Taking a Young Baby Swimming

How old should your baby be when it first goes swimming and what should your baby wear?

picture of swim nappies

Today Amélie our daughter had her first swimming lesson. We had her booked into a swim class. The class teaches babies to swim from birth to one year.

We decided that Alex would take Amélie as we thought it would be a nice thing for a father to do with his daughter or child. I was a bit nervous for Alex just in case Amélie pooed or was sick or screamed for the whole lesson. The idea of Amélie pooing in the pool was one of the reasons I read up on what babies wear when swimming so please read on as later in this article I will go into the nappies in more detail.

Everything went well, she was relaxed so relaxed she kept sleeping in the beginning and seemed not phased by the whole experience. It was great to see Alex and Amélie bonding, to have a one to one session without me so that the wonderful bond that they have could strengthen even more.

Alex has written an article on what was actually taught at the lesson. so I won't go into any of that.

There is no age limit as to when you can take your baby swimming as long as the water is warm enough. Babies under the age of 6 months have a natural reflex which enables them to naturally hold their breath underwater. They also have a primitive swimming stroke actions and can propel themselves through the water. As far as immunisations go all the info that I have read and what the swimming instructors and health visitors have said is that there is no need to wait for the babies first lot of immunisations as the chlorine in the water will kill off any bacteria or viruses.

So what do tiny babies wear swimming? Babies are to wear a disposable swim nappy (Huggies do a good swim nappy) but unfortunately it is for 16lb upwards but it seemed to fit our 9lb 6 baby okay. Most supermarkets stock the swim nappies. The nappy is a disposable pant which comes in packets of 10,11 or 12's. The nappy is really light.

The Huggies Little Swimmers are unisex and come in a variety of colours. Each nappy has a Disney design on it. The swimming pant looks like a training pant or pull up nappies. On looking at them you would think that on a very small baby they will fall off but as mentioned earlier Amélie was smaller than the nappy size and they fitted her okay. The sides of the nappy are stretchy which makes them easy to pull up and down. They are not made of the same gel in normal nappies so they do not become heavy in the swimming pool.

The Swimmers can be boght in three different sizes:
Small %u2013 These will fit babies of around 16to 26 pounds.
Medium %u2013 For toddlers from 24 to 34 pounds.
Large %u2013 These fit toddlers over 32 pounds.

The nappies vary in price Boots have stocked them for £3.99, Tesco's £4.99 and Asda £4.97. Obviously the price can vary depending on promotions etc.

It is then advisable to wear a snug happy nappy that is snug around the legs on top of the disposable nappy. These can usually be bought from the swim schools for around £8 or on the web at various websites one site is www.swimbabes.co.uk.