swimming with babies

[nightowl]

has anyone got any tips on what the hell i do?! baby is nearly 5 months now and i want to take her swimming but too scared. and what about the "nappy" thing...have visions of no nappy and lovely bits of yellow poo floating up to meet me. i dont know where to start really!!

Nightowl ... you can get swimming nappies ... Not sure what they are called but you can find them in the supermarket ... I think they are called 'Little Swimmers' or something like that and they are made by Huggies. They are made so that they don't swell up in water (as a normal disposable would) and hold everything in...
I can't wait to take DD swimming ... she will love it ... I will wait until she is 5 months too.

ile have a look for those, sounds like an axcellent idea! i think she'll love it. her brother is scared of his own shadow but i reckon she's gonna be a feisty little madam!

nightowl you can also get reusable swim nappies, they are made by Kooshies and come in a range of sizes; about £7 IIRC (bought mine several years ago!). Mine have been through three children and were well worth the money, ie a lot cheaper than the disp ones if you go often (we go every week). They work too! as DS2 did a pooh in the pool the other week, got out as soon as I realised of course but it was all contained in the nappy so no need to drain the pool, lol

You can buy swim nappies at Mothercare. Just look in the swimwear section.

The sluglet adored swimming from the moment her toes hit the pool, in fact that's where we spent most of yesterday.

Have a look at swim accessories in the Early Learning Centre. We had a sit in type thingy. Hard to describe, sort of a crosspiece she sat in with a blow up back support and two blow up rings around it. Wonderful as it supported her in deep water, let her feel like she was in charge and left me free to tow her around instead of clutching a wiggly baby who just wanted to get out and do it on her own.

Hi I started swimming lessons (hilarious I know) with dd at 4.5 months last week. It was fantastic. I would not have any confidence with her in the water so it was good to be told what to do. I use the kooshies with the swimmers disposable inside for a belt & braces approach. If you like you can email me and I can describe the sort of stuff we get up to.

i took DD swimming from about 12weeks she loved it, our pools do the special parent and baby swimming where the water is warmer and not too many boisterous older children although during the day they are at school. i got a mothercare swim nappy and used it lots

I've done aquatots with both ds and dd and they loved it, and both adore the water, love getting splashed and so far, seem to have no fear of it. Ds is also very aware of safety around pools and what to do if you fall in as these were taught in the class. Go for it - if you're really worried about poo, put a disposable swim nappy under a kooshies one for extra safety and also make sure you don't buy a kooshies one too big - they work because they are meant to be snug.

DSs have done swimming since they were babies (with Aquatots, like Wilbur) and love it. It's well worth the effort! DS1 is like a fish now and DS2 also has no fear (and need watching closely but he is also aware of pool safety). The faces of the other parents round the pool last year were a picture when DS2 was coming down the waterslide.

Be aware that the swim nappies don't hold wee in very well at all. They're really designed to keep poo out of the pool. Chances are that, if you hold your baby wearing one, you'll get weed on at some point. I preferred the sort that fit like swimming trunks rather than the tie on versions. They seemed more secure.

just another question, what do you do if you have 2 under 4's? They do have a creche but would feel bad about leaving one of them there (would have to be youngest)I have ended up not swimming...

At what age would you take children swimming? DD will be 6 weeks when we go on holiday. Is that too young to let her have a dip in the pool?

Bozza I believe the advice is to wait until they have had first jabs (that's what my doc said anyway). I took mine when they were about 8-10 weeks. Maybe ask your doc/HV re jabs. Lailag I take all my 3 at once (wouldn't go at all otherwise). Oldest (almost 5) can basically swim no armbands (what a star!) and DD also very confident which just leaves me holding the baby as ever. But I would say 2 under 4 is fine, as long as at least one of them will let go of you. Give it a go anyway - it's such a great thing to get them doing.

Advice about the jabs is mixed - some say wait til after the first set, some say wait til they're all done, some say it doesn't matter one little bit! I've seen babies swimming at 12 days old (private hydrotherapy pool though). You have to look into it and weigh up your personal feeling of risk. Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with taking a 6 week old for a quick dip although I might hold off dunking them if they'd had no jabs and I wouldn't take them in if they had any cuts/scratches.

I wouldn't have thought there would be much risk from a quick splash around in the pool - you won't be able to keep her in very long anyway as little babies get cold very quickly. I would have thought she would be at just as much risk in a crowded room TBH.

As for 2 under 4s, my local pool requires 1 adult to every under 4 so I wouldn't be able to take 2 in. I can't take DS1 (5) and DS2 (3) by myself for this reason, even though DS1 can swim and DS2 can swim enough to get himself out of trouble.

Soupdragon that's a crap rule don't you think? esp if your DSs can swim. What are you supposed to do? I do think pools should use their discretion (ie relax the rules if they know you/know your kids can swim OK). Some pools round here operate a similar rule I am told, so I don't use them! (The same pools charge for over 3s rather than over 5s at the one I use - another reason to avoid).

