Waterbabies - swimming lessons for babies (Waterbabies Swimming Lessons)

Member Name: velvetbrown

Product:	Waterbabies Swimming Lessons
Date:	04/12/08 (488 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well organised, baby friendly and suitable from birth (almost!)

Disadvantages: Relatively expensive (but worth it)

When my baby was born I was desperate for something to do with him - even from an early age he got bored spending all day in the house. So I signed up to Waterbabies - baby swimming. And we both loved it! I haven't done any other baby swimming lessons, so I can't say that Waterbabies is better than anywhere else, but I can say that baby swimming is definitely worth the money and Waterbabies were really helpful, organised and efficient.

We started swimming when my baby was just 8 weeks old. I was a bit stunned at the end of the first lesson when the instructor said all the babies were going to do an underwater swim but she explained what would happen really well and everyone was fine. There was no crying, no panics, in fact it was easy! The lessons were totally appropriate for the babies' ages and, if anyone didn't want to do anything, or if the babies were unsettled and just needed cuddles then that was fine.

The lessons are organised in 10 week blocks - and you need to do 4 blocks (1 year) to complete the full course (but lots of people do less than this). I completed all 4 blocks and enjoyed all of them. The lessons I attended were in school pools - the water was always really warm but the pools and changing facilities were pretty poor. That was really the only negative thing about the whole experience. Each lesson lasts about half an hour and they are a mixture of songs, games etc. Waterbabies say there will be no more than 10 babies in any class but a lot of my classes were just 3 babies - which was great.

The lessons are quite expensive (around £10/11 each) and you have to pay for a full 10 week block - so if you miss a session you have still paid for it. However, we found that all our local authority baby swimming classes (ie in council pools) wouldn't let you start until the baby was 6 months and this seemed too late to me. So, if we wanted to go swimming we (me and dad) would both need to go (try getting in and out of a pool with a tiny baby on your own!) and that would cost at least £8 - so Waterbabies wasn't much more. We decided that we would pay for just one activity - and Waterbabies was it.

I know a few people who did the Local Authority baby swimming. I can't really compare them as I didn't go to both but from what I have heard the main differences are...
At Waterbabies the instructor is in the pool with you all the time so she can demonstrate what you should be doing
Waterbabies class sizes are small
Waterbabies is totally without the use of armbands etc - babies learn to be independent in the water

My baby is 18 months now and he still loves swimming. I don't do Waterbabies any more (you can move on to toddler swimming) - mainly because it is hard to fit it in now I am back at work. But, I do take him to the pool most weeks. He is really confident in the water but, more that that, it has given me the confidence to take him (even when he was tiny). I don't panic if he goes under - I just give him time to swim up and a helping push if necessary. I would totally recommend Waterbabies to anyone with a baby!

Summary: I loved doing this with my baby and it has given us both confidence in the water.