12/04/2026
I totally support this 💯
Over the years, my understanding of babies in water has evolved, especially when it comes to sensitive nervous systems.
Not all babies experience the water in the same way.
For some, it’s joyful and regulating. For others, it can feel overwhelming, intense, and unpredictable. And that matters.
As someone who has spent over 20 years in the water supporting little ones, I’ve learned to read the subtle cues, changes in breathing, tension in the body, eye contact, stillness. These are all ways babies communicate how safe they feel.
Which is why I no longer take underwater photos of babies. 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷
Not because it can’t be done, but because I now ask a deeper question: Should it be done for this baby?
Holding a baby underwater, even briefly, requires them to override their natural responses. While some babies appear comfortable, others may be tolerating rather than truly feeling safe.
For babies with more sensitive or developing nervous systems, that moment can shift from curiosity to stress very quickly.
My Aqua Sensory work today is rooted in connection over performance. In co-regulation over compliance.
I’m passing my knowledge to parents so they can feel from their instincts and tune into their sensations too, to read their baby’s body in my work I am developing called: ‘Somatic Swim Parenting.’
In honouring each child’s individual experience rather than expecting them to fit a process of conditioning.
Water is an incredibly powerful sensory environment.
And when we slow down and truly listen, it becomes a place where trust, not pressure, leads the way.
Every baby deserves to feel safe in the water.
And sometimes, that means choosing not to capture the picture. It means protecting the experience instead.
Reach out if this resonates with you too.
I don’t mind you questioning if you disagree or aren’t sure… I’m open to share and discuss.
