I can only imagine what that baby is going to do to HIS son when he grows up...

What happens if they wipe out? At least put a life jacket on the baby. Looks unnecessarily risky.

precisely what I was thinking

Fun. Please use sunscreen.

Babies know how to swim from the womb. Most westerners are too terrified (of everything, generally) to allow babies to try though. So they loose the skill and learn the fear.

Moving this video to oritteropo's personal queue. It failed to receive enough votes to get sifted up to the front page within 2 days.

They know to float and hold their breath due to a natural response, which you can emulate by blowing in their faces, to which they have the same reaction. They also flap their arms and legs in a swim-like motion so that a layman might think they know how to swim.

Actually they are not strong enough nor understanding of the concept to hold their head above water to breathe. Your advice is misleading and it could be dangerous if taken in the wrong way. Babies cannot swim and are at significantly higher risk of drowning than older/stronger (even non-swimmer) children, and they're naturally shaped and weighted to float face down.

Suggesting that we have an unnatural, unnecessary fear of babies drowning in the west sounds like jenny mccarthy new-age nonsense.. we have a rational fear of babies drowning because they are at risk of drowning for aforesaid reasons, which is aside from whether this video is safe for a baby or not... some people take their babies on bicycles and in cars in at least equally dangerous environments.

No offence intended, but drowning is a serious risk for small children, and what you say is a hazardous myth... babies will survive being submerged for a short period of time, and will not try to breathe when submerged. They cannot swim and will drown if not retrieved quickly.

5 more comments have been lost in the ether at this killed duplicate.

Sorry, but this is just stupid and wrong.

Honestly, who thought bringing a child bodyboarding was a good idea?

The poor child will grow up thinking that bodyboarding is ok. Strap him to a surfboard and do it properly!

Know how friendly surfers refer to bodyboarders?

Chum.