When to start taking your child to the pool. Pool and kid. Children swimmers can't get sick

At what age to start swimming with a child?

Even babies can and should swim. It is advisable to wait at least a couple of months after giving birth. Get the blessing of the pediatrician, and yourself (that is, your mother) go for a routine examination to the gynecologist after childbirth.
Only now, babies need to go not to the common pool, but to the babies. It has special conditions for babies.
Up to 5-7 years old, classes in the pool should rather be entertainment or prevention of diseases, hardening. But from 5-7 years old, you can already think about regular visits, for example, enroll a child in a sports section with a coach.

Swimming diapers for babies
If you are planning to go to the pool with a baby, purchase special diapers-panties for the pool (needed in case the baby pees or poops while swimming in the pool), since regular diapers will not work.

Let's talk about chlorine
Are there any pools without chlorinated water?
It does not happen, since according to the norms of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station, there must be bleach in the amount of 0.4-0.6 mg / l. So you cannot do without bleach in water (otherwise, violation of sanitary standards). This means that in any pool it is available, but its amount can vary significantly depending on the cleaning systems used (by the way, cleaning using ionization allows in theory to reduce the hypochlorite content by 2-3 times).
Also remember that it is not chlorine itself that gives off the characteristic odor, but chloramines - compounds formed when chlorine binds to pollution. So try not to choose among mythical pools without bleach, but among pools with a more advanced cleaning system. The more perfect the system, the less contamination, therefore, the weaker the pungent odor.

Can you get infected in water?
It is almost impossible to get infected in the pool water, since the water is disinfected and chlorinated. But at the sides, benches, walls - you can. Touch less everything around.

What are the modern methods of water purification in swimming pools?

Recently, modern cleaning systems have been installed in the pools. For instance, ionized water purified by ions of silver and copper.
And when using water ozonation method, ozone is produced from oxygen, purifies, disinfects water and in the process is converted into oxygen. Ozonized water spares our skin, does not affect swimwear fabrics and hair condition, and, of course, does not change the acid-base balance in the water.

Depth in the children's pool
If a child is just learning to swim, he needs chest-deep depth. And the length of the children's pool is at least 5-7 meters, so that children have the opportunity to practice exercises such as "arrow" (sliding).

Safety precautions when visiting the pool with a small child

• Check the water temperature, it should not be lower than 28-30 degrees Celsius
• The child is frozen and trembling (lips turned blue) - take him out of the water, wrap
• Start bathing at 10 minutes, gradually increase
• A sick child cannot go to the pool, if there are problems with the skin - coordinate a visit to the pool with a doctor

Swimming from an early age is one of the easiest ways to keep your child strong, healthy and physically fit.

You will notice the positive effect of this activity adored by children in just a few weeks!

Swimming gives children:

• Hardening, prevention of colds and other diseases, strengthening of immunity
• Formation of correct posture
• Improving metabolism, sleep, appetite
• Strengthening the nervous, respiratory, cardiovascular systems, musculoskeletal system
• Prevention of flat feet
• Improving physical abilities: coordination of movements, strength, endurance
• Help with hyperexcitability syndrome, hypertonicity, hypotension, cerebral palsy
• Swimming training
• Positive emotions for your baby
• The child will learn to swim and you will not be afraid for him

Parents often choose swimming for their children simply as another entertainment and do not even expect that classes can have an immediate noticeable effect.

For example, a parent of a four-year-old boy, after another training session at the Fidget Center, was amazed: “I dress him, I look - and he has muscles on his back, like Schwarzenegger's!” And if it were a joke, but the boy's muscles really got so strong that they even became prominent.

Children swimmers can't get sick

On very young children, the effect is even more noticeable. They stop having colds, their coordination of movements improves. The child-“swimmer” is immediately visible - such children have good posture, a steady gait, in general they are mobile and active. Especially when they see water! Such children are absolutely not afraid of water, and, finding themselves on the beach in summer, they immediately run to swim.

The opportunity to never be afraid for your child on the water is worth giving your child to swim!

