Swimming for 8m old?

[LornaGoon]

Has anyone done baby swimming lessons?

I've already been to the pool with him and he really enjoyed it. Is it worth the £40 for a set of 10 lessons?

It costs about the same for me and him at our local pool for a quick splash around. Do they get more out of a 'lesson'?

Does it help them become confident in the water or is it far to early for all that?

I did Waterbabies (£12 per lesson!!!) for a term when DD was 6mo. I loved it, she seemed to like it well enough.

Then I found lessons at the public pool for £4 each and have been going since Sept. DD is now 1.7. She recently has had a breathrough and loves them. I think having taken her for a year now has been partly why she enjoys them now. I don't think leaving it longer is going to make it more difficult, but it is a lovely age to go.

I liked the lessons better than going by myself (though I ocassionally do) as they were a small amount more and gave me lots of ideas about water safety and encouraging DD in the water.

I personally wouldnt pay for lessons at that age. We just took the kids for a splashabout and didnt start formal lessons till closer to the age of 4.

We've been doing Waterbabies since DS was 4mo (now 16mo) and we love it. It forces me to take him swimming as at £12 a lesson, you don't want to miss any! And I bet I'd find excuses not to bother otherwise

He enjoys it and is definitely confident in the water, BUT I think if you took your DS regularly enough to keep him happy and familiar with water, there's no real need for proper lessons until he's older.

I'll continue with Waterbabies as it suits us, but I bet by the time my DS is 5 you won't be able to see any difference between his swimming abilities and those of another 5yo who's only been learning for 6 months.

we have done the council lessons since DS was 6 months and he loves it and can splash about with armbands on by himself. Waterbabies/ Aquatots etc sounds great and some of my friends have gorgeous underwater photos of their DCs from them but they re VERY expensive

£4 per lesson is great value. Go for it!

We do Aquatots which is about £10 per half an hour lesson. I think you need to start before 6 months old on their courses though.