do not want to be losing 100,000 at a time. Jonny was also polar opposite with John Bainbridge, and helped him make the change in his programme towards compassionate infant swimming. He spoke of the difference between learning to ‘Live’ in water and learning to ‘Survive’ in water. The end result for us in the UK is certainly one to create enjoyment in our classes. Learning how to live happily in the water. We can become too focussed on Forcing Safety – this is dangerous. Safety is paramount of course, but it must be taught with compassion.

Paula Hickman is an STA Baby & Preschool Swimming Tutor, and with James Hickman is the Co-Director of Enjoy Swimming, which provides antenatal, newborn and infant aquatics courses and training across the UK.

Please email paula@enjoyswimming.org for further information.

Or visit  www.enjoyswimming.org

The benefits of early swimming are enormous. The freedom to move the limbs to a greater degree than on dry land mean that babies who swim regularly have greater precision in motion, better co-ordination and balance, compared to those who don’t swim. They benefit socially too as results show they are more independent in new situations, integrate faster into groups and it aids intellectual development too. The energy wasted on dry land fighting the forces of gravity can be used to help the brain develop in the water!

It is great for skin to skin bonding and a few Dads have come - to help and play together with mum and baby and this is a great combination when the whole family comes. All are welcome in our sessions.

Hot chocolate afterwards in the cafe’s in Goose Green, round the corner from the leisure centre has been a favorite activity for mums after the session too. This provides a great social support network for new mums and dads. 

See you at the pool… Sploosh xxx

Of course, you don’t have to have your sights set on London 2012 to want to develop your children’s inherent talents. The good news is that you can ride the wave. From October 7th, we have partnered up with Altrincham Leisure Centre to offer pregnant mums, newborns and infants the opportunity to discover their latent water skills every weekday. The pool area will be fully refurbished in time for our launch week - 29th September - 5th October so look out for our taster session where you can dive in and build your children’s water confidence for FREE!