The parents of one tiny swimmer talked about their entertaining trip to Sochi. When they went to the beach with their one-year-old daughter for the first time, she immediately ran to the water at full speed. All the sunbathers rushed to grab the child, and then they made sure that there was no need to save the baby - she dived and swam and began to cut between dad and mom. The whole beach was shocked. And then the parents got used to the fact that their appearance by the water was perceived every time as a natural miracle. Already one opportunity to never be afraid for your child on the water - whether he will rest in the country or in a pioneer camp, or go to the beach with friends - is worth giving the child to learn to swim. This skill is essential for a person to survive.

The most important thing for a child is health!

And the most important thing is health. You cannot make a child healthy with pills and vitamins. When we cured the child of a cold and he stopped coughing, this does not mean that he is healthy. If we sit and wait for the next cold, then we will wait for it. To become truly healthy, you need to improve health, boost immunity, and exercise.

Is it better to spend money on drugs and get sick or spend money on a healthy lifestyle and be strong and strong?

What if the baby gets cold in the pool?

Do not be afraid that the child will catch a cold in the pool. Often, parents are delusional - if the child caught a cold in the pool, then we will no longer go there. But this also means that the child will just catch a cold. You need to recover and come to classes again, the child's body quickly adapts and begins to harden.

How does the baby temper in the pool?

The hardening effect, among other things, is achieved by instructors. The water in the pool is +34 degrees for babies, for older children - +32, but the air temperature is already +26 degrees, in the locker room - + 23-24 degrees. The constant temperature difference creates a hardening effect.

Children swimming statistics

Systematic swimming exercises improve physical development in 93.5% of children. Such children grow faster, their lung capacity increases, their lungs become more powerful, and their muscles stronger. And children also strengthen their joints, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, form correct posture, improve blood circulation, strengthen the nervous system, increase strength and endurance.

What does swimming give babies earlier?

Early swimming of children contributes to their fastest physical and psychomotor development, a decrease in the increased tone of the flexor muscles inherent in infants in the first months of life, which provides accelerated formation of the baby's motor skills.

Swimming in infants allows early use of the hardening effect of water by regulating its temperature.

Performing physical exercises in water involves a larger volume of the lungs in the breathing process, helps to increase their vital capacity, and improves blood oxygenation. All this, together with the hardening effect of water, is good disease prevention.

Pool and massage at the same time!

In addition, when swimming, the child's skin experiences the beneficial massaging effect of water, in connection with which, blood circulation improves and the nervous system is strengthened.

A smile will brighten everyone!

And most importantly, swimming for children from an early age contributes to the emergence of positive emotions. These children usually behave calmly, sleep well, they have a constantly joyful mood, which is expressed by motor animation, a smile.

Swimming at a very early age, and all my life, there is practically no minus. But there are many advantages - from good health to sincere children's joy from interesting games and bathing!

Children's coach Alexei Vasin claims that three years is the best age to start swimming in the pool. During this period, the baby's posture is being formed, so swimming will be an excellent way to strengthen the spine. But it should be borne in mind that for a three-year-old child, the pool is, first of all, entertainment. It is sad to see babies who go “swimming” with their parents more than three times a week. For them, splashing in water quickly becomes boring and uninteresting, because a small body is not at all ready for intense physical activity. A child under five years old should visit the pool no more than one or two times a week.

Children aged five and over

For babies, splashing in water quickly becomes boring and uninteresting, because a small body is not at all ready for intense physical activity.

It is at the age of five that children begin to be admitted to the swimming sections. During this period, the child is already able to understand the coach's instructions and perform the proposed exercises. Five year olds can already use the pool three times a week. But parents should carefully monitor the daily routine and nutrition of the child. Regular physical activity requires a lot of energy, so the baby should not come to classes sleepy or hungry.

Pay attention to the mood

Also, parents need to monitor the child's mood. If the baby is sad after each workout, it is worth finding out from him the reasons for the depressed state. Perhaps the coach has not yet been able to establish psychological contact with the child, or the child is not at all thrilled with swimming.

