To take baby swimming…

[Gerbera55]

when I can’t swim myself?

I know; it’s an important life skill and I really should be able to swim, but I can’t.
I want my baby to learn to swim so I was thinking of taking them to the pool. Would this be stupid seeing as I can’t swim myself? I’d be in the baby pool/shallow end and would probably use an inflatable chair for baby.

I was also looking at something like Water Babies classes but again, would the instructor expect me to be able to swim?

I can't swim and due to unforeseen circumstances, my son can't swim either but he is confident in the water and I'm glad of that.

I think baby swimming is a great idea.

Oh this sounds like a good idea!

Isn't it!

Luckily baby already loves the bath so it’s a start!

You'll be fine, you stand on the waist height floor and swoosh them around a bit.

Make sure the pool is warm enough

I think it would be fine as long as you stay I. Shallow indoor water. I can swim pretty strongly but when I go with my two year old I will always keep my feet on the ground. I don’t trust myself to swim while holding him as obviously use my arms for swimming! With my five year old I would venture into the deeper water but she’s good at keeping herself afloat with aids and is making good progress in swimming lessons. So I think it would be fine now while they’re a baby but really as they get older they will want to swim more and you really will need to be able to keep yourself and them safe in deeper water so would work on learning to swim yourself. You’ll thank yourself on holiday in years to come!

Similarly our moved to being in the pool on their own around 4.

I sympathise OP, I was pushed in by the teacher at school swimming and lost confidence. Still a very weak swimmer and dislike the water.

I did however take my dc to the local pool and let them splash around, jump in etc to gain confidence. Both are now in lessons (started age 4) and already much better swimmers than I'll ever be. You can tell at the early lessons which children are used to being in water and which aren't.

I recommend the swim vests (and obviously not taking your eyes off them for a second!)

Oh dear that sounds really badly handled. For a start you should have had proper lessons way before to help you to become water confident and you should have had help to get over that bad experience and develop confidence again rather than just let you avoid water altogether into adulthood...
I bet there are lots of people out there with similar stories and it's so sad.

Good luck with your swimming lessons, and with your baby swimming OP. I learnt as an adult, when my children were teens - I'd made sure they could swim and they loved it, and they encouraged me and helped me to practice once I'd had some lessons. It was terrifying at first. The lovely young instructors at my local pool were terrific, and very understanding, but that first moment of going into the deep end (with floats) was heart-stopping. I thoroughly enjoy swimming now, and when my adult DDs visit we often include a swim together. It's well worth the effort IME.

Great idea!

If I were you, I’d let the instructor know you are also learning but there’s nothing in classes like water babies you wouldn’t be able to manage. The pp with the experience at a private gym is definitely an outlier, most places running these classes have “baby pools” or shallow ends.

Edit to add: good luck with your own swimming lessons! I used to teach adult swimming as a part time uni job, people pick it up so quickly!

100% recommend Water Babies lessons. You don’t need to be able to swim, but it’s a great thing for you to do together when LO is older. Get some adult lessons for you too.

4 seems to be common. Some children will be fine with that at 3.

I’m assuming the PP meant that if you go to a public swimming session they will want an adult in the water until 8. Otherwise some of our club swimming squad would still need an adult for lessons which seems daft.

The issue a lot of the time is cost. I never went to swimming lessons as a small child because I was raised by a single parent who couldn't swim herself and just couldn't afford swimming lessons.

I then went on to also have a bad experience at school swim lessons and then as an adult, there's always something else that the money for adult swim lessons needs to go on.

They are even more expensive now.

My 4 year old has had lessons since she was 6 months old. There’s no swimming at all for parents, although there may be when she moves up into the child levels

There is no point taking it as a baby. Start the classes when he/she turns 4 and you don’t have to go in the pool. Saying that if I were you, I would probably start lessons myself to make sure I know how to swim and my kid is safe on holidays too.

Good on you for deciding to.learn to swim.

Swim teachers who take adults as students are lovely in my experience. I could just about swim with my head out of the water, never put my head under the water, terrified of what to do if i got swamped.

I took lessons in my late 30s and then later in mid forties and now though not brilliant, I'm so much better. I took a class with three other non/poor swimmers. I later took a few lessons with an individual teacher.

The instructors were kind and patient and took everything slowly. They didnt once push me too hard but still got me to properly breast stroke, head under the water. I never thought I could do that, ever.

Good luck.

None swimmer here. I paid for my children to have lessons. They are now all in their 30s and swim at least once a week for fitness. They have said they will pay for lessons for their children because the style of swimming from being taught properly is far different from their partners who were taught by their parents. So don’t feel guilty if you can’t teach your children yourself. As long as they learn to swim, it doesn’t matter how they do it.

Yep. As a child, my parents would never have been able to afford swimming lessons and they were also not swimmers.

Yes as a teacher, when I take a class to the pool the instructors say they can tell who has had parents teach them and who has been to actual lessons.

You don’t need to be able to swim for baby swim lessons.
Check out if your local council pool does them.
I had to do water babies with my eldest as it was COVID. It was £18 per 30 minute lesson!
As soon as I could I switched to the council ones, roughly £7 per 30 minute lesson.
Same bobbing around singing, just slightly less dunking the babies x

Please do classes with your baby so you are guided from the start. Tell your instructor that you are a non swimmer and you will generally always have at least one foot on the floor of the pool.

I'm talking going to the pool for general swimming... . Not lessons specifically. Although if the OP doesn't feel confident in the water, I would suggest they gain confidence first before taking their child- as it will be more enjoyable for child and parent.

I would suggest that regular fun general swimming when kids are small (toddlers not necessarily babies) is beneficial.

It really does depend on how confident the OP is in the water. You can be confident and not be able to swim. Not panicking in the water is key. Knowing limits is key.

Yes, so I can’t swim & mine have been having swimming classes/lessons since 6 weeks old, & are now in stage 3 & 5.
they love swimming, even go in the sea with friends. I take them every week as well & practice my swimming & have got up to a paddle almost.

most pools do reduced adult lessons now as well.