Anyone used Waterbabies for Baby Swimming?

[sillysow]

Hi, Just wondering if anyone had any positive/negative experiences of waterbabies? I would like to take my lo to a swimming group - and this is my most local.

Any feedback greatly appreciated

We did one term when DD was 4 months, it was fun enough.

Found it very overpriced and gimmicky though. Big emphasis on seeing them underwater and paying an absolute fortune for a photograph of it.

I thought one term was fine so I knew what to do with her in the water but after that I just take her to the local pool.

The toddler session did look more fun though.

I took DD for 3 terms - she was fine with it but it wasn't really worth the almost £12.50 a session. When we started there were 4 of us in the group and it worked really well and I felt the money was worth it for such a small group. But a few weeks into the term they merged classes and we ended up in a group of 10 which meant we spent a lot of our lesson waiting around for our turn with the instructor. We now swim at the local leisure centre and use the skills we learnt during our lessons.

We're about to start our 6th term - highlight of DD's week. DD is now 19 months and we'll keep going for a while yet I expect. Yes, it's expensive and if she didn't like it I wouldn't bother.

We seem to be in a fluctuating group of between 6 and 9 but most have been in the same group since we started so it's fine because everyone knows what they're doing.

I took dd to waterbabies. It was ok at first but by around 10 months she was screaming and shaking if we even went near the pool, it was all the under water dunking she didn't like. I don't particularly regret taking dd because she enjoyed it at first but I wouldn't take the next dc.

From what I understand Waterbabies is a brand operated by Franchisees. As such our experience is limited to Swiss Cottage London class. Comments

? Complete in-ability to manage expectations ? Courses were cancelled at the last minute with only a few days (at best) notification.

? Substandard facilities ? The swimming facilities that were provided where very poor. Specific points:

o No changing facilities including no real toilet or bathroom facilities for adults (Men and women expected to change in the same place!)
o In-sufficient changing areas for babies (parents competing with each other for space to change their babies)
o No secure storage facilities (for buggies, valuables etc)
o Building works - To compound the issues a major piece of demolition work commenced part way through the course. You literally had to step through a demolition site to get to the pool. Amazing!

? Crowded classes ? The tiny pool (circa 30 m2) just wasn?t big enough for 10 parents and 10 babies at a time. You were literally bumping into each other. Combine that with the fact that as you were entering the pool the next class was leaving and as you were leaving another group was entering. 20 babies and 20 parents trying to get and out of a tiny pool at the same time!

? Poor and border line offensive customer service ? when we requested a refund for the cancelled classes they firstly rejected our claim. We then had to chase (series of emails and calls) to eventually then refunded some of the claims (not all, we are still in dispute)

? Over priced ? given the above (facilities, quality of service etc) it is well over priced. As proficient swimmers we are going to teach our child to swim ourselves I suggest you do the same!

I hope other water babies franchises are better. They couldn't be much worse

Yes I know Waterbabies is expensive, but we've been going for 3 terms now and my DS loves it! I was considering giving up this term as I'm going back to work but the last few lessons DS' face his lit up as soon as we get in the water and he just smiles the whole time. He loves being in the water and I know if I didn't go to a structured course I'd always be finding excuses why I couldn't take him swimming that week.
To contradict some of Finnin's points:
Customer service has been excellent and the instructors lovely. TBH I can't recommend them highly enough! (Waterbabies East Anglia by the way)
The class size has been tailored to the size of the pool.
Changing facilities vary depending on which pool you go to - but this applies wherever you swim.

I've done a similar thing with a different company and found it worth every single penny. All three of mine did it from baby until around 5.

We're thinking of doing this - a question for those who've been - does it tend to be just one parent with the babies, or do mums and dads go together? Is the price the same for 2 adults together?

This might be a bit controversial as I know how much lots of people love swimming with babies, but it's not actually a very good idea to get water in their ears when they are tiny - its the reason so many children get lots of ear infections. Apart from being painful, ear infections can also lead to speech delay if hearing is affected.

Better to wait until they are 2-3 and the ear is better able to cope with it.

