Parent-infant swim classes are all about helping parents to enjoy the water safely with their infants or young children and to enlighten them about basic water safety and self-help skills around the water.

These classes need to emphasize water adjustment, preparatory activities for swimming, fun and enjoyment.

Both parents and infants benefit from these classes.

For infants this encourages:

• Motor development. Lessons provide exercise that increases strength and coordination. Warm water and gentle exercise stimulates a baby’s appetite on swimming days and improves sleep as well.
• Cognitive development. As infants learn how to get around in the water on their own, their independence blossoms. Researchers have stated that this independence increases their self-confidence and their interest in learning which lasts throughout their life and promotes success in future challenges both in and out of the water. Studies have shown that taking part in swim lessons at an early age provides the infant an advantage in cognitive development as evidenced by better performance in school.
• Social and emotional development. Infants that have successful experiences develop greater self-confidence.

For both parent and infant it:

• Offers new opportunities. In the form of challenges, environments, classmates and teachers, these new opportunities expand broaden the resources and influences that impact learning and maturing.
• Enhances the parent-infant relationship. Psychologists say that swimming provides babies a lot of skin-to-skin contact with their parents, deepening the bond between parent and infant. Some parents have said that this lesson time is the only opportunity they have to spend thirty pleasurable, uninterrupted minutes with their infant.
• Develops self-image and confidence. This in turn increases independence which in turn increases the pleasure of achievement and affects the development of intelligence favorably.
• Provides fun and enjoyment in the water. Water is very relaxing and easy for almost everyone to move about in. Swimming an activity that isn’t age-limited and offers good physical activity for many who would otherwise not get such exercise.

Parent and infant classes give swim schools an opportunity to offer benefits to families beyond the extraordinary ones that learning to swim already offers.