Start at home

Start getting your baby used to water by making bath time fun. Introduce bath toys, sing songs and gradually submerge baby in the bath to help her develop positive associations with water and swimming.

Photographing baby's first swim

Naturally you want to document your baby's first trip to the pool. Bring your camera when both mom and dad are at the pool (or, bring along a friend). That way, one of you can focus on swimming with baby, and the other can focus with the camera.

Make sure you check with the lifeguard. Some pools do not allow photography during public swimming sessions.

Bring along a compact waterproof digital camera like the FujiFilm Z33WP. Because pools and swimming areas are generally well lit, you can easily catch action shots without any special camera settings.

Using an underwater camera, you can go underwater and catch playful shots of baby from below. It's also fun to shoot video right at the waterline, showing mom or dad and baby above, and below, the water.

Checklist: What to bring with you

Once you decide you are ready to trek to the pool, here's a quick list of the things you need to bring along:

• A towel or two for baby (in case the first towel gets wet)
• Snacks or a bottle (if you're bottle feeding)
• A waterproof digital camera to document baby's first swim
• Swimming diapers
• Regular diapers for after the swim
• A couple of baby's favourite bath toys
• Sunscreen, if you're swimming outdoors

Some quick tips for swimming with baby

• The first few times you take baby swimming, it's a good idea to visit the pool outside peak hours. Public swimming pools can be noisy and even frightening for little tots.
• Keep it short - no longer than 20 minutes. Babies get cold quickly, even in warm swimming pools. As soon as baby starts to shiver, take her out of the pool and wrap her in a warm towel.
• Once baby is comfortable with being in the pool, support her head and gently float her on her back. Keep your face close to hers and maintain eye contact.
• As baby adjusts to the water, you can move her around and float her farther away from your body. Gradually introduce her to splashing and putting her face underwater.
• Join your local mom and baby swimming class for tips on teaching your baby to go underwater and swim unaided.