Both my DD's do lessons with Waterbabies and love it. ( DD1 is currently going trhough some issues with being dunked but thats nothing against the lessons, just her)
DD1 is 2.10 and her toddler lessons are great fun. The kids are beaming throughout.
DD2 is 12mths and loves it too.
£14 a lesson for us and with the 2 girls its expensive but worth it to see thier progress. DD1 can swim about 5 metres completely unaided.

We had the underwater photo shoot last week which was fab. Expensive though at £140 for 2 photos.

They are franchised so I guess your experience will depend alot on the teacher. Our is brilliant and cant fault her.

haven't done waterbabies, but just thought I'd say its worth checking out the local council pool's ducklings etc classes. They are less than half the cost of WB, still no more than 10 in a class and DS has loved it since he was 6 months (before that we just took him ourselves). Not so much emphasis on underwater stuff (though they are encouraged to develop the confidence to go under and given the opp. to at least once a session) but actually taught to swim, cling to the side, float on back etc. DS now in the toddler class and really loves it. Waiting lists tend to be long though so worth investigating early.

Both my two have been to waterbabies from 6 months old and never had an ear infection. Ducklings classes and the like are just splashing about in water the same class has from age 6 months to 3 years doing the same things, and are nit designed to teach babies to swim. They might be cheaper but are totally crapola.

Waterbabies has been fab for my two, so worth persevering with. DS was swimming unaided at 2.5 and at 4 can swim a length. Dd is now nearly 2 and so confident in the water I'm sure she'll be swimming unaided very soon.

We've had the odd wobble along the way, but thankfully didn't give up. The people who say it made their kids scared of the water gave up just at the wrong point. Had they kept going and just taken things easy their DC would have got over the wobble and got back into it.

My dd has been going since 12 weeks and she's 2.5yrs. She's never had an ear infection. At 2.5 she uses no float aids like arm bands or float jackets. She can jump into water without fear but crucially can surface and swim to the edge. When I take her to holiday parks or local pool people will stare or comment that she can swim unaided between my husband and I.

It's expensive and I did get one photo of her underwater but quickly learned no more of those. The lessons are the one thing that we never scrimp on. Her cousin does ducklings but uses floats or a float jacket, won't jump in or go down a slide into water. My dd will do a seated dive comfortably. It's expensive but I truly think we have a life skill from a critical young age. I cannot praise them enough, the facilities, teachers and techniques.

Several of my friends loved Waterbabies and did the whole course. I tried it with DS though and although he liked it lots at the start, he started getting more and more freaked out by the going underwater and also being on his back.

Unfortunately as you go on, more and more of the time is spent doing these two things... and after a while he got so upset just thinking he might be about to have to go under that he spent pretty much the whole session crying.

The lady was very nice and tried to help him through it, let us skip the underwater bits if he was really upset etc, and she did explain that lots of children have a "wobble" when they go off it for a bit. Maybe that's true, but with DS it didn't seem to be just a wobble as he just got worse and worse over time and eventually we stopped going as he hated it so much (plus it is very expensive, so all the more reason not to keep going if neither of us is enjoying it!).

Since then we have found that he does like going swimming, just doesn't like regimented lessons and "having" to do particular things.

Saying that, I half wish I was able to take DD, as she LOVES swimming and even seemed quite happy to do some of the Waterbabies activities that I tried with her (even likes going on her back and doesn't mind going under). But can't fit it in at the moment as I wouldn't be able to take DS along.

We did waterbabies from 6 mo to 3.5 years. DD loved it and is hugely confident in water.

My only objection is they tend to "abandon" you once you get past 2 yo- they are only really interested in the new babies coming along. We would have liked to have carried on.

another afficionado here. DS did waterbabies till he was 2.7, when DD was born. (i couldn't then go in the water with him for a few weeks and ex wouldn't take him...).

DD started at 10 weeks and is still going at 2.3. they both absolutely LOVE the water. they will never say 'no' to a swim. DS swims lengths unaided (4.10) and DD leaps into the water and swims to the surface, turns around and swims back to the edge and climbs out.

i didn't do it, though, so that they would be great swimmers. i did it / do it because they BOTH love it. waterbabies lessons were my favourite activity with both of them, and when i get a chance to take them swimming (now that i am separated from their dad, it's hard as you need 2 adults for kids their age), i jump at it because they both adore being in the water.

it's doing waterbabies that has made us all love it so much. i have no doubt we could all have enjoyed splashing around in the pool even if we hadn't done it. but swimming is now a passion for the kids and me, and that's because of the confidence and enjoyment that they have had through waterbabies. i personally couldn't have achieved that on my own.

