Taking a newborn swimming

[GraceH24]

I'm hoping to start taking my 5 week old swimming soon. Any tips to make it a enjoyable time? Also any recommendations for a good swimming nappy?

Completely pointless at 5 weeks!! Wait another 10 weeks!

We’ve done waterbabies since DD was 8 weeks old. The youngest in our class was 4 weeks old. It’s a heated hydro pool. DD is 3 now and is amazing in the water. Has never cried, can swim unaided and if god forbid she ever fell in a pond or pool she is less likely to panic and knows to get to the edge and hold on.

Swimming is a vital life lesson in my opinion and you can never start to early.

Children learn to swim when they are about 6 when they have proper lessons anything before that is utterly pointless

That's not true. My kids and loads of their friends could swim well before that. I'd say 3 wasn't unusual. They weren't swimming beautifully but they could doggy paddle and float about. Lessons were useful from around 4 depending on the kid. As I mentioned earlier we lived somewhere warm and had a pool. We didn't trust our kids in the water until much older obviously.

I seem to remember the babies preferred splashing to swimming.

Google happy nappy. They are great.

Inky - just put the kids into lessons at 3/4 then! Take them swimming yourself from 6 months +

6 weeks is utterly pointless

My dd was swimming unaided at 3 - I never took her to a pool before she was 4 months. When she was 4 months and we took her she cried every time. So we stopped and I took her occasionally at 2/3 years old myself. At 3 I put her into lessons and she loved it.

Honestly just put a paddling pool up or fill a bath - don’t expose young babies to chlorine, bacteria and althetes foot

I wouldn't at least until after the rotavirus vaccine. We took ds1 at 4 weeks and he got a stomach bug. Thought it was a one off, took him at 10 weeks and he got sick again.
With others I've waited until closer to a year, they all swim better than he did in any case - I really don't think that under a year does much, unless they're not experiencing baths at home.

Actually sweettooth...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3LJG8Syt2V79D8cjZrPpL5l/can-you-catch-a-cold-from-getting-cold

Go for it! We started baby swimming at 8 weeks. I’m glad we did the lessons to start as it got my confidence up. If it’s a normal pool rather than a hydro I’d get a baby wrap (you can buy them cheap second hand- they grow out of them so fast) a happy nappy and a swimsuit. Boots do good quality ones.

Have fun

Happy nappy

Poncho towel/towelling robe for you whilst you get baby dressed.

Expect baby to want to feed soon after

Take someone with you the first time of possible. Once you've done the whole routine, you'll have more confidence and know what you need for next time.

Take the bare minimum with you to get you both dry and warm. You don't want to be juggling lots of belongings on a wet floor.

Take a simple sling if you are using them so you have your hands free to grab bags.

Use overshoes inside the changing room rather than take your shoes off.

I took baby from 8 weeks. It's much easier in the summer when you have less stuff to take off and put on. I'm not sure how much DS appreciated it, but I think it's a nice way of bonding with baby and building some water confidence for the parent as well.

Its all very well to say just take baby yourself but I know I wouldn’t have. What would I do, just bob about for a bit until we got cold? At least with swimming lessons there’s songs, games and activities to do. I took DS from about 10 weeks and he loves it

We lived in Singapore when my 3 were 4,3 and 1.
We went to the pool most afternoons - the older 2 were daredevils off the diving boards - they could already swim.
I can't remember how old the youngest was when I let her go - I was always in the pool too. At first she swam underwater, no problems, but I lifted her out after a short time. Then she learnt above water. A real water baby.
She's still the strongest swimmer of the 3 - last year did a swim in the Thames in some competition or other. She's 52 now.

I actually think 6 yo is quite late to learn how to swim. By that age I had already been on several beach holidays with my parents, would’ve been a bit shit if I couldn’t swim.

We plan on taking DD for the first time next week. We’ll do it together for the first time to get to grips with it.

Can I ask what neoprene is? I was just planning on swimwear and a swim nappy, then towels for after. Is that not enough? We know well in advance if DD is going to poop so I’m not worried about pool pooping.

I took both of mine after the first set of jabs. It may have changed but don't go within so many days of polio vaccine, It is without a doubt the best thing I could have done they are both very strong competitive swimmers. Its all about gaining confidence at this stage which you can not get in a bath or paddling pool, very different environments.

