Taking my 5 month old swimming

[Firsttimemummy19]

I'm taking my 5 month old baby swimming for the first time next week.
I've been to check out the place first to make sure I know what I'm doing, there's a baby change table in the middle of the room but not in a cubicle. So do people get undressed out of the cubicles?! Otherwise I'll have to put him on the floor in a cubicle while I get dressed?!

My local swimming baths is the same (fixed changing table) and I have always just got changed in the main changing area. Another baths I have been to have freestanding changing tables you can move. Any chance they have any of those? If not then can you bring your pram or car seat in with you? Get baby changed first whilst you are wrapped in a towel then put them into the pram/seat and take them into the cubicle with you?

He's too heavy for the car seat but I could take the buggy in although I'd have to trust no one pinches it from the changing room 😳

Is it women only? Have had this where you had to go in the group change if you had a baby but the group change was separate. Can see you might feel a bit weird if you are the only one changing in the open.

I always leave my buggy in the changing rooms. Never gets nicked. Towelling dressing gown for you while you change baby otherwise you drop all over them and get cold

My list of things to take is getting longer!

Swim nappy. Nappy cover. £1 locker. £4 fee. Car park money. Towels. Changing bag. My clothes/underwear. Breast pads. Towelling dressing gown

Why are you doing this? Hassle and stress. Run a bath at home. There’s years to go swimming when they old enough to get anything out of it. It’s abit mad tbh.

I would agree with MsTS. I did Waterbabies with both of mine from single-digit-weeks old. Utterly pointless. They still went through fear of water stages as young toddlers. Wait until they’re two or three and let them jump into the pool with you, or do pre-schooler classes, then they can start proper unaccompanied swimming lessons at four. Saves a lot of faff and money.

Tbh I would not bother!
But if you do, take a baby wetsuit those wrap ones and expect 2 0mins max in water. I found it wasn't worth the hassle. Started swimming lessons at 3 and went great guns from there.

What miserable comments about
Not going swimming yet. It’s not that hard to take a baby swimming once you have done it once.

Take them, ignore the killjoys.
Took my dc from a few months and ds started council lessons at a year and dd waz 6 months. Both real water babies. Loved the water and went on to earn money as life guards.

OP’s already said it’s going to cost her at least £6 a pop though Widow. To what end?

I never used baby wetsuit wraps with either of mine and I had them in the pool from 5-6 weeks old. They were fine. Achieved nothing out of the faffy, expensive exercise, but they were fine. Also no need to take a dressing gown. Just one more thing to lug about. Just a towel is fine. I used to go with my swimsuit under a tracksuit then dry off adequately to put the tracksuit back on afterwards, drive straight back home and shower/change there. No need to change anyone/anything other than the baby at the swimming pool.

Wrap baby in a towel and pop on another towel or travel changing mat on the floor. Much easier to change yourself first and baby second otherwise you'll just get baby wet as you dress them. If baby is a roller, wrap tightly in a towel and stand on the edge!

Such strange comments about 'not bothering'!
I'm going because I want to. Should I not bother leaving the house until he's 2 or 3 either?!

Some funny people on this site 🙄

I did it at 5 months with my first and it was stressful and pointless not to mention cold. There are lots of lovely things a mother and tiny baby can do. Swimming in a municipal indoor pool is certainly not one of them. I’m not being a kill joy there is no joy to kill in that activity!

ds loved it as a small baby! He would smile and wiggle his legs, plus he always did an amazing nap after.

My place doesnt let you bring buggies into the changing room so chamging mat on floor, baby on mat, wash mat at home. There were also pull down changing tables so i would get changed mega quick whilst DS was led there.

Bring a towel for dc for getting out of the pool plus another tobdry them with. I also wore a bikini so i coild just take the pants off throw a tracksuit on and get properly changed at home.

OP don't worry you will quickly get into a routine and find the easiest way of getting you both organised and dressed. I've been taking DS since he was 7 weeks and now he's 3.5. At our pool there are family changing cubicles with pull-down baby changing tables in each one which is a bit easier than your setup suggests, so if I were you I'd take the buggy in. All the mums at our pool line their buggies up outside, never heard of one being nicked in several years. Are you doing a class?

@LittleAndOften I did enquire about classes but thought I'd take him for a swim on our own first before I commit to paying for classes.
I'm really looking forward to it, maybe it will be a one off but I won't know unless I try.

My DC loved it! Went regularly from about three months and used to kick and splash about and as PP said, had a great nap after. Loads for them to look at

Used to have my bikini under clothes so just took them off and changed baby, then after sorted baby out all warm and dry and then just put clothes over wet bikini in summer (hot so didn't care) or just got changed in main room in winter. It was ok and not too much trouble

I will admit I never took a dressing gown-I used to line pushchair with a plastic bag for life, put baby in wrapped in towel, get myself dressed and then sort baby. But was frowned upon on here for mentioning it before! Just try what feels right for you and if it doesn’t work try a different way next time. Enjoy! Both mine started swimming from tiny and we all loved it.

I’ve been taking my baby swimming since he was 3 months. It is a lot of faff especially because he is ready to get out after half hour but it’s also a lot of fun! He is now 5 months, I take a changing mat with me, a waterproof foamy one, I wrap him in a big towel and lie him on the mat while I get ready.

I go to the pool with costume under clothes and wear flip flops and a tracksuit or dress. I take my baby already in his swim nappy and wetsuit because I don’t have far to go to the pool from my house. I dress him in an oversized onesie to take him home so that he is warm and so I don’t have to faff getting outfits on him in the sticky hot changing rooms!

Why not put him into a ‘back pack’ type sling? I think baby bjorn do them. Might be a good option if the pushchair’s a bit bulky.

My local pool has a family room for parents to use. Is there anything like that there!?

I've taken my 8 month old swimming with Waterbabies once per week since he was 5 months old. I wear my swimming costume under my clothes on the way (I wear something easy like a dress) and get him changed outside of the cubicle. I bring a big towel for him and a waterproof changing mat, take off his swim nappy and costume wrap him in the towel and lay him on the mat with a toy while I get ready then I get him ready. The first time was a bit stressful but now it's straightforward! They don't allow prams into the changing room and its mixed sexes. Hope this helps and you and your baby have a lovely time

We take our 4 month old swimming. We take a bath mat with us - the microfibre kind without a rubberised backing (so it folds up easily) - and put that down on the floor and lie DD on it to get her changed. She's very happy and it makes it easy.

I started doing this after seeing another mum do the same one week. Genius! No more messing around with awkward little benches and slippery baby on my lap.

I took mine for lessons from 5 months. It was a pleasant activity for us. Better than being ignored in a community centre!

Baby in carrier. I quickly invested in a towelling dressing gown then some time later a less bulky poncho towel. Poncho towel for baby.

Second time round I had back to back lessons for toddler and baby. Toddler on bench by teacher then baby in playpen.

They didn't "learn to swim", we're still working on it years later! But they always have loved swimming in the water and enjoy their lessons and have good water skills. The actual strokes are trickier although one has dyspraxia, and my years of being waist deep in cool water will have benefited his gross motor skills.

Sadly I didn't get my cheap shortie wetsuit until we were about done on toddler lessons, but that was a brilliant £10 on maximising pool time with the kids at casual sessions before the hypothermia sets in