Therefore, it is so important for parents to take into account the interests of the preschooler when choosing a children's sports section. Does your baby want to swim? Does he like the coach? Does he feel any discomfort from the sight of the pool? Take the time to figure out every little thing. After all, children's answers will help parents find a really good section where the child will go with joy.

Contraindications

Five-year-olds can already use the pool three times a week. But parents should carefully monitor the daily routine and nutrition of the child.

Despite the fact that girls and boys can go to the pool from an early age, swimming sports have their own contraindications. These include congenital heart disease, skin diseases, acute viral infections, allergies to chemicals (bleach, ozone) that are used to purify water. If the child has a cold, and he even has a low temperature, then swimming should be postponed until he fully recovers.

Many mothers immediately after childbirth ask themselves the question: "Is it worth going with your baby to the swimming pool?" It has long been proven that water procedures have a positive effect on both the health of an adult and a child.

What if the child will begin acquaintance with water in infancy, then in the future he will not have many health problems, and will also be able to quickly learn to swim.

Why do babies need swimming in the pool?

At first glance, it may seem to mothers that the child in the pool is at great risk, since there is a chance to drown... Very often it is for this reason that parents refuse this kind of water procedures, but pediatricians assure that these activities are not only safe, but also very useful.

A child at this age does not fade breath holding reflex, so he can be under water for some time without risking his own life. But mothers need to remember that at this age no one teaches children to swim. The child will feel good in the water, even learn to do the right movements, but after 2 or 3 days he will forget absolutely everything that he learned in the pool.

The fact is that swimming skills are not reinforced in infancy, and the child will learn anew every time. All the advantages that a child receives while swimming at this age are not in the upbringing of the future Olympic champion.

During swimming, the baby quickly relaxes, his blood circulation significantly improves

In addition, the nervous and respiratory system of children involved in the pool develops much faster than those of children who do not attend such classes. And of course swimming in the pool hardens the child, making it less vulnerable to various nasty infections.

What do the opponents of infant swimming say?

There are always disputes around water procedures for babies. Opponents of such a voyage argue that during immersion in water, the child experiences severe stresscausing a large number of problems in the future. Among such problems there may be a child's abandonment of the mother's breast.

Indeed, many pediatricians who teach infants in the pool warn parents that at the very beginning of swimming, children may not like contact with water, but then they very quickly get used to it. Also opponents of swimming say that water is the most common cause of colds, runny nose and ear infections.

While swimming, cold water can enter the nasopharynx of a baby and cause inflammation in the baby's body. And water entering the stomach can completely upset the baby's fragile digestive system. In pools, instructors often practice diving babies.

According to opponents of early children's swimming, diving negatively affects the children's vestibular apparatus

Under water, the child feels floating in space without support, and this in the future may lead to problems with dizziness.

Who is right?

As in any other dispute, in this dispute there is no single correct solution... Many children love water and everything related to it. From an early age, they reach for puddles, lakes and rivers to play there. And some are happy with one hand washing procedure.

So why not enroll your baby in these activities if he likes water? The child will definitely not have any stress. Moreover, such classes will strengthen the immune system very well... But how to check if a child loves water or not?

Can start with a simple swim in your home bath... It will not only allow you to determine the preferences of your baby, but will also help you get used to new sensations in the water.

Which babies should not swim in the pool?

Despite the fact that classes in the pool in most cases have a positive effect on the health of the baby, there are certain contraindications for this procedure.

Parents must show your child to the pediatrician before signing up for the pool. Baby swimming in the pool is not recommended for children with acute infectious diseases.

This is not surprising, because cold water can provoke many complications. In the event of an illness, parents should stop taking their child to the pool until he is strong again for classes.

Also, swimming for babies is contraindicated in the following cases:

• if the child is sick with a severe form of malnutrition;
• there are serious skin lesions (inflammation, pus formation);
• there are diseases associated with brittle bones;
• congenital arthritis;
• acute inflammation of the kidneys;
• acute hepatitis;
• any lesions of the central nervous system

When can you start going to the pool with your baby?

