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Original poster

What age did you take your child swimming for the first time??

29 replies

Ca9622 · 28/02/2023 10:24

Hello,

Please can I ask when did you take your DC swimming for the first time and did you do classes or just take them to a pool yourselves to begin with?

TIA

OP posts:
cheatingcrackers · 28/02/2023 10:25

About 8 weeks, just took them myself with all 3.

DragonflyLady · 28/02/2023 10:50

About a couple of months. Just took her by myself.

DappledThings · 28/02/2023 10:53

About 8 weeks. Just with a friend. Signed up for classes about the same time as well though.

BevMarsh · 28/02/2023 10:56

I think both of my dc were about 3years old😕.
I enrolled them in lessons aged about 6.

AliceTheeCamel · 28/02/2023 10:56

About 4 months with DC1 and 8 months with DC2 (delayed due to pandemic). We did baby swimming classes. After I finished mat leave we just carried on taking them ourselves at weekends.

WandaWonder · 28/02/2023 10:57

From a baby but no official lessons till 5

Vallmo47 · 28/02/2023 10:58

After all their first injections. Great family fun! IMO no point doing swimming lessons until stage 2 (learning pool) because they’re mainly focused on getting them confident in water and I could do that on my own.

Kimberz · 28/02/2023 10:58

Both of ours just go for fun atm. Lessons will start for the eldest (3.5) when she is 5 I reckon

FlounderingFruitcake · 28/02/2023 11:02

About 2 months because that’s when we happened to be on holiday. I would never taken them to the local leisure centre because it’s my idea of hell. They started lessons at 3 when they don’t need a parent in the pool.

Mamaneedsadrink · 28/02/2023 11:08

About 4 months at the nearby beach a few times, then started lessons at a pool around 6 months. There is a similar thread going as well

EveryLittleWish · 28/02/2023 11:13

My oldest was 2 months old when I took him to the pool and he started lessons started at 3 months . He’s 4 years old and is still in lessons .

My youngest was a lockdown baby so he didn’t start swimming until he was 6 months although it didn’t make a difference . He’s 2 now and can jump into a pool and swim back to the side.

I highly recommend lessons If you can . You don’t need lessons so early on but it helps for survival skills like falling into a pool.

PandaOrLion · 28/02/2023 11:17

5 or 6 weeks? Kept him in for about 15 mins and built it up. Hasn’t put his head under yet (12wks).

AngelsWithSilverWings · 28/02/2023 11:17

10 months but would have been earlier if I had been able to adopt them earlier. Started with a ducklings class and now DS17 is a part time lifeguard at the same pool. DD didn't take to it quite as well and still looks like she's drowning even though she had years of lessons.

skgnome · 28/02/2023 11:20

I took mine to a baby swimming at 5 months… stayed in parent and toddler lessons until she was 2.5 (when we really were paying for her to play in the pool - she has mastered all the basics)
went back to proper lessons when she was 6
she’s now 12 and in a swim team

Original poster
Ca9622 · 28/02/2023 14:02

Thankyou so much all!
My DD is 3 months and desperate to take her swimming I think she will absolutely love it but lessons will cost me £60 a month for her! Not sure if this is worth it for the age she is atm? If you didn't take yours for lessons what sort of thing did you do with them?/ what kind of pool did you take them to??
TIA

OP posts:
ShirleyPhallus · 28/02/2023 14:06

My youngest was a lockdown baby so he didn’t start swimming until he was 6 months although it didn’t make a difference 🤣🤣

Anyway OP, lessons are more fun as they give you some ideas with what to do with your baby. I had no idea really and would just bob around with her in the pool but lessons have an idea of what to do. When they’re so little it’s about confidence in the water so you definitely don’t need lessons but nice to have a few things to do with your baby if you do take them

EveryLittleWish · 28/02/2023 14:37

@ShirleyPhallus that did kinda sound ridiculous 😆! I meant that it doesn’t make a difference at all the first year because it’s just about getting them use to the water . I don’t think it makes a difference until they are two , or at it was that way for my boys .

Fifthtimelucky · 28/02/2023 15:42

I took mine at about 4 months - after all their first set of jabs.

It wouldn't have occurred to me to pay for lessons. I wanted them to be happy in the water and not afraid of getting their faces wet. When they were little we mainly played in the little pool. When they were a bit older, and I was confident that they could hold on, I used to take them in the big pool and swim with them lying on my back, holding on to my shoulders.

They both loved that.

Lavender2021 · 28/02/2023 15:53

About 5 months old due to lockdown. We are lucky to have a company with it's own warm pool-I think they start lessons at 4 weeks old!
We have been going ever since in 10 weeks blocks around a £150 for 10 weeks so not cheap but my daughter has good water confidence at almost 3 and seem to enjoy it.

Jessicamarie27 · 28/02/2023 15:54

We took my little one when he was 7 weeks old he only went into the pool for 10 minutes

DoesItHaveKosovo · 28/02/2023 15:57

He was about 16 months - would have loved to have gone much earlier but lockdown & massive restrictions / booking requirements on all local pools meant I didn’t get the chance until we went on holiday! He’s now 3 and we go every other weekend or thereabouts, and will start lessons when he is around 5.

showstopper100 · 28/02/2023 15:58

DC1 - 12 weeks.

DC2 - 20 weeks.

showstopper100 · 28/02/2023 15:59

We did classes with both - my husband went/goes in.

Derbee · 28/02/2023 16:01

10 weeks old when we started Water Babies. It’s also about £60/month but totally worth it imo.

We also go to the local leisure centre, but weve done so much in Water Babies that I wouldn’t have thought of on my own

TheNyx · 28/02/2023 16:17

Started classes at 6 weeks, definitely give it a shot, 3 months is a good age to start

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