Look into hiring the hydrotherapy pool they use? A few from my breast feeding group did it and all went together for a fraction of the cost (I missed it but am doimg it next time)

Look into hiring the hydrotherapy pool they use? A few from my breast feeding group did it and all went together for a fraction of the cost (I missed it but am doimg it next time)

We've been doing WBs in South London for 15 months (DS was 7 weeks old when he started). DS absolutely loves it and I love taking him. As others have said, it is franchised and your experience will depend on your particular location and of course the pool they use. I've had lessons in a tiny hydrotherapy pool at a hospital (beautifully warm but dreadful changing facilities and no secure place to leave stuff) and at a couple of different munciple pools (full of other people running around but good changing facilities and a nice cafe for coffee afterwards). So you can check out that kind of thing about your local classes before you commit. I know several people who've dropped out of WBs because of cost or times being inconvenient and have moved to cheaper classes and have all said that the experience with the other companies was not as good. WBs structure classes very well. Yes, there's a lot of emphasis on going underwater early, but that's about water confidence and if you go through several terms you'll see the benefits of this - basically toddlers being completely happy splashing about, jumping in etc and you as a parent not freaking out if your child goes underwater briefly. I've found I've learnt a lot about child development (use of repetition, words/pictures/music as reinforcement etc) while doing the courses and have been able to see how the classes build on each other overtime. But I do think this has a lot to do with some great teachers in my particular area - we plan to continue for as long as possible and to start swimming similarly early with DC2 when s/he arrives. My only complaint about WBs in my area is that the admin around classes can be a bit chaotic - as someone else said, sometimes classes get cancelled at very late notice and you only get confirmation about a new time slot a week or two before. Given that I'm now back at work and I plan a lot of things around swimming that's really frustrating. Also particularly when DS was tiny, some of the class times were not great for (most) children's routines - e.g. 5.30pm when little babies are very sleepy and getting ready for bed; or 1pm when many would normally be napping. To be fair, I guess that has a lot to do with when they are able to book the swimming pools (they can't just have any time they like). So, in summary, for me it has been totally worth the money (v pricey in London!!) in comparison with other classes I've done with DS, but they need to work on some of the customer service/support side of things so if you're likely to get frustrated by that, be warned!

It's a shame that experiences are so different because it is a franchise. DS stopped WB aged 3.5 because U had to go back to work full time. There was a full class if kids the sane age and they were starting to learn breaststroke, so we didn't feel abandoned past age 2. I'm gutted we had to give up.

I would not recommend it. We did Waterbabies with DS when he was around 5 months old. He liked being in water, but absolutely hated going under. He would always cry inconsolably after we'd done it. It took the enjoyment out of the classes. I don't think many babies actually like going underwater. Certainly in our class all babies would be in tears at different times during the class (mainly during the dunking). There was tremendous peer pressure, as well as pressure from the "teacher", that we keep dunking DS, because "he will get used to it" (not a great argument, since you get used to any kind of abuse, beatings or dunking, after a while). However, I refused to torture DS merely because someone else thought I should, so I didn't dunk him anymore. After that we were the "black sheep" of the class and were told that there was no point in us doing another term if we didn't do the dunking (not that we would have paid good money to do that, anyway). Really couldn't give less of a feck about the under water photo session (which costs extra), which many of the other parents were so focused on.

DS will learn to swim when he is ready to (at 3 or so years old) and he will be absolutely fine, same as everyone else who has not done Waterbabies and still survived :)

Sorry but that's ridiculous advice. If you look at the research, the recommended age for swimming is 1 years, not 3 months, for the very reason that dunking is not concensual. In the US, they don't swim until aged 12 months. In the UK, water babies have huge marketing budgets to make you think you're missing out if you don't do it from day 1.

My DS started Waterbabies at 4 months old. He is now 4 years and 8 months old and has 2 lessons of Chapter 17 left. He can swim front crawl, breast stroke and some back stroke. He is very confident in the water. When this chapter - which is the final one - finishes he is staying with Waterbabies but going onto mainstream lessons.