Water babies

[SylviaB75]

My daughter has just had a baby. He's nearly 8 weeks old now. They're going to take him for swimming lessons this weekend, I think it's with a company called 'water babies'. Has anyone else done this with their child/grandchild? I'm wondering the benefits and whether it's worth all the money or just a big con!

I started with WB with my DD when she was 6 weeks. The pool used for the lesson is much warmer than the local public pool, so that helped me justify the cost. DD loves it - her faces lights up when she sees the pool and her little legs start kicking. I love it too - probably my favourite activity of the week.

The class we're in is small, well structured and progresses to help teach the babies to turn and hold on to the edge if they fall in.

I'm going back to work soon and have switched to Saturday classes. I'll continue for as long as we can afford it and DD enjoys it.

IMO its a licence to print money £13 per half hour lesson, £20 for swim nappy, £20 for costume and they don't tell you that it's extra for the under water photography session and £100 for the cheapest bundle of photos! We did very similar lessons at local swimming pool for £3 a week cheaper than an adult swim. If your dd wants to meet people there's better places to do it, if you live near a river or have a pool in the garden it's a good idea, if you live in a hot country then you have to be able to swim before you walk so yes you need to do water babies but in the uk it's a very expensive luxury.

I always joke to my sister, that she spent a thousand pounds at water babies teaching her children to not be able to swim! If you enjoy the water and think it is important for your children to feel confident then take them to the swimming pool, its not difficult, it doesn't need to cost £15 a session.

I think it is a crazy amount of money to spend, when they are basically not strong enough physically to be able to swim. The likelyhood of them needing this 'life saving' skill of knowing which way is up, how to turn to the side etc is tiny compared to say the danger of crossing a road!

In fact maybe I will start my own franchise 'crossing-road babies'. I'll charge you £10 for a half hour session of teaching you and your baby the life saving skills of how to cross the road, looking left and right, maybe singing a song about it. You'll be amazed at how confident they will be and you can show off to all your friends about your babies ease around roads........

I took my dd to swimming lessons at our local pool when she turned 1. They were about half the price of Water babies and didn't fixate on the underwater stuff which I'm glad of because she wasn't too keen on all that and I would hate to battle over it....we both look forward to our lessons very much each week. I think the water babies might be a bit of a gimmick though!

BTW, at 2 1/2 she is now happy to go under water, she just wanted to do it all in her own time!

I agree they are far too expensive, I never did them as we just didn't have the money, but when a baby is that tiny they are too unpredictable to commit to a rigid weekly slot. Most of my friends who did afford it wasted a good chunk of their money because of missing sessions due to the unpredictable little crises which are normal with a young baby.

You can have just as much fun going to the baby pool of a normal swimming pool in a normal priced session, and just using a body-warmer swimsuit to compensate for the slightly lower (but still quite warm) temperature.

We did 5 courses of WB and DS and I both loved it. It was eye-wateringly expensive but it was the only paid-for activity we did, the rest being freee groups. DS was the splashy smiley kid in the class and couldn't wait to get into the water, and is now the same in his council-run big boy's swimming lessons, aged 3. For me, the instructor finally got me over my fear of putting my face underwater, and so my neck no longer hurts when I swim breast stroke!

The photos, swim toys etc. were a rip-off though - we just ignored them

I think the thing with Waterbabies is that it works best if you see it as a long term commitment. The first terms do just seem like swishing the baby about, dunking them and singing. What you can't see at that point is how the activities and skills are going to build up into something really useful, both in terms of safety and learning to swim.

TBH I think writing it off in the first term is a little bit like saying you wont bother with nursery and reception- just put them into school in Y2 to do their SATS.

For example, my DS (who didn't particularly like being dunked at 6mo) can now swim up to the surface, grab the rail and climb out. He is 2.1.

Waterbabies are now working with British Swimming to develop the new British Swimming skill development format- so they are well regarded in the swimming world.

It is expensive and an added luxury, but I don't think people who have only done one or two terms should put others off.

Totally agree with EBD

DS (PFB) started WB when he was just over 7 months. I thought he would be the oldest one there. He was, but only just. Youngest in our class was 12 weeks. TBH I am really glad we were moving house and were without a car to begin with as I would have signed him up sooner and am not sure how much he would have got from it then (I realise it is not enriching his life beyond all measure now but you know what I mean!)

I digress...I was at cost and intended to do one term so I could learn the basics and then take him to the local pool. Long story short, he loves it, I loves it and we start term 2 tomorrow. Yes, it is expensive but our classes are well organised, in a lovely warm, quiet pool. The local pool is always rammed when we go for a splish splash practice ().

As other posters have said, it's no more of a 'waste' of money than the whole host of other baby classes out there and I like to think it is setting him up with useful skills and a healthy hobby (yeah, yeah....PFB remember!)

The enjoyment you and your DC will get out of it is individual as we had a couple of babies who were less impressed than the others at it all.

I also second buying happy nappies from anywhere other than WB and avoiding the extortionate photo session (although out own attempts with an underwater camera are pathetic!)

OP hasn't come back

I also agree with ebd. Ds is 17 mo and we've been going since he was 12 weeks with one term off.

He is happy and comfortable in the water, holding on to the side, kicks his legs, already starting 'strokes' with his arms. Yes, sometimes he's not up for going under, but he's a toddler!

I didnt learn how to swim until I was 8 and dh is in to all water sports. Ultimately it's 'conditioning' water safety through repetition, and fun!

Oh and they 100% pick up in your vibe. I turn in to a kids tv presenter throughout the entire class as if they sense you're unhappy then they of course will wobble.

