Water Babies

[homeishere]

I took my almost-three year old swimming to a Water Babies class the other day. On arrival I was told that my toilet-trained daughter had to wear a nappy to go swimming. Of course she absolutely kicked off and refused, so we dressed and left.

Initially I was told to cancel the £180 series of lessons would cost me a £18 one off session fee (‘for the session I attended’) and a £30 cancellation charge. The cancellation was eventually waived after I escalated my complaint.

My AIBU is: AIBU to expect my toilet-trained daughter to not have to wear a nappy when swimming? No other swimming pool or swimming organisation expects a toilet-trained child to wear a nappy and regress in this manner.

FYI to parents who didn’t know - Water Babies expect your kids to regress! Their policy is that children have to wear a swim nappy until the age of 4 1/2! Then a pair of those swim pants thereafter! So that’s a child of Reception age!

Yabu you didn't read the policy.

Both my dds did water babies. Dd2 was swimming lengths at 2 and made astonishing progress. Dd2 simply screamed solidly for every lesson and I could have saved hundreds not bothering.

I imagine the nappy policy is a condition of their insurance.

3 is too old to start water babies.

@User5252727 swim nappies don't hold in pee, they aren't absorbent otherwise they'd just suck up pool water. Chlorine keeps things sanitary.

Your being really ott about this. Little ones are not always reliable and poo accidents have massive implications for everyone else swimming that day. My local leisure centre asked for this approach for duckling pre-school classes as well. 3year olds doing independent classes are not always quick enough to ask the teacher to go to the loo and get to the changing room.

I did waterbabies with my eldest and it was no big deal to just explain the swim nappy was just in case and only for swimming. My youngest is potty training and also doing water babies. All of the kids are in the same position and having been in a class where someone didn’t bother and ended up swimming in poo, I’m quite happy with the strict policy on this.

@Crimsonripple

Get over it. We're with Water Babies and we just get on with it. The swim nappies will hardly make her regress as they're bloody useless! One small wee and everything is wet with water running down their legs!

Swim nappies aren't meant to absorb wee . They're there to catch poo. If they absorbed wee, they'd also absorb the pool water and be bulky, massive and probably burst as soon as the child entered the pool!

The nappy’s a precaution, she doesn’t need to use it. It’s there just in case she has an accident which would ruin the class for everyone. They’re playing safe. Lots of people think their 2/3 year olds are fully toilet trained but they still have the occasional pool accident.

Swim nappies don’t hold pee! I can vouch for this after my husband took our son to Water Babies pre dressed in his swim nappy and he weed in it and the wee soaked his clothes. Nightmare.

🤦🏻‍♀️

They are literally just shit-catchers.

I just thought waterbabies was a ridiculous rip off generally. The price of it!! 😅

@pastypirate

Yabu you didn't read the policy.

Both my dds did water babies. Dd2 was swimming lengths at 2 and made astonishing progress. Dd2 simply screamed solidly for every lesson and I could have saved hundreds not bothering.

I imagine the nappy policy is a condition of their insurance.

3 is too old to start water babies.

As a swimming teacher who's seen hundreds upon hundreds of children taught by water babies, this anecdote is exactly what happens... Half of them super early swimmers, half of them frightened for life.

At the time of writing this it’s split 51/49 YANBU/YABU…

The Brexit of Mumsnet AIBU threads! Or Brexshit…

@arethereanyleftatall nah not frightened for life. Had a break then had lessons from 4 at the council pool whose instructor was fabulous, got dd2 swimming in no time and both my children adored her she's the Mary poppins of swimming!

@pastypirate
It was probably me 😜

I didn't mean your child in particular, I just meant many of the children I teach post water babies are deeply, almost psychologically, frightened.

Would anyone have checked, though? Ds swims with Puddleducks, who have an identical policy but no one has ever checked!

@arethereanyleftatall if your initials are GW it was!!

Damn. Not me.

What a fuss about nothing

YABVU. Just tell the child they're special swimming pants

Regression? Massive overreaction

@homeishere

And, clearly, I would argue it is regressive.

When my daughter has said she needs to use the toilet and we’ve been swimming we get out and go to the toilet. Then get back in the pool.

To regress to shitting and pissing in a nappy blurs that line.

They're not telling her to shit in the nappy! Just that if she does, it will be contained. You keep saying that you're daughter won't poo in the pool, but why should they take that on trust, when the simple precaution of making sure all kids below a certain age wear nappies, avoids the risk that you're lying or mistaken.

If there's policy unfortunately that's their policy however there's much cheaper alternatives so shop around . Water babies are massively over priced for what it is.

@arethereanyleftatall

Damn. Not me.

Awww

Nobody's saying that your child has to piss and shit in the nappy. Surely she'd ask to go to the toilet as she usually does and go? It's a reasonable precaution and I'm sure if you just get some swimwear pants and tell your 3 year old child that they are special swimming pants she'd be fine about it. You're being daft.

Their policy is on their website, and in my experience they also let you know beforehand. Did you really receive no emails from them with instructions?