After confirming the absence of contraindications, parents may think about visiting the pool, where their baby will get acquainted with the water. But when can classes start?

In the past, pediatricians advised parents to wait two or three months until their child received all the necessary vaccinations. However, this is no longer necessary.

You can start water procedures immediately after birth. The main thing is to heal the wound on the navel in the child.

How to choose a pool?

The choice of a pool for your baby must be taken very responsibly. First, you should ask your clinicwhether they have their own pool for children. If there is, then you can go there get directions.

As a rule, in the pool at the clinic, the water is not chlorinated, but treated with ozone, which does not have a negative effect on the health of the baby. In addition, classes in such a pool can be completely free, or they may require a symbolic amount from the parents. If there is no pool in the clinic, parents need to look for it themselves.

First of all you need pay attention to the instructors in the pool and the quality of water treatment... Also, pediatricians recommend that parents choose pools where only babies are engaged, since there is always a risk of catching an unpleasant disease in common pools.

How to dress your child for swimming?

Before any swimming, the child must wear special panties-diapers for swimming... The diaper must be on the baby, since he does not yet control his natural needs.

You also need to remember that you should not wear oversleeves on the arms of babies, since they are uncomfortable for children. For young children under one year old, there are other devices that help them stay on the water (special inflatable rings for babies, hats with sewn-in foam, etc.).

After the baby gets used to new water procedures, parents will be able to notice that he is growing much faster. His nervous and respiratory systems will begin to work even better, and general immunity will significantly strengthen.

A child practicing in the pool in the future will be able to please parents with good health and good physical shape if the lessons in the pool are regular and continue at a more conscious age. Let's see how this actually happens!

The heroes of the video are brave young swimmers and divers:

Swimmingis undoubtedly considered one of the most rewarding sports. It is recommended for both adults and children for the development and strengthening of the body. But, as in any endeavor, collecting a child in the pool, parents are faced with many questions. At what age should you start taking your baby to swim? When to start serious training? And how to protect yourself from everyone trapping the little swimmer in the city pools? Well, let's look for answers ...

When can I start taking my child to the pool?

For the purpose of hardening and healing up to 2-3 yearscan be taken in a home bathroom. If parents are eager to quickly teach the baby to swim, then approximately from 3 years oldyou can start go to the pool with the baby.Ideally, this should be a children's pool, where the child will be able to stand in the water. Optimal depth - up to the chest. Lessons with a coach can usually start at the age from 5 to 7 years old. It all depends on the characteristics of the child and the coach's willingness to take responsibility for the child.

One more point: it is important for parents to decide on the purpose of visiting the pool. It can be health training or sports. Moderate water activities (40-45 minutes 1-2 times a week)contribute to the correct formation of posture, harmonious development of muscles, are useful for the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Swimming perfectly relieves stress, reduces hypertonicity, and has a beneficial effect on hyperactive children. And here big sport- that's a completely different story. This is hard and painstaking work, not just recreational swimming.

How should classes go?

• 1. Choosing a coach- the main guarantee of successful classes. A competent and respectful specialist for children will not only teach the child to swim, but also monitor the observance of the basic rules of hygiene in the pool. As a result, the chances of catching a cold or catching the same fungus in the pool will be significantly reduced. Do not hesitate and come to the first lessons personally.
• 2. For teaching swimming, it is usually used rubber cap, goggles and a special swimming board. Circles, sleeves, vests are not intended for serious training.
• 3. The group must have no more than 12 children. Ideal for up to 10 people. It is better if the children are about the same age and skill level. In this case, the classes will be more effective.

Pool hazards and precautions.

1. Chlorine. Everyone knows that pool water is chlorinated. Even where water is ozonized, chlorine is also present in the water, only in smaller quantities. Chlorine can irritate the delicate skin of babies, respiratory allergies and allergic dermatitis.

How to be?