Hi nightowl. Have swum everyday with 5.5 month old from the age of 10 weeks. My girlfriend is an Aquatots Instructor and that plus min 10lbs is the youngest they recommend. Also I think recommend jabs to be started. The program uses repetative word commands eg. ready, splash, kick, turn, kick, hold-on etc. I thought the babes were oblivious to these but at 5.5 months my son is kicking on command and holds on to the side with a vice like grip. I was as nervous as hell about putting him under but he thinks it's a great laugh and instead of using the plastic doll for demonstrations, my girl friend uses Jake. He's NEVER done a poo in the water but we use the washable kushies swim nappies. The sooner you get them in the water the better. In fact I don't think Aquatots accept after the age of 2!!! as they feel they have lost the natural ability at that age and have to be taught differently. Here's the web site - GO FOR IT!!!

Clary, it is a cr*p rule but I do understand why they have it. Not every 3 and 5 yo can swim and unless they are going to check the swimming ability of each individual child or make you sign a disclaimer then I agree with them having it. I guess it's a sign of the "suing culture" where companies aren't prepared to take many (if any) risks. With this particular pool, it may be because it has a "beach" layout rather than traditional teaching pool and main pool with shallow/deep ends and it has have a wave machine. I would imagine that a child could quite easly get into trouble.

It is a pain but having taken both in to a pool with different restrictions, it's kind of terrifying to watch them both!

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omg! i made the front page!!!!!!

It's difficult to explain in writing, Myermay! All the lessons kind of build on each other and you don't notice what they're doing IYSWIM.

What do you do with your son? Do you encourage him to jump in? get him to kick and paddle and hold onto the side? A lot of early Aquatots is about water safety. The baby is basically "trained" that, should they fall in, they turn back round and hold onto whatever they've fallen from. Also, they learn to push up from the bottom of the pool to get their head back above water for a gasp of air which can give them a vital few more seconds for someone to get to them.

At 18 months I think that in Aquatots you do things like walk backwards across the pool holding your child at arms length. You then say ready go, dunk them under then bring them up, watch them take a breath and then do it again. This mimics the action of swimming across the pool underwater but coming up to breath.

You teach them to paddle with closed fingers, encourage them to kick (involves hoding them and saying "Kick kick kick!" Makes you look aright weirdo in a public pool!)

When they're making a good effort at kicking and paddling, you do the walking backward thing above, but when they'reunder water, you let go! Keep walking back and hey get pulled along, you lift them up, and say "breathe" and do it again when they've taken a breath. Then you introduce a tap on the back of the head when you say "breath" before lifting them up to breathe. The idea is to teach them just to lift their head back to breathe. They will not have the physical ability to do this until between 2 and 3 because of the strength and coordination required to paddle, kisck, tip your head back and breathe allat the same time - the idea is to ingrain the moves into them and then one day, suddenly, they put it all together and swim (at around 3yrs).

It is far far better to have this all shown to you. Try to find a class near you - you could probably find one that will take older babies and your son may well skip through the lower levels because of his current confidence and age-related ability.

With regs to the "adult/child" ratio - I have just recently been "allowed" to take my 3 children (8,6 and 4) swimming on my own - even though DD1 is a member of a Swimming Club, within a squad and competes !!!

DS1 is a competent swimmer and is already swimming lengths in his lessons.

Swimming nappies - always used "Kooshies" reusables.

As for "age to take swimming" - all 3 of mine started swimming around 6 weeks old before they had any jabs. My GP advised this was OK AS LONG as it was in a UK pool - pool conditions may not be so good abroad

Just to add my support for all the early swimmers. DS and I have been swimming regularly since he had his last jabs. We love it. He wears aqua nappies (the reusable ones) - in fact he is currently in the bath with Daddy wearing one - they are very good at catching poo.

I couldn't get onto a swimming course - I really tried, but waiting lists were longer than my maternity leave. So I bought some notes and did it myself. In the end the only instruction I followed was to be completely chilled. If he goes under we have a quick hug and then he carries on - I am determined never to panic. He started off in a baby chair float, and now uses either arm bands (which he hates cos he has very short arms and they come to his wrists) or a small inflatable ring, which he adores and goes crazy in. One hint - always take a plastic duck or similar - it gives him something to do and is comforting (if required).

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I'd suggest phoning Aquatots on Monday - they're cr*p at email IME (if it's the aquatots.com lot which is what I use, there's a .co.uk too I think who are different).

Don't be afraid to let go - I assume you're not holding him when he jumps in? You're never any distance away obviously!

Here's DS1 having been dropped in off the edge of the pool at 18 months old . Can you beleive how relaxed he looks?? Actually, that's another idea - get some goggles so you can see your DS underwater. You'll probably be amazed.

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