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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that swimming lessons for babies are stupidly expensive??

77 replies

Reddottys12 · 15/01/2015 22:02

I want my 5 month old DS to start swimming with his dad but am shocked at the cost of lessons! The cheapest I've found was £130 for 10 lessons.

Necessary or can we just take him for a muck about in a heated pool ourselves?

OP posts:

ohdearitshappeningtome · 16/01/2015 08:51

We went to a private company! £168 for 14 lessons in a high school! 20mij drive there and then back. Not worth it.

Now go to local council pool £35 for ten! Same learn through play as the private company.

Ds has been going since 8 weeks, we go because my dh can't swim and we both agree we want him to have confidence in water.

Plus it gives us some structure to a day and often the main reason we go out as we spend many a day in.

We have seen a big improvement in ds since going as In he can hold on etc

It may not be right for one but it is another. Each to their own but we don't think it's a waste of money or time.

ohdearitshappeningtome · 16/01/2015 08:53

But then I think nct is a waste of money but I wouldn't call anyone out for it as I said each to their own it's what suits your lifestyle and needs

Bakeoffcakes · 16/01/2015 08:58

I don't know why anyone would want their lovely baby to be put in a pool, full of chemicals and other people's germs. Makes me heave to think about it.

Wait intil they're a bit older and more robust.

slightlyconfused85 · 16/01/2015 09:01

I did these with DD at 4 months and regret it a lot. It was very expensive as you say and frankly she cried every week because she was teething, tired, hungry and cold in various combinations. We stopped taking her and started taking her to a local pool for a dip when she was about 15 months. She is 2.2 now and absolutely adores swimming. These classes are a waste of money IMO

Eminybob · 16/01/2015 09:03

I take DS to a class which is a similar price to the op. Have since he was 8 weeks. He's 6 mo now.

I think it is worth it as I would never have had the confidence to do some of the stuff with him myself.
It teaches safety in the water as well as the basics.

He loves it, I enjoy it and we've made some lovely friends there.

ElphabaTheGreen · 16/01/2015 09:03

I've done Water Babies with both of mine from eight weeks (now 2y 7m) and five weeks (now 5m) respectively. Yes, it's obscenely expensive but the classes are small, the hydro pool we use is far better than a public swimming pool and is not otherwise accessible to the general public and both boys ADORE the water. Their lessons are back to back on a Saturday which is incredibly convenient and DS1 loves watching DS2 in his lesson. Neither of them have ever used armbands and DS1 has been able to swim the length of a small pool independently since he was just under two years old. If he falls in the water he also automatically heads for the side to hold on because that's drummed in from the very first lessons.

I'd say go for one term to baby swimming classes, otherwise you're not going to have the confidence to anything other than bob around in the water a bit. If you don't want to carry on, you'll at least have a repertoire of stuff you can do at your local pool for a lot cheaper. If you do want to carry on, you'll have a great regular, if expensive, activity you can carry on with.

PrimalLass · 16/01/2015 09:08

I wasted about £700 on Waterbabies for my pfb Don't bother.

bruffin · 16/01/2015 09:09

Well does the price include the entry of both your DS and your DF plus professional instruction in a safe facility. I'm assuming it does. So 13 quids pretty good value for money in my opinion

I love baby lessons but this is not good value, as I said above its more like £7 a lesson.

museumum · 16/01/2015 09:15

Some people just love to ridicule baby swimming in a way they just don't with signing or signing or massage or music or rhyme time.
No, my baby can't "swim" but he loves the pool, is comfortable with changing rooms, knows about slippy floors and poolsides and can hold his breath when he goes under can kick to the surface and can hold onto the side.
We love it, and it means he's very happy swimming on holiday with us.

Babies at music class or rhyme time are not maestros or poets either but nobody ridicules their parents for taking them.

ohdearitshappeningtome · 16/01/2015 09:26

Our private lesson didn't use hydrofoil or have lifeguard!

Was done in a high school on a Saturday
Council ones on a Tuesday no lifeguard either in a public pool closed for lessons

Micah · 16/01/2015 09:28

I think they are a good idea if you have the money, want to meet people, and/or can't swim yourself.

They're good for water confidence and getting used to the pool. As pp poster said, they're also good for a bit of a social life and coffee and cake after. Other than that don't expect your baby to actually learn much.

If you are confident in the pool you can just take them yourselves to a public session and splash about.

There isn't really much point in formal lessons before 5, their arms generally aren't in the right proportion to their heads before that. A child who starts at 5 will probably end up at the same point as a child who started at 3, all other things being equal.

