My little swimmer

Swimming has always been a part of my life. As an infant, my dad used to take me to the "Pops & Tots" swimming program at the local community centre and, throughout my childhood and teens, I proceeded to complete the Red Cross qualifications required to be a swimming instructor and lifeguard. In fact, my first few summer jobs in high school, aside from babysitting the neighbours' kids, were instructing swimming lessons in our family's backyard pool and lifeguarding public pools.

Before Brayden came along, I always knew that I would put my children in swimming lessons early on. I'd read that babies are born with a natural reflex (called the dive reflex or the bradycardic response) that causes them to open their eyes and hold their breath when submerged under water. The response weakens as babies get older so it was important to me to acquaint our baby with water and swimming during this early phase.
Moreover, swimming is such a valuable skill for children/adults to have. The benefits of organized swimming programs go far beyond simply learning how to swim and include important skills such as water safety (including boating safety), first aid/CPR and aquatic fitness. Needless to say, when Brayden was old enough to be enrolled in a learn to swim program, I immediately signed him up. (In Pickering, the youngest they'll take them is 4 months old.) I knew it would be a ton of fun for both of us and I didn't want Andrew to miss out of the fun just because he had to work during the week so I actually registered Brayden for two sessions - he would go Tuesdays with me and Saturdays with daddy.

Today, was the final class of the 10 week session and I'm sort of sad to see it come to an end. When we began the lessons in April, Brayden had just turned 20 weeks and his adorable swim trunks from Joe Fresh and Little Swimmers diapers were both way too big around his little waist. Brayden was such a great little swimmer though; comfortable and confident in the water since day one. He never cried when being dunked under water and he really developed a love for the back float.

Here we are today, 10 weeks later, Brayden has completed the Starfish level and is now fitting into his swim trunks and diapers a bit better. It was such a lovely way to bond with each other and a great way to meet other moms. I highly recommend it to all my mommy friends. Time to move on to grandma and grandpa's outdoor pool for the summer!