When I was pregnant with baby Summer I knew that Water Babies would be top of my list of baby activities. In fact, I went to Water Babies swimming lessons with all three of my children, but I knew I wanted to get started as early as possible this time round, so Summer and I began our first chapter of swimming lessons when she was just 4 weeks old.
It is said that babies are born with a natural gag reflex which enables them to swim under water. This makes a lot of sense when you think that your baby has been living in water for 9 months as they grow inside you. When this reflex kicks in, a baby will instinctively hold its breath and avoid inhaling water in response to the sensation of feeling water on its face, nose, throat and voice box. This natural gag reflex fades as your baby grows so it really in beneficial to begin these swimming lessons as young as you can. Water Babies is suitable for babies any time from birth onwards.
I must admit that it is nerve wracking when you submerge your baby for their first underwater swim, but it is amazing to see that they come to the surface looking completely unfazed. Each submersion lasts only a few seconds and as we progressed through the lessons I could see how Summer was listening to the cues which are repeated before each underwater swim, “Summer, are you ready? Go!”, and genuinely learning to control her breathing to prepare for the submersion. It is wonderful to see her confidence and co-ordination grow week by week, even swimming through hoops by Chapter 3!
The underwater swimming is only a very small part of the classes (and is never forced), the best part for me was the lovely bonding experience and to be able to feel her kicking away in the water and splashing with her hands in excitement. I also got to meet a great bunch of mums with babies the same age as mine. And following each swimming lesson there was the added bonus of Summer taking an extra long nap! Perfect!
Summer was born in water and bath time is certainly the highlight of her days, so I wasn’t surprised that she seemed to really enjoy her weekly swim at Water Babies. The lessons are a lot of fun and very well structured around your baby’s age and stage of development. There are catchy songs which you will find yourself singing in your head for the rest of the day, easy commands to teach your baby from the first class and lots of repetition to help babies learn to swim.
My top tips to make things as easy as possible would be to dress your baby in something that is warm and is super quick to get them in to after swimming, I had a fleece sleepsuit which zipped from the foot right up to the top and I found this a great time saver, especially if you have a fussy baby. It is also a brilliant idea to bring a bathrobe for yourself so that you can pop that on whilst you are drying and dressing your baby, before getting yourself dressed (again, wear something that is quick and easy). Your baby will need to wear a swim nappy, as well as a neoprene “Happy Nappy” whilst they are in the pool and some babies also wore a little wetsuit. These can all be purchased through Water Babies.
Obviously, as a photographer myself, I was excited for the complimentary underwater photo shoot when Summer reached the end of Chapter 1. Water Babies use some of the best trained underwater photographers for these shoots and they managed to get some fantastic shots of Summer swimming under water at just 2 and a half months old. These are a lovely keepsake and something to look back fondly on with pride of your baby. Here is one of Summer’s photos and you can see she is wearing her tiny little yellow swimming costume which I have now sewn her swimming badges on to and added to her baby box.
I loved our experience with Water Babies and it is something that I recommend to all new mummies.
I am thrilled to be giving away vouchers for a free Water Babies lesson in my goody bags so that you can give it a go yourself with your baby. I do hope you love it as much as we did!