A friend of mine signed up for a term. Then got together with a couple of other mums and arranged to meet up once a week at the pool. Far cheaper, and still have someone to chat to over coffee after :)

sebsmummy1 · 16/01/2015 09:34

It really does come down to finances I think. If you have the money then it's great, if you don't then please don't berate yourself for doing something free/cheaper instead.

SquirrelledAway · 16/01/2015 10:13

Lovely warm pool = perfect breeding ground for bacteria, and more bacteria introduced as people sweat more into the water, so more chemicals required to counteract plus the pool air quality can be poor, not ideal for sensitive lungs.

If you're not water confident yourself then go for it, otherwise take tour DC to a pool and do the floating around / blowing bubbles / Spider-Man-along-the-wall / batting balls thing yourself in the local pool.

differentnameforthis · 16/01/2015 10:15

To think that swimming lessons for babies are stupid

Fix it for you...

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 16/01/2015 10:46

They are expensive but to be honest both DD and I absolutely love them. We started at 8 weeks and are still going at 14 months. She is extremely confident in water and her swimming lesson is the happiest half hour of her week, she grins throughout the whole thing. A couple of times we have struggled to find the cash but as she loves them so much have decided to prioritise it over other things (I realise not everyone can do this). I get a bit annoyed when people slag it off and say it's pointless/ridiculous etc and DD has a fab time and I think it will stand her in good stead for when she's older.

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 16/01/2015 10:47

Primal so far we've spent about £600 on Waterbabies and would say it's the best money we've spend since she was born. Each to their own.

CrispyFB · 16/01/2015 10:57

I didn't start doing swimming with my oldest until she was 5 and after two years of lessons she still couldn't swim. DD2 started at 3 and after two years she still couldn't swim either. DS has been going since 4 months, he's nearly 4 now and he can't swim either. Basically they're just not natural swimmers and I'm looking into private lessons as it's clear the group model is not working for any of them.

However - they ADORE "swimming". They love being in the water and it makes them really happy. So for that reason alone, it's worth it.

DC4 is 10 months and has been going since 6 months and to see her happy little face in the pool each week is priceless. Needless to say she is incapable of swimming lengths or saving herself as we just sing rhymes but she has so many smiles!

We just have council run lessons. Given they don't seem to be actually learning anything and it's about their happiness I'd resent paying more than the £18/month or so it is.

SquirrelledAway · 16/01/2015 11:06

£600 for 12 months of 30 minutes per week of water babies?

Good grief, I'm in the wrong business.

Murphy29 · 16/01/2015 11:13

I've just booked this for 3mo DS (not water babies but similar and same price) and can't wait to get started. My parents can't swim so I was late learning and although I'm now a string swimmer I want DS to be confident from an early age.

It's also worth the extra for us as they use special pools heated to the right temp whereas our local pool said baby had to be at least 14lb before starting as pool not warm enough. DS was premature so won't be the right weight for a good few weeks and we want to get started before we take him on holiday.

PrimalLass · 16/01/2015 11:40

A child who starts at 5 will probably end up at the same point as a child who started at 3, all other things being equal.

This. For us it was a waste of money because we stopped the Waterbabies at about 2 and started again with cooncil lessons at 4.5. He did not remember anything from Waterbabies.

PrimalLass · 16/01/2015 11:43

Primal so far we've spent about £600 on Waterbabies and would say it's the best money we've spend since she was born. Each to their own.

So did I when I was in the middle of it, going every week. In retrospect, it was a ridiculous waste of money for us, although I enjoyed it at the time.

Starlightbright1 · 16/01/2015 11:50

The ironic thing on this thread is that no one who has done water babies has said Children can't learn to swim any other way..My DS now 7 can still remember some of the rhymes from Water babies...If you don't want to spend your money on lessons don't there are alternatives..

An example of my child never learnt to swim till .... has no bearing as it is not the only way you can learn to swim

theflyingpig · 16/01/2015 11:54

We did these lessons for our firstborn.

Concluded after a while that it's a pure fad that's very unlikely to survive on its current scale in the future. Fair enough if parents & babies enjoy it, each to his or her own, but as something that's more than very fractionally useful or enjoyable, nah.

Second child didn't go.

butterfliesinmytummy · 16/01/2015 12:10

Some of the advantages of learning to swim early

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 16/01/2015 12:36

In a fog of PND and insomnia I don't think anything we both enjoy will ever be a waste of money .

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