Home preparations – get ready for a bath
Has your baby not reached 13 pounds (6kg) yet? Are you interested in joining baby swimming? Did you know you can get prepared at home?
Before you join babyswimming, it is important to practice at home, in your large tub. And it matters how you do. Why so? Because the water in pools is unusual for babies. Enormous spaces and a big amounts of water. The evening bath ceremony can mean a base for baby swimming, so it will provide security for the little one, once you come to your first class.
How to do? We help you…
Certain mood elements are extremely important keys for your baby, too. You can create an intimate environment of the daily bath routine. Just imagine, it was not that long ago when your dearest one has spent time in your belly, surrounded by filtered light, almost total darkness, with blunt and very soft noises around. You don’t need to be a professional, just trust yourself. We, mothers have an ancestral knowledge, we are one with our babies, we feel each and every vibration of them. The emphasis is on touch and care. Sing a lot while you talk to them. Fondle, name the body parts wherever your hands reach. Hand touch is magical, it’s important both for parents and babies.
Imitated diving, watering
‘I recommend you to possibly start and end your bathing session with imitated diving, so watering your baby. Almost as a ceremony. Kids love repetitions within their days. It gives them a frame, meaning the sense of security in their lives. As we have a goal, we always start bathing with this little ceremony. You pour the water softly, with a slow and calm rhythm, over the head of your baby, lying prone, over your arm. In the moment that water reaches over their eyes, nose or mouth, the little ones will hold their breaths, as long as water is coming. This ability is called the diving reflex. This is an elementary, innate reflex, babies are born with it. Watering shall be done once while bathing. Either at the beginning or at the end. The key is to do it at every single bathing. Imitated diving is also effective if your baby is over 6 months and the diving reflex is already fading. It can also work with older kids once it is done regularly, at every single bathing occasion…’ by Katalin Stoller
Other exercises and instructions: Home preparation