You get out what you put in ime.

its brilliant when your a busy parent it forces you to krrp swimming up regularly. my son is 1 andstarted ar 4 months . he can now jump in the pull himself and swim. He sinks a bit but he shouts if i help him and bats my hand. He cant walk yet but put can jump in idependantly. I thinks is important to go swimming every week and to swim unaided by late toddler for saftey.

I took my dd from 3 mo and at first she hated it, it was a very stressful and expensive way to spend a saturday morning!! However she did get better mainly thanks to a holiday where I took her swimming most days, I think in hindsight it was probably a waste of money and she would have had much the same experience at the local pool which runs much cheaper lessons.

Both my girls have water babies lessons. They started at about a year old.

Both girls are very confident in the water and have very good water safety

DD1 has just turned 4 and confidently swims widths of the pool (7metres) completely unaided.
DD2 is 2 and can swim about a metre unaided and improving every week.

Yes it has cost us a small fortune (especially with 2!) but in our opinion its money well spent. They love their lessons and have such great fun during them. Swimming and water safety isn't just another class, its a life skill and could easily save their lives.

We also had the underwater pics done too last year. Again super expensive but great fun and fab pics (on my profile)

I started taking DS swimming when a bit older - 18 months. Not water babies, but another organisation who charge £70 a term for 10 x half-hour lessons.

Our teacher has been fab and it's been worth every penny. DS however is still noticeably less confident than the children who started at a younger age.

Apparently the benefit of starting before 12 months is that they still have the reflex which makes them hold their breath when you put them underwater. Lots of children (including my DS) find this much harder when they start from an older age.

And I agree with EBD teacher - it's the cumulative effect which is worth it. We've been doing lessons for nearly a year and we nearly stopped at several points because DS didn't like it much and we wondered whether it was worth the money (which we can only just afford). But now we're really seeing the benefits.

DD started a lessons with a similar organisation at 16 weeks. It wasn't all plain sailing and for a term when she was 2 she briefly lost her confidence. However we took it slowly and when it came back and she made amazing progress. She had her ASA 25m badge at 3.8ys and her 50m at 4.9yrs. she has moved on from full front crawl and backsroke and is learning butterfly and breast stroke.

DS started at 5 months and initially hated being dunked so we listed to him and stopped dunking. gradually, with the help of his big sister splashing in the bath he now loves being dunked, will jump in by himself and can put his face in the water and blow bubbles (he's 13 months).

i personally beleive it's one of the most important skills you can teach a child but it does take a lot of hard work and dedication to keep going term after term before you see real results.

It's a scam. Not worth the money at all.
The groups are huge! 22, 23 including the teacher in a pool, it's hard to concentrate when there's no space to do anything. It's only half an hour to bounce with your baby waiting for your turn to do whatever they are teaching you that day.
There's no space in the changing rooms if some of the most inconsiderate moms decide to take all the space with bags and placing their kids across the entire bench.
They say they will send you information before they rebook you which is a LIE, you have to be very careful, they will take your money and tell you that they send a message but you didn't opened the email....then they won't send you probe of the actual email haha. It should be a letter on the post. But I guess it's easier to do the scam that way.
Don't waste your money, it's very annoying they put you in this position just when you are in the middle of the lessons.. I will tell everyone I know to avoid this company.

I did 4 terms with said water robbers

Ours swim with puddle ducks and have done from 6 months and 4 months. It was so worth while with ds1 that we started ds2 younger. By 2 years old my d's could push off from the side turn under water and get back to safety unaided. They are both so confident on the water and I can't recommend puddle ducks highly enough.

I took DS to the local council pool lessons. £20 per month and averages about 6 babies in the pool per lesson. Lovely heated pool and he loved the sensation of being in the water right from 7 weeks of age. It really helped with the bond of trust between us and he was so exhausted after each lesson that he would sleep for hours, letting me get on with anything I needed to do.

I was sad that I wouldn't be able to give my twins the same experience due to not having any family near by to help, but luckily the instructor is happy to hold one in the pool so I now take them too.

I waited until my DS was almost a year which is their cut off age for new starters and started then. The money is extortionate but it depends on your motivation for going and the provisions available elsewhere as to whether it's worth it or not.

In my case it absolutely is worth it - small classes (up to 10 babies per class); private, heated pool; quiet environment and brilliant instructors who teach technique rather than just telling us to do things. I tried 2 council run baby classes at local pools - they were awful. Freezing water was the main issue but they just did the same things week in, week out and there was never any 'learning' going on, it wasn't much fun.

At 2yrs my DS is confident and can almost swim, he knows the different commands and the consequence of each and he loves it. FWIW I can't swim, but now I have some techniques I'm confident enough to take him for a splash about on my own.

As long as you don't fall for the underwater photo shoot scam and their own merchandise it's value for money.

I paid for my baby granddaughter to attend at first it was fine although lessons cancelled almost weekly and venues changed. We put up with this as we had no option. However, it got so bad that we have just cancelled following being unable to get the lessons at the pool and time required even after they had taken our money - they change details after taking your money and then will not refund!! Often in resulting in day venue and time change which is unacceptable! In all we went to 5 different venues and my granddaughter is only 8 months now!! This time we cancelled early before they took our money. We are disappointed as this was expensive and we feel we wasted our money. My granddaughter actually grew out her swimming things before we could actually use them more than twice!! That's how many times things got cancelled. It seems disorganised in the office although the teaching staff are second to none. For such an outlay in cost this is not worth it.