• - Choose a pool with a combined disinfection system (ozone + chlorine) and with the most modern cleaning system possible.
• - Protect your eyes with goggles while swimming, and your head with a rubber cap.
• - After training, shower thoroughly with moisturizing cleansers.
• - If the pool has a sauna, then before visiting it, chlorinated water must also be washed off the body.
• - Do not visit the pool too often: even once a week is enough for a child, especially in winter.

2. Infection with infections. The worst thing that can be brought from the pool is fungal skin diseases, viral warts, molluscum contagiosum, urogenital chlamydia. In fact, the risk of infection with these ailments is somewhat exaggerated, although isolated cases still occur. Some are so terrified that they forget nature's wisely constructed defenses - our immunity. A person with healthy immunity is reliably protected from intruders. You can get skin diseases only outside the water: on contact with benches, floors, walls. And most often, if there are wounds or microcracks on the skin. Chlamydiae also die in chlorinated water, and in order to become infected with them, contact with a fairly large number of microorganisms is necessary. (for example, if you literally wash the genitals with a sponge of a sick person). Otitis media can also worsen in children. But if you follow the precautions, then the risk of infection and disease can be reduced to almost zero.

How to be?

• - Be sure to ask how strictly they check in the pool availability of certificates.
• - Check how carefully the pool is being watched behind the water temperature (optimal - not lower than 27 degrees C) and chlorine levels. Feel free to ask the medic for the appropriate journal.
• - The child must use only with your own towel, comb and other personal hygiene items. Better give it to him 2 towels: for body and legs. Better yet, a small pad for the bench.
• - Walk everywhere in the pool only in shale. It is better if they are closed enough or with high soles. Only remove the slates when entering the water.
• - Don't touch the walls in the shower and toilet, do not sit on benches without swimming trunks.
• - After visiting the pool, carefully take a showerusing detergents.
• - At home again wash swimming trunks, wash slates.
• - Can be purchased disinfectant foot cream with antifungal protection and lubricate their feet before putting on socks after the pool.
• - For girls with a preventive purpose, you can use the spray "Miramistin".
• - Do not let your child go to the pool if he is not feeling well. A weakened immune system will not be able to protect it from infections.
• - In order not to provoke otitis media, carefully dry your ear canals with cotton swabsafter shower. And in training keep your ears under a rubber capso that no water gets in.
• - It's good if the pool has sauna.After class, it is useful for a child to warm up a little.
• - Explain to the kid what is in the pool you can't run. It is easy to slip and injure on wet floors.

AND THE MOST IMPORTANT:before visiting the pool, be sure to consult with your local pediatrician.
Swim for health, not harm!

Interview with the head of the water programs of the "Blockbuster" fitness center, a specialist in infant swimming - Victoria Tesley.

From how many months, days, can you bring your baby for a swim?

You can come from almost three weeks. After that moment, the umbilical cord will heal. Before that, you can consult with your doctor. If there are no contraindications, you can safely come. The first lesson takes place in the bathroom, that is, individually for each child, water is collected, with a special water temperature, with special purification (coal and sand). In principle, after the child adapts to the water, to the temperature regime, we gradually lower the temperature. The first time a child starts swimming, the water temperature is 36 degrees. Gradually, the water temperature is brought to 31 degrees in order to be useful and useful for the child. If we see that the baby is already adapted, he feels good at this water temperature, we transfer him to "big water". Big water is a children's pool. There is more range of motion, more useful exercises can be performed (gymnastics, aqua gymnastics).

Tell us about the criteria by which you define exercises for your baby?

The first criterion is age. Either it's three weeks, or it's a month, or two. Naturally, there are contraindications. A child under three months old has unconditioned reflexes. That is, based on reflexes, exercises are compiled - for each child individually.

Please tell us about contraindications?

In principle, there are not so many of them - heart disease, intracranial pressure (but, in principle, you can consult a doctor and highlight certain exercises), purulent skin diseases, temperatures above 37 degrees.

What is the use of swimming? This is the question on which parents are guided, is it worth it, or not?

