Waterbabies from a toddler

[Trainface]

So I'm thinking of taking my toddler (22 months) to waterbabies as I feel very guilty for never having taken him swimming as a baby (everyone seems to do it from birth, I was too busy dealing with the general issue of just being a mum and getting no sleep!)

Is this a good idea? All the threads on it seem to be opinions of people who started really early - wondering if there's anyone out there who has left it as late as me?! The lessons are quite expensive so I don't want to waste my money but hopefully think he will enjoy it. I'm presuming with toddlers they do more than just 'dunk' them every now and then (as the other posts seem to suggest..)

We just take ours to the pool, no classes. We go once a week from when he could walk and he loves it - we just splash around and play with the toys, but can still see progression. It's safety in water I was after (apparently they don't usually swim as such before age 3 whatever you do) and I think we've acheived that - he is confident moving around safely and can pull himself out of the pool. I'm glad I didn't spend money on lessons and it means we can go each week at a time that fits in with whatever else we're doing.

Most local pools do great swim lessons for kids at a fraction of the price of waterbabies. I couldn't rationalise £15 for 30min swim, it's always seemed obscene.

DS went swimming just with me from 8 weeks then from 1yr went to local pool (about £60 per term), dd started at local pool at 4m. The local pool classes are small, well organised with qualified instructors. DS is 3.5 now and can swim about 10m unaided. More importantly, he loves the water, as does dd.

you might find that they won't take your toddler if he hasn't done it from a baby. you'd have to ask. i think it's a fairly big step to start waterbabies toddler lessons if your child isn't used to being in the water. there is still a lot of 'dunking' but also lots of games, songs, jumping in and learning to swim from teacher to mum / mum to teacher (just a couple of metres initially).

I never fancied waterbabies because of the dunking. Plus it's very expensive. I think they need to start it before they turn 1 anyway.

There have been kids in my sons swim lessons who had done waterbabies. Fair enough they were confident in the water but were at the same stage as my son when it came to learning how to swim.

There will probably be toddler sessions on at your local pool where they sing songs and play with toys.

Ds2 is 22 months. I've taken him swimming maybe 5 times. He's either poorly or it's been too cold. We've been on holiday a few times too so he's spent time in the pool then too.