Neck float

After reading here and there about neck float, we finally bought it yesterday for Syafiah but we haven't had the chance to wear it on her. We bought this at Toys R Us which is more expensive than buying it online (we're not the online shoppers). RM70 vs RM40. I can't wait to give her a try as she just loves to be in the water! And no, we didn't buy the pool as we already have a 'pool' for her at home. We also bought a play house for her brother and sister.

Previously Adam has asthmatic symptoms. Whenever he played excitedly, he would hardly breathe & wheezed whenever he fell sick. He was admitted into the ward when he was 9 months old, being nebulized for few times/day for 3 days. After that we brought him to waterfalls. Almost every weekend we'd bring him to his 'water therapy' as well as a therapy for us as we could see the green. He's good at coordination & balancing his body. He could walk at the age of 11 months & could talk earlier than his sister. There's no more sign of asthma. The symptoms have disappeared until today.

Researchers have documented that the stimulating effect of child-paced infant/toddler swimming lessons has the potential to increase intelligence, concentration, alertness, and perceptual abilities. Improvement in social, emotional and physical development has also been published. Of course, the manifestation of such inspired cognitive, personal and motor development takes time, patience and repetition. It improves coordination, strength, endurance and lung capacity.

This was Syafiah when we first brought her to a waterfall:

She kept splashing her hand on the water!

Here is a good article on 'Swimming with your baby' by babycenter. A part of its contents:

Getting your baby used to water early is important from a safety point of view and it's great fun too. "Your child won't be co-ordinated enough to learn to swim properly until he is two or three, but you can get him to feel confident and relaxed in the water and make swimming a fun way to exercise for both of you," says midwife and health visitor Julia Youll.

When can I start swimming with my baby?

Parents used to be advised to wait until their baby had had their immunisations at two, three and four months before they took their babies swimming. But government health experts no longer believe this is necessary, so it's really up to you when you start taking your baby to the pool. "There are no medical grounds for waiting until your baby is immunised. However, most pools start classes at around 12 weeks," says Libby Tucker, a swimming teacher who specialises in parent and child courses. Remember too, that a noisy public swimming pool could be daunting for your newborn, so it may be worth waiting until he's a bit older. You will probably have to wait until you've had your six-week check before you can go yourself, anyway.

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