Worth it, definitely. This is one of the methods of early child development. We develop his intellectual sphere through movements. Water has such a property as three-dimensional pressure, that is, water affects almost the entire body. Skin receptors perceive this effect and send a signal to the cerebral cortex, where a new neural connection is formed in the baby. The brain of a child from 0 to a year old is still fully and completely formed. The first to form are the frontal lobes, which are responsible for motor skills and movement. After that, all the others are gradually formed, which are responsible for the remaining functions and mechanisms of development of the child's body. We develop the cardiac system, the pulmonary system, raise the psycho-emotional background. If the child is very excitable, then the water acts in the opposite direction. And, just the opposite: if the child is very calm, then the psycho-emotional background rises due to swimming. Plus, it is very useful to engage in such swimming for children who have such a disease as cerebral palsy, early childhood autism, various delays in psychomotor development. The results are obvious, almost after the fifth lesson, very good results are observed. Of course, depending on the degree: if a child attends classes at least twice a week, then he has a positive result within a month. The visible result is that the dynamics are always traced.

And there is a norm for attending classes: how many times a week?

Of course there is: at least twice a week. Classes are held depending on the age. For example, if the baby is up to two to three months, the first ten sessions last from 15 to 20 minutes. In subsequent months, classes can last up to 40 minutes to an hour. We look at the child, he is an indicator for us, and it is clear from him how he is - healthy or not. Based on this, we build our classes.

What should you pay attention to when choosing a center, a specialist for the development of babies?

If you have a very small baby. Let's say, starting from a month, you have to take an interest: first, ask about specialists, ask for opinions, find out what the guys have finished, talk to parents with whose children they have already studied, find out about the results that have been obtained. Regarding the center, there should definitely be a specially equipped room, which includes a bathroom, where there is a changing table, where there are all the hygiene items that are necessary for such a small baby.

Tell us about the child's adaptation to water?

When a baby comes to us for the first time, our main task is to teach him to hold his breath. There is a certain technique that we follow: it is a sublimation of all the techniques that have existed in the entire history of infant swimming. This technique is very gentle, loyal, there are no stressful situations. The kid first spends a certain time in the bathroom - through special supports. After that, we teach him to hold his breath without submerging it under water: it can be either blowing or watering plus a command. Over time, the kid begins to get used to this command and holds his breath. They poured water on the child, gave a command, he closed his eyes, we heard a deep breath, and we already know that the baby is ready. After that, we gradually begin to water on it after the command. If there is a positive result, we try to dive (literally for half a second). The baby cannot drink water in any way, because when he holds his breath, an airlock is obtained, which does not give such an opportunity. They taught me to hold my breath, lowered it for one second, for a couple of seconds. And only after that we gradually begin to let go of it. What is it for? In order for the child to float freely. When we start to release the child from our hands, we observe him very carefully: when the child feels hands - he is sure, if he does not feel support in the form of hands - he may react a little differently (but this cannot be called fear), so we carefully watching. We release the baby gradually: first slightly, then longer. Some toddlers feel comfortable almost immediately without support and float in the water. Some children are a little worried, may whine, we, of course, calm them down and continue our lesson. In the bathroom, the child was adapted, then moved to the pool with the addition of aqua gymnastics - this is a specific set of exercises specially designed for each age, based on reflexes and psychomotor development. After we have learned to hold our breath, we have at least three positions in diving: the safest is side diving (the child touches the water with his cheek and nose, he does not have time to collect water); the second position - when we release the baby horizontally (this is more difficult, because water directly enters the nose), the first moments can be very unpleasant, the child can sneeze, can frown, because water irritates the nasal mucosa, but over time, children adapt and react normally to water ingress; the third option is when the child already plunges vertically (this is the most difficult). Then we start teaching him to swim. The child is in the face of the instructor, the instructor moves with his back forward, releases the baby, and the baby soars calmly for 5-7 seconds, then we raise him. They hugged me, hugged me, and everything happens very cool!

Read the continuation of the interview with the infant swimming specialist on our portal very soon.

Prepared by Svetlana Storozhuk