Waterbabies - is it worth it ?

[TwilightRiver]

Just looking for opinions really. Is.it worth the extra expense ? Anyone did the full 1-4 years? Can all children swim at the end of it ?

We did swimbabes from 4 months until school (and now have joined a similar class). I would definitely recommend. She gained so much confidence. Started swimming properly around 3. By the time we left she would jump in, dive in from sitting and swim a length.

I wouldn't waste my money on baby swimming as they aren't actually learning to swim at that age. Go to the pool with your baby and save proper lessons for closer to the age of 3 or even 4

Thats amazing pk . What age to children usually learn to swim ? I think I didnt learn properly until school despite my dad taking us most weeks. I just didnt have the coordination.

I did it with my first but not my second. I don't think it's worth it to be honest. It's not like they can swim at the end of it. Plus they can get quite cold and it's hard work changing when you get out.

If you are confident in the water take your children swimming weekly & then enrol in swim lessons when they seem ready.

My two started lessons yr 1 of primary, eldest (12) has completed all ten stages & 9 yr old stage 8.

Other options seem uneconomical ime

I think it depends on how much your child enjoys it. We did it for our first in a hydrotherapy pool but we couldn't continue after I went back to work. So she is learning to swim now aged 5. However we had friends who continued all the way through and their twins are confident great swimmers.
For mine as a baby she didn't love it. Second dd loves the water though.

We do a baby swimming lessons at a local resort much cheaper and more about water confidence (nursery rhymes and splashing) and less about dunking. The instructor also does small group lessons from a minimum of 18 months. She says that she sees little difference in the toddlers progress between those that have done water babies and those that have been taken swimming by family.

We also did lessons from 18 months at the local pool. They were really affordable and more interesting than just taking DD swimming (for both of us) Didn't do waterbabies to compare though.

My kids both went up until they were about 3. We all absolutely loved it and went as a family on a Saturday morning.They were able to swim on their own from about 2.5.

i tried various other classes but they were all absolutely shite and went back to waterbabies.. My kids weren't interested in splashing about in the water that was the best they other classes had to offer at that age when they could already swim.

I don't think so. I did lessons at the council pool because it was the same price as going weekly, with the added bonuses of the direct debit giving me the kick up the arse to actually go, plus some other adults to talk to and tell me what to do as opposed to splashing half heartedly for 10 minutes :) DD has proper lessons in a small private class now at 3 and is progressing beautifully.

We did Waterbabies because our two found the baby pool in our local leisure centre too cold (even with wetsuits). Waterbabies had their lessons in much warmer pools.

Was it worth it? It seemed to be at the time. We enjoyed it and so did the children. From the point of view of water confidence as they got older, I'm not so sure. We stopped for a while once they reached about 18 months and re-started lessons when they were about 3/4. Our local leisure centre lessons were ok, but it seemed to take an age for them to learn anything, so we eventually switched to an independent swimming school.

I would say Waterbabies is a nice thing to do, but not a prerequisite for water confidence. In my experience that comes when they are a bit older and it's best to find lessons with a small pupil/teacher ratio and the teaching in the water.

IMO it matter much more that they get good quality teaching when they are older and are taught good technique in all 4 strokes. Once they are strong swimmers there's always club swimming if they want to go down that route.