Common misperceptions and frequently asked questions.
Being one of the first baby swim schools in the UK, and the largest today, we have an enormous wealth of knowledge on taking your little one for a dip and over the years have provided advice to hundreds of thousands of mums about taking their baby swimming and have cleared up endless misconceptions too. So here are the most popular! We hope this helps:
“How old does my baby have to be before I can take them swimming?”
As a general guideline, we recommend that 12 weeks or 12lbs (whichever comes first) is the point when your baby can start swimming. Babies can swim before this in warm water pools (over 30 degrees) if they wear a wetsuit, and can swim from birth in hydrotherapy pools (around 33 degrees). Obviously all babies are different, so if you have any particular concerns about starting your baby swimming, do speak to us so we can advise you on whether you should wait a bit longer.
“Is it true that I can’t take my baby swimming if they haven’t had their immunisations yet?”
According to official NHS guidelines, you can take your baby swimming regardless of whether they have had their first immunisations or not. The chlorine in the pool kills all of the bacteria they are being protected against, so they are safe to start beforehand. Originally polio was a live vaccine but this is no longer the case so there is no risk of a live vaccine being excreted into the pool. However, if your baby is more than 6 weeks premature, we would suggest that you wait until they have had their first set of injections.
“I can’t swim. Can I still teach my baby how to swim?”
Yes of course, we have taught hundreds of parents and carers who range from slightly lacking confidence in the water to being outright terrified! The water is always shallow enough to stand up in and you don't ever have to go underwater unless you want to. One of the most rewarding areas, as a teacher, is seeing parents develop in confidence with their child.
“Should my baby just wear a swimming nappy in the pool?”
A disposable swim nappy alone will not prevent any accidents from leaking out in to the pool. We use a double nappy system in our classes, consisting of a disposable swim nappy, or reusable equivalent, underneath (i.e. Huggies’ Little Swimmers®) with a SplashAbout® Happy Nappy over the top in order to keep everything well and truly retained!
Water Babies hold local classes across the country. For more information, visit our website www.waterbabies.co.uk or contact 01295 709211.