Just Keep Swimming! Just Keep Swimming!

Let’s talk about baby swimming or infant swimming as some people call it. They say that infants can start as early as 2,5 months old. However, in Greece, they usually start at around 6 months old as they believe that an infant will not make it through the half an hour lesson. Although the water is heated, babies do get cold after some time and they have found that infants above six are more likely to finish the lesson. Our pediatrician and dermatologist had no problem with starting the lessons sooner, so we took our baby swimming at 5 months old. She is absolutely thrilled. She splashes around, moves both hands and feet like a dolphin and I recon she really likes it. Her coach said that the younger they get in the water the better it is because the liquid environment resembles the womb so they feel like home. Furthermore, they haven’t yet developed the sense of fear.

They say baby swimming has a lot to offer to a baby. It helps babies develop their socialization skills, enhances their immune system, promotes appetite and so on. But let’s also see the benefits to the parent, from a parent’s point of view.

We figured that our baby has already developed a strong mommy bond, so we chose dad to swim with the baby. Therefore, they can spend some “together” time by doing something she really enjoys with her daddy. After swimming she tends to sleep for a loooong, looong time. These nights are actually the only nights that we get to sleep properly. In the same gym, there is also an adult swimming pool so at the same time, mommy gets a chance to also do some swimming, clear her head, relax and exercise (and maybe loose those last pregnancy pounds).

Of course, there is a huge lot of laundry. Washing the baby is also tiring but we found a “summer infant baby bather” at mothercare which made our life a lot easier. Fold it and it’s ready to go. We actually used it on our first trip too!

In Greece they will ask for a pediatrician permission. The cost here is about 40 to 70 Euros per month or you can use a day pass at 10 Euros per lesson. You will also need a waterproof diaper!

There’s a lot of information if you search the web and there is usually a babyswimming.com that can probably answer your questions.

I’ll be happy to hear how your first lesson went!

Have fun!

What on earth is BPA? Is it something you eat?

When I started buying things for my unborn baby, the only advice I got was

a. It is best to buy silicon pacifiers and

b. Prefer a glass baby bottle to a plastic one

So I am at the store, holding two baby bottles in my hands and looking for the differences like my life depends on it! The only sales assistant in store is trying hard to assist 5 customers at the same time (Oh, financial crisis! Get another employer people‼) Ok, I  am thinking, how hard can it be? And just when I am about to put the baby bottle in my cart, I see it. On the upper corner of the carton, a tiny green sign that reads: BPA FREE. So I started looking at other products and noticed the same or similar signs (like 0% BPA). What on earth is BPA? Is it something you eat? 

Then, I did a small research the moment I could get my fingers on the web and I discovered that not only you cannot eat it, but you should not have it on any product that you use for feeding or drinking! BPA (which stands for Bisphenol A) is an organic synthetic compound which can be found in baby bottles, plastic plates and glasses, plastic toys, baby products and in general in plastic staff. It is considered harmful for our health, especially for infants, however the results on the tests are controversial. I don’t want to bore you, so if you are interested, you can find info on the FDA site, Wikipedia, Mayoclinic, or you can just google it! 

And me? As my granny always says: BPA is a no no!