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swimming at 5week old

8 replies

Chloe55 · 20/03/2006 11:23

my ds is 5 weeks old - is this too young to take to the local baths? should i wait till he has had his jabs?

OP posts:
hana · 20/03/2006 11:27

I'd wait a bit longer, only becasue at 5 weeks he'd get cold really quickly and its such a faff to get dressed and undressed, you'ld only be in the water about 10 minutes

CarolinaMoon · 20/03/2006 11:30

agree, he will get tired/overstimulated v v quickly as well as cold.

tbh I would get in the bath with him instead - lots of snuggly closeness without all the chlorine and splashing.

Chloe55 · 20/03/2006 11:34

if i take him in the bath should i encourage him to get a bit of water in his face to get him use to it. at the moment he has only had damp cotton wool on his face, i have always bathed him in the baby bath but am tempted to take him in the bath with me - any do's and don'ts?

OP posts:
CarolinaMoon · 20/03/2006 11:40

prob best to have dp or whoever around to take him and dry him when you get out of the bath.

and you need to be v careful about the temperature.

CarolinaMoon · 20/03/2006 11:41

about the face splashing - you can try, but don't worry if he doesn't like it - there's plenty of time for him to get used to it later.

LucyJu · 20/03/2006 12:01

Hi Chloe!

I used to be an infant swimming teacher. I would say that 5 weeks is still a bit young - I think that 8-10 weeks is more realistic. You also need to take size into account, and, really, baby should be at least 10lb.

The pool needs to be nice and warm or ds will get cold quite quickly. You could put a tightish vest on over his swim nappy to help keep him a bit warmer (please make sure he wears a swim nappy!). For a first visit, 15 minutes is probably enough. Try to choose a good time when he isn't tired or hungry.

Make sure you smile at him and re-assure him a lot, especially if he doesn't seem to like it. (In my experience, 80 - 90% of very young babies who don't like 'swimming' have a very anxious parent with them, and I tend to think they pick up their anxiety from their parent).

Good idea to take him in the bath with you, and let him get used to having water over his face. Try to dribble it over his forehead from above, rather than splashing it upwards which can lead to water getting up his nose. You could also let him swish around in the water, holding him under the arms, or float on his back (obviously, you will need to support him under his head for this one).

BTW, I remember your thread from breast and bottle feeding a while back. Have things started to settle down a bit now?

Chloe55 · 20/03/2006 12:07

hi lucyju!

thank for the advice to all of you. have booked him into swimbabes for end ofapril so he will be that little bit older, and it's a special pool for babies - very excited now!

I'm afraid i gave up the bf lucyju, however, both ds and i are soooo much happier on the bottle and he is still a hefty lad at over 12lbs so i don't think it's hurting him Grin

Thanks again for the book, it's been really helpful, even dh has read it from cover to coverand now thinks he is the baby expert!

OP posts:
LucyJu · 20/03/2006 12:09

Glad to hear that things sound a lot calmer now. Hope ds enjoys his lessons!

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