When you first go, go with a friend/partner with you so you can maybe have a bit of a swim yourself first while they hold LO, then literally bring baby in for the last few minutes. You won't do any more than 5/10 minutes for quite some time as they lose heat quickly.

Move her around in the water, get a little rhythm going 'on your front' on your back' and just swoosh her gently around. Then while holding her blow a few bubbles in the water. As she gains confidence don't be afraid to swoosh her under water for no more than a second or two. Babies do have a natural instinct to hold their breath under water. DD was able to paddle between DH and I unaided very quickly doing this.

Then get out and have a towel poolside so you can wrap her and get her warm.

Make sure you have more than 1 spare nappy afterwards (I speak from bitter experience) especially if a DD as they wee so much afterwards and your nice clean, dry nappy will be full before you have got dressed yourself.

Have loads of fun, Within a few weeks she will be ready to go along to a mum and baby session and play with the toys. Try and go to a slightly quieter session to start with.

I was told by my HV to wait until around the 5 to 6 months stage - it was to do with losing body heat rather than jabs.

We started at 11 weeks and my ds loved it as did I. We used a small hotel pool so much warmer than a sports pool I also had him in a neoprene suit (by spashabout the happy happy folk). He could keep himself afloat by age 3 and swim at age 4.

Agree that babies under 1 year or so are unlikely to get much out of it. Much more likely that you/they will end up cold and stressed, especially in this freezing whether. I will definitely take DS3, 6 months, when he is older and when the weather is warmer or if we happen to be staying at hotel with a nice warm pool but I honestly don't think he, or I, would get much from an outing to the local swimming pool. Babies can't actually learn to swim until 2 or 3 years so it's purely for the splashing which he can get from a bath.

Babies can't actually learn to swim until 2 or 3 years so it's purely for the splashing which he can get from a bath.

Both of mine could doggy paddle (very) short distances unaided by the age of 2 and our pool had large shallow steps where they could practise, I've seen kids whose parents haven't got them used to the pool from an early age starting swimming lessons at the age of 3/4 and 5 in floods of tears, screaming the place down refusing to get in at all.

'pointless' before the age of 6, MrsTSwift?

I don't think so! Mine were both swimming at 2, baby dolphins by 3, and dd's wee ones are the same. Yes, it's doggy paddle or an underwater tadpole wriggle, but they're completely at home in the water - proper strokes will come later. And IMO children who are already happy in the water will learn proper strokes faster. Mine learned them very quickly at 5 or 6. .

We took ours both from about 3 months, not lessons but swimming. My eldest is 4 and has been having lessons for about a year and can swim unaided. My youngest is nearly 2 and enjoys a splash around and jumping in.

I don't think going swimming as a baby impacts on how quickly they learn to swim but we only did it if we got interaction/ smiles. I think we stopped for a bit at some point with my eldest as she hated it and then started up again.

personally wait till shes had her baby jabs before going swimming you wouldnt want her to catch anything

DS went from 3 weeks with water babies. The pool is 36 degrees so just a swim nappy with a happy nappy over the top. We took him in the hotel pool on holiday at 5 weeks so he wore a wetsuit and wrap as it was only 31. You don't need to wait for jabs, that's outdated advice. I could swim by 3 as I went every week and I'm hoping he'll be the same. Highly recommend water babies. Get a splash mat changing mat for the floor as it's safer and take the car seat in, then you can keep baby in there whilst you get yourself ready.

personally wait till shes had her baby jabs before going swimming you wouldnt want her to catch anything

This makes zero sense. The things you are vaccinated against don’t live in pool water, you may as well say never take them out until they are fully vaccinated.

The jabs also don’t protect against all illness, just the specific ones they are designed for.

I took my daughter at 7 weeks as she loved the bath and she absolutely loves the pool! I find that it’s a great bonding exercise for us (and her dad!) and she absolutely loves splashing around with her feet even more so than in the bath! We are lucky that our local pool does a pay as you go instructor led mum and baby class so have started taking her to that now as well. Definitely a fan of a happy happy and their neoprene wrap to keep little ones warm even though our local pool is 32 degrees

No need to wait, get them straight in. I would make sure you go to a session specific for babies as they heat the water more.
Get an all in one suit to keep them a bit warmer, arrive already in swim suits (under clothes ), take a house coat to throw around baby straight out of the pool. Dress your baby first and wear easy tomorrow in clothes.
It's a wonderful bonding experience, good luck and you will find your own routine once you have been a few times xxx