Water Babies

[IWishIWasAFrog]

Hi all,

Thinking of going to Water Babies with DS (15 weeks). I'm going to observe a class next week, but wondered if anybody had any experience with them. I am especially interested in your experience of 'dunking'. He loves water, he loves bathtime and we had a swim with him almost daily when we were on hols and he seemed to really enjoy it. Any thought most welcome.

Thanks.

Can anyone explain how the dunking works? Worried about DS (15mo) swallowing lots of water as he does this, as I'd read somewhere that this can be really dangerous for babies / toddlers. We live overseas, so unfortunately no chance of doing any classes.

I don't know if it's recomended for older babies. In the first six months of life a baby will naturally hold their breath if they are dunked and so dunking from an early age encourages this reflex. If you want to dunk an older child then you need to find a way to encourage them to hold their breath. It might be better to spend time in the water encouraging DS to blow lots of bubbles and lead onto him putting his face in the water.

WaterBabies is very expensive for what it is IMO. I would actually agree with everything YunoYurberson said.

Did 3 terms with WaterBabies with DS (3) when he was a baby, and have done 3 terms at the local leisure centre with DD (1), and I don't see that DD has come along any better or worse than DS did. In fact I'd say she enjoys it far more than he ever did. Fraction of the cost too .

Great hearing about your stories. There's a Waterbabies DVD and we've been following the programme on there for the last few weeks... it gives you the exercises from the swimming classes including safety tips and the confidence to take your baby to the swimming pool yourself. My baby loves the water and its a fraction of the price of the lessons.