Aquababies - who is taking their newborn/ baby swimming?

[dal21]

hi - none of my friends have tried this, but i am keen too. any personal experiences/ advice on whether to wait until bub has had immunisations?

[Chooster]

Hi, I take my 10 week old swimming with a weekly water babies class. He's been going since he was 7 weeks old and seems to enjoy it - he's not at all bothered about getting water in his face or going under the water. The pool is a good temp for babies - 36 degrees. I was told you dont need to wait for the immunisations anymore as that was from a time that they used live polio in the injections. I double checked with GP and she said it was fine...

Enjoy!!!

[LizaRose]

Hi, I attend water babies with my dd, we started when she was about 4 months. The teacher's advice was the sooner, the better (she just started swimming her own baby at 3 weeks old!). I'm sure the class you are looking at will offer advice about starting ages.

[dal21]

they say earlier is better, aquababies have one in the regents park marriot near me and am thinking of giving their 5 week course a go.

[Chirpygirl]

Officially there is no need to wait for immmunisations BUT some pools have an age limit, my local pools say they have to have had their first injectons for some random reason, so always worth checking!
Buy a wetsuit thingy or thick swimming costume if you aren't sure about the pool temp as they can get cold quite quickly.
Don't expect to last more than 10 mins the first time and be ready to feed straightaway as they are normally starving afterwards (but then will sleep for aaaaaaages!)

Enjoy! It's so much fun!
I have taken DD nearly every week since she was 2 months and at 19 months she can now dog paddle on her own up to the surface and float for a few seconds if I let her go in the water. I have never used armbands with her as they are a bit of false sense of security (we spend a lot of time around open water and boats due to DH's job so she only has life jackets on)

[olivo]

it might depend on your local pool - we had to wait till dd had her first set of jabs so started her at 9 weeks. she loves the water nowas we try and go at least once a week. she spent lots of time in the sea too this summer and isnt remotely afraid.

[olivo]

x posts chirpy!

[Chirpygirl]

And don't think printing off NHS advice about immunisations not being necessary will change the pools mind either....!

[pigleto]

I am not sure that it gets your child swimming any sooner, but if you both enjoy it then why not. Personally I think it is an expensive waste of time, another industry based on exploiting parents.

[Chirpygirl]

DD certainly can't swim, she can just float, and we never went to any of the classes we just went and splashed around ourselves.
Gotta agree with pigleto, I think classes are a waste of money until they are old enough to understand instruction and swim properly, much better to muck about on your own timetable.

[NotADragonOfSoup]

I've taken all 3 of mine to Aquatots. It's been utterly fabulous and they've all enjoyed it They have a lower limit of 10 weeks old and 10lbs in weight.

[aprilmeadow]

I have taken my dd to water babies every week since 4mths and she loves it. This week we let go of them under the water and she swam a meter under water on her own towards me. It was amazing.

Also took my ds to baby swimming from 9mths of age, he is now 2 and has no fear of water at all. So it does serve a purpose, if nothing more than they know what to do should they fall into the pool.