Aloysius' second swim...

I brought Aloysius for his second swim today :) My mum was around, so I asked her to go downstairs with us to help me to capture some photos :)

Here's a picture of him just before the dip :).
We went for the swim after he woke up from his afternoon nap, fed, and flashcards session...

Swimsuit??
hmm... just a tee shirt top and a pre-folded nappy... :) If your baby is still pooing unexpectedly, do not follow what I did for hygience purpose :). What should be the proper swim wear for babies will be a disposable swim diaper, then another layer of snugly fit (at the thighs) swim wear or wetsuit.


For a start, I dip his legs into the water, and tell him we are going to swim. Then, I carry him on my chest and slowly get into the water - deeper and deeper... This is to get him to get accustom to the cold water.


This is Aloysius swimming and floating on his front. I just use one hand to support his head cos I am afraid that he might not have enough strength to hold his heavy head above the water. At some point, I tried to hold his head and I float on my back... Oops... He drank some water... He coughed and wanted to cry. I quickly gave him a hug and assure him everything is ok :) From the books, swimming is a time for parent-baby bonding and trust building. Hence, if the baby cries or do not like it, we gotta give him a hug.



This is Aloysius floating on his back :). It's amazing that babies can float, isn't it? We just have to support their heads to prevent the occasional dipping of their heads. I tried to hold him in such a way that his ears are above the water. Occasionally, his ears will get some water. But it's only the outside :) I am thinking that there's a possibility that his ears can be submerged into the water without the water getting to the inside. That's how we swim too, rite?


We went to the jacuzzi side too. I just held his head and let him float on the front and back. Aloysius seems to enjoy it very much... One of the aim of swimming for babies is to stimulate their senses using water. And babies love the sensation of water on their skin, and the sensation of floating. When we were at the jacuzzi, Aloysius started "talking" to me... so cute... :) I thought maybe he felt very comfortable there, just like we adults do. My mum did not take any pictures when we were at the jacuzzi, cos it's too far...

I wanted to "dunk" (submerge) him into the water, but I was not confident enough. Hence, he haven't have a taste of be dunked yet :). Perhaps the next swim... We got out of the water when Aloysius' lips seems to get a bit bluish, which means he's feeling cold...

From the "water babies" book, it's recommended not to use floats for babies cos it will cause them to lose their sense of buoyancy.... Oh yes, another thing is before going for a swim in the big pool, we gotta "prepare" babies for it. It is recommended to let baby float and get used to being in the water at home, in the bath-tub. It's a big step for a baby to go into the swimming pool from the bath-tub though. In Singapore, it's not very practical, cos most people do not have a bath-tub at home. And secondly, water is expensive... ;) For me, I started to prepare Aloysius since he was 7-8 weeks old. I do not bath him in very warm water. And I use my hand to wash his face. I will say "Aloysius, 1, 2, 3, wash". I will use more and more water to wash his face. At the very first time, I did not do these and I just poured water on him. He cried... After some "practice", now I can just pour water on his head and face. I started to tell him "Aloysius, 1, 2, 3, down". The "preparation" stage is rather important, I feel. Aloysius did not cry when I introduced him to the pool. Oh yes... Another thing I did was bring him downstairs a few times to sit by the swimming pool in the evening :)