Breath holding versus the gag reflex

When I first began teaching baby swimming over thirty years ago, it was a very new phenomenon. My own son who was just 18 months at the time had shocked journalists by swimming a distance of 25 metres completely un aided. Now many parents recognise the importance of teaching their child to swim as early as possible. I love to see so many families taking their babies to the pool and many more attending classes.

With the increasing popularity of baby swimming, I have seen a huge surge in the amount of people offering lessons. However, I must stress the importance of ensuring your teacher is qualified and experienced in baby swimming. Not all methods used to teach babies to swim are safe and some may cause potential harm to your baby.

One of the most common misconceptions about baby swimming is the use of the gag reflex. For many teachers, submerging a baby in water immediately is accepted practice. To understand why I never use this technique, it is important to first understand what a gag reflex actually is.

The gag reflex is a lifelong reaction that prevents us from choking. It is the human body’s natural panic button, so your baby will not grow out of it. After a submersion in water, if your baby is coughing and choking, you will know their gag reflex has been triggered. They are doing this because they have not been safely taught to breath hold.

Breath holding is the core fundamental skill needed to learn how to swim at any age. As described in my previous blog ‘Teaching your baby to breath hold at home’ there are simple steps to follow in order to show your baby how to breath hold. Completing this exercise regularly will teach you how to recognize when your baby has harnessed this life saving skill.

When practicing this exercise regularly at home, you may find my new iPhone app useful for a handy step-by-step guide and tips on breath holding and other bath time exercises. 

Teaching your baby to breath hold at home

During my baby swimming lessons, before immersing any baby completely in the water, I like to gently introduce water to their face. At this stage, it is also vital for them to learn to breath hold effectively.

The strategy in a lot of baby swimming lessons is to immerse the baby in water immediately and rely on their natural instinct with the water. However, my concern with this is that it could send your baby into panic mode and trigger the gag reflex. I prefer a more gentle approach that trains your baby to breath hold, whilst keeping them comfortable in the water. It is so important to create positive associations with water and swimming from the start.

You can introduce breath holding prior to starting your baby swimming classes, by mimicking an exercise I do in my classes, during bath time.

To begin breath hold training, hold your baby in an upright, supported position. Cup your hand and gently pour water over your baby’s face by gently cascading the water from the top of the head. Observe their eyes as they open and close, allowing your baby to recover without wiping the water away.

Listen and look out for signs of nose breathing such as ‘sniffing’ resulting in small droplets of water being inhaled. ( If this happens,don’t worry or make a fuss just continue with the exercise until you achieve the results we want.)

Breath holding is in place when the water flows down over the face and your baby is not ‘sniffing’ the water up the nose, can open both eyes, does not drink the water and plays happily in the bath water.

This exercise is so simple, you can easily do it at home and it’s a great way to increase your baby’s confidence with the water.