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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Shower after swimming

73 replies

thewomaninme · 11/05/2023 21:48

DD who is 4yrs old has recently started her swimming classes. It's been a month since she joined the classes. As soon as she is out of the pool she's literally shivering. I take her to the changing room and just dry her with a towel and she puts on her dress. I see other moms there giving their kids a nice wash with shampoo and soap. Some even use hair dryer. Am I doing it wrong but not cleaning her with fresh water?. But I don't think DD can handle the shower in the changing room as she's already shivering. But I do get her home straight and give her a wash top to toe. For those who ask don't you know the basics of swimming and after care? I'm completely new to this and I don't know how to swim. Sorry for sounding daft.

OP posts:

Yvetty · 11/05/2023 22:40

Obviously that should read Stuff whatever everything one else thinks!!

MiddleParking · 11/05/2023 22:41

I would never count the kids or myself as clean when they’d been in the swimming pool building anyway, so I just scrub with a towel and leave asap. As soon as we’re home they have a proper bath and any clothes that have been in the swimming pool building go straight in the wash. It’s a lovely purpose-built pool for babies/young kids, but even the thought of changing room floors makes me want to shower. In bleach.

mastertomsmum · 11/05/2023 22:42

MithrilCostsMore · 11/05/2023 21:49

The shower is usually hot and warms them up!

But, however warm a shower is, it’s always a process that makes one feel cold as soon as one steps out of it

mastertomsmum · 11/05/2023 22:46

We had swim lessons for years. The teachers expected the kids to shower (just water) before the class and would send them back in if their gait wasn’t wet enough. Afterwards, it was 50/50 and hardly anyone shampooed. Many changed into onesies

StarDolphins · 11/05/2023 22:48

I shower my DD and wash her hair, then condition it, then dry it with the hairdryer!

Forgottenmypasswordagain · 11/05/2023 22:49

We went home to shower.

Copperoliverbear · 11/05/2023 22:52

Definitely nice warm shower x

TheChosenTwo · 11/05/2023 22:56

Ds and I both shower after swimming, individual cubicles, swimmers off and lather up. There are 8 cubicles and we don’t go when it’s busy, there’s never a queue as we avoid swimming lesson times!! It’s very clean so no worries on that front. It never seems to quite rid either of us of the horrible chlorine smell on our skin though!
shivering in itself is quite normal but I can see how it’s easier to throw some clothes on and go back home to shower/bath so just carry on if it makes most sense to you.

Whatabouteverything · 11/05/2023 22:57

OP they all shiver when they come out - to the poster that said is her circulation OK🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 they all shiver especially tiny 4 year old girls (I have one who's now 6 who started swimming lessons age 3)

I do exactly as you do, wrap my daughter in a towel, dry her, pop her onesie on then bring her home (5 min drive) and put her straight into our lovely clean shower. I much prefer that than fighting with other mums and all the kids at the skanky swimming pool showers. They do it because its easier for them to take their kids home 'ready for bed' and it uses someone else's hot water etc - the kids don't enjoy it.

Your daughter is missing nothing - carry on as you are.

Tigofigo · 11/05/2023 22:58

A hot swimming pool shower is one of my DC's favourite things! Our shower at home is pretty awful, maybe that's why. I wouldn't want to queue for one though.

Whatabouteverything · 11/05/2023 22:58

MiddleParking · 11/05/2023 22:41

This! Glad I'm not alone.

Heyheyitsanotherday · 11/05/2023 23:00

So strange to read this as I was literally thinking the same thing after swimming the other day…. We swim and run 😂 dry off. Onesie on. And a bubbly bath when they get home. I don’t fancy my odds in those showers with my small people. It just screams stress at me 😂 I think do whatever suits you and your child/ren. On a side note the pools are freezing where we go. Could do with soaking up the thermostats for the littlies xx

Spectre8 · 11/05/2023 23:01

I cant be bothered to drag everything like lotion, shampoo, conditioner and bodywork to the pool when I live a under 5mins drive away so on swimming day I drive to the gym so after swimming its whip off swimsuit, quick dry put on clothes and go home and shower at home.

lljkk · 11/05/2023 23:05

When DC were little I just dried them off at pool, changed into clothes, went home, no shower or bath at home.

Also during covid we weren't Allowed to shower at pool, so I didn't shower anywhere after a swim.

Whatever bad thing was supposed to happen because of "not washing the chlorine off" never happened to any of us.

LadyWiddiothethird · 11/05/2023 23:06

I never forget how much pee is in pools!! So shower compulsory in this household before getting dressed.

Feetupteashot · 11/05/2023 23:12

Always wash them straight after to warm them up and rinse off chlorine. Shampoo hair and advise then to wash their bottoms which they mostly do. Then can towel and warm them up.

Feetupteashot · 11/05/2023 23:13

Showers are lovely tho, I didn't bother when it was a grim communal one at pool entrance so always in other people's way

UsingChangeofName · 11/05/2023 23:16

There's no right or wrong - do what works for you.
It depends on what the showers are like at the particular pool too. For various reasons, we've used several different pools and some are easier to get your dc showered in than others.

For me, it makes a lot more sense for them to have a shower - which is much warmer than the pool so stops them being cold - and hairwash and get all the chlorine off there, than drying them and then getting them all wet again when you get home. However, if you find it easier to do it twice, then it doesn't matter - there's no rule.

PartyFarty · 11/05/2023 23:18

We shower at home, no big deal!

DappledThings · 11/05/2023 23:20

Mine have lessons in a school pool. There aren't any showers there. They also come out shivering, they get straight into onesies, then shower at home later. It's fine.

Cece92 · 11/05/2023 23:21

It really is each to their own. I hate getting my hair wet at swimming and I had red and pink through it so try not to get the chlorine on it. I get out and use body wash in the shower and that's it. However I make my daughter wash and conditioner her hair because the chlorine mattes get hair tided up or down. She does have a 'wash' too and we dry her hair. We do have a proper 2 minute shower at home because I can't stand the smell of chlorine 🙈

SparkyBlue · 11/05/2023 23:25

I do same as you OP and get everyone dry and and dressed and off home as soon as we can. We are often packing up and leaving when some people are still having dramas in the shower.

NamelessNancy · 11/05/2023 23:32

I didn't shower mine after classes until we got home. The queue was always enormous and fronted by people with no sense of getting a move on so others could have their turn. I agree a quick rinse off is ideal but not if it involves waiting ages with a cold wet child. Not convinced that the pool is the place for a full shower shampoo, conditioner routine unless there are a lot less kids and/or a lot more showers than I've been used to.

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