DS Freezing in swimming lessons

[galimau5]

Help! My little guy (5yo) is super skinny and gets so cold his lips turn blue during swimming lessons. The pool is around 30 degrees and he wears a shortie neoprene suit already - has anyone tried the long legs/sleeve one for lessons? My concern is that they're so bulky he wont actually be able to move... I'm running out of ideas, having tried thermals and neoprene now.
Anyone have any ideas what else I could try?

Could you change swim school to one with a warmer pool? I had similar issues with DD - she was freezing to the point that she wasn’t able to learn and make progress. Changed to a different pool and within a matter of weeks she was a happy and confident swimmer!

If he gets so cold that his lips turn blue, why are you subjecting him to this? You should find a warmer pool for him.

Possibly unusual question, but what is he eating immediately before? Creating heat is very energy intensive, and if you haven’t eaten in a couple of hours it’s much harder. What happens if you give him a chocolate bar or other high sugar snack 15 minutes before he gets in the water? That’s standard advice for adults in cold environments, and might help here too.

Is he actually uncomfortable?
DS1 did (does!) this. I actually had to keep an eye on him, and tell him when to get out. Yes, he was cold, but still happy.
So, my answer partly depends on how uncomfortable he is at the end of a lesson.

30 degree pool is very warm. My dc's pool is around 27/28 degrees. I doubt you'll find a warmer pool. Does your dc have loads of time standing around in the pool?

30 degrees is warm for a pool. Are you sure he’s actually cold?

Is it because they've got him standing around letting them go one at a time? I would try somewhere with smaller class sizes so he doesn't have to wait so long between goes. You can occasionally find beginner lessons held in hydrotherapy pools too, which are even warmer than the regular small teaching pools.
Otherwise, is it actually bothering him? DD1 is very skinny and always came out with blue lips at that age, but she loved it so was happy to suck it up. She's a county level swimmer now, and still finishes some training sessions shivering despite being fairly constantly on the move and working hard. She just doesn't have any insulation!

I had this issue with DD, and while I loved the teaching at our independent pool, I had to switch her to our local leisure centre where they have a baby pool which is more like 37C. There are some around maybe see if one of your local pools has one.

Swim classes are mostly a waste of money I think. The children spend too much time waiting and unless really motivated, I would save the money and try to teach them myself or spend money on a summer crash course when a bit older.

We had this. Two things helped- moving to a slightly warmer pool and DD now wears a wetsuit with sleeves to her elbows and knees (you know what I mean!) On occasion she still gets really cold and I wonder about putting a normal swimming costume under the wetsuit but I haven’t actually don’t that yet.

Only if you’re taking them to a rubbish swim school! There are fully qualified swimming coaches out there for a reason

I had this total nightmare with my skinny son. I didn’t even realise he hated swimming lessons for ages because he was cold. The pool was apparently 31 degrees. Took him out of lessons and joined a club with a really warm pool and just take him myself now. He’s so happy swimming now and actually good at swimming.

change classes
dc should move constantly to keep warm in water.
not encouraging that is lazy teaching.

My son was the same. He told me he was feeling cold so I bought him a swim suit that covers him from top to bottom. He's happier in it.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08VJL2VMH?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

This one

Sorry I misread that he's already in a neoprene suit. Not sure if those are warmer, but if he's cold then i would support doing what you can to make him more comfortable

Can you put child & wetsuit in a hot shower before he gets in the pool? That way the wetsuit starts warm and he doesn't have to waste body heat warming the suit.

That’s not a cold pool. Is it a large group lesson where there’s a lot of hanging around? 1:1 or very small group where he’s constantly moving might keep him warmer and he’d probably make really good progress that way too.

Thanks all! Sounds like changing swim schools is the way to go, was just hoping not to for many reasons.. 30 degrees you think would be hot enough, he loves his swim teacher, and it's really hard to find a slot at a good time in a decent swim school in my part of London. But I think he does hang around waiting between goes - though perhaps sometimes only a minute and never gets out of the water, I guess repeatedly it's cooling him down. I've complained about the cold aspect a few times before so not sure how more negative feedback will go down... I hadn't mentioned that we do have a sugary snack and actually a short run before hand to try warm up before getting in the water. I could try the warm shower idea too..

In case anyone comes looking for answers in the future this is the suit I tried, which for the majority of the time has worked fine (I'd say 70% of the time):
https://www.johnlewis.com/speedo-kids-shortie-wetsuit-blue-green/p109825628?tmad=c&tmcampid=7&sshare=jlappios&size=6-9-months&&_Y29tLmFwcGxlLlVJS2l0LmFjdGl2aXR5LkNvcHlUb1Bhc3RlYm9hcmQ=

Is the suit snug? My child is super skinny and the main brands don't fit well. He currently uses a Gul one. We bought it second hand as they typically don't get much use before kids grow out of them.

Basically the water needs to be trapped between the suit and skin and if the legs or arms gape fresh cold water gets in rendering it pretty useless.

A hot shower before his lesson might help. We swim a lot. I get cold a lot. If I can get a hot shower in it really helps.