Swimming tips

[Sun19]

We are going to take DS swimming for the first time this week.. Does anyone have any helpful tips? He's 2 months. Thank you

Look into water Babies lessons. Taught me literally everything I needed to know and made fab friends. DS is amazing at swimming too.

2 towels. One to wrap in immediately and the other for drying with. If the water is going to be cold invest in a babywarma type wrap. They keep them cosy. Also double happy system just incase. Swim nappy and a neoprene nappy to stop any leaks should anything happen. Don't plan to be in for longer than around 20 mins Half an hour.

Other than that enjoy. Our children love swimming and we all get a lot from it 🙃

We found that DS acclimatised better to the water if held on his dad's bare chest for the first little while. When young they do not manage long in the water, and are starving when they get out. We find it helpful to have one of us get his towel before he comes out the pool so that he can get wrapped up straight away. Some people suggest minimising the change time beforehand by wearing your swimsuit on under clothes to start with, although not for the wee one as swim nappies do not contain pee.

Thank you.. I have signed up to some classes but they don't start until next month 😊

Brilliant thank you! 😊

@Sun19 yay! Hope you enjoy them! 😊

Make your own clothing choices as simple as possible - as it’s warm, maybe a dress and flip flops. Means your change is quick, leaving you free to deal with the baby.

@countrymousesussex great idea, thank you

This could me totally wrong but are you not meant to wait until 4 month jabs? Ignore if this is total misinformation!

Sorry - I'm so long past this stage but I'm sure I was told not to take them swimming until after they had their jabs. Entirely possible I'm wrong though!

In response to above - NHS website says no need to eat until any jabs are done.

*wait not eat!

No you can now take them at any age 😊

My method was dry them so they're warm, feed them, dress you, dress them. Enjoy your first swim! Be prepared for a screaming hungry baby afterwards!

Ah great, Enjoy!

keep tight hold so they feel safe and make sure his body covered by water. People hold them chest height out of the water no wonder they get cold .Both mine loved it and as op said used to have them on my bare chest for some warmth .

my wee ones got too warm if they were fully dressed while I got changed so I dried them off, fed them, dressed myself and then dressed them.

Bring a spare outfit in case the original one ends up in a puddle.

Check your pool's timetable for other classes that might make the changing rooms busy. Last thing you need is being stuck without anywhere to change a cold, hungry baby.

Have fun!

This thread brings back happy memories. When my 3 were little we lived in Singapore and went swimming most afternoons. They all became adventurous waterbabies.
The main thing I worried about was if they pooed in the water. No such thing as swim nappies in those days.

Thank you all!
Aw @senac32, that's lovely. I'm looking forward to it! He loves the bath so hopefully he will like swimming too!

Would definitely recommend Puddle Ducks for lessons - really gentle classes xxx

www.puddleducks.com/media/4575/puddle-ducks-babies-swimming-guide.pdf

Check the water temperature of the pool you're planning to go to; you want it to be as warm as possible! You may find a standard leisure centre pool is too cold, but if there's a baby/learner pool that's usually warmer.

My understanding is that the companies that run baby swimming lessons will only use pools that are heated to a certain temp. If you can access a pool that these companies use then it shouldn't be too cold