It’s been a year since I started taking my son swimming! A full year!
We started swimming before he was 16 weeks old and I am so glad that we started when he was young. I wanted to start him ever since I heard of swimming classes for babies to toddlers. I did not know they existed. So I asked a close friend who recommended Turtle Tots. They teach from 12 weeks to 4 years old. This I found amazing! I thought this would help him progress in swimming and help him become water confident. These are very important to me. For various reasons.
So I jumped at the chance to ask if they had space in a class for us to join. Luckily, they did have an available class for us that was close by and at a suitable time, which worked round his nap schedule. I was so excited!
However, in the lead up to his first class I became hesitant. Am I starting him too young? Am I doing the right thing? Those thoughts were racing round my head. Probably every mum has these thoughts, right?
So I started doing some research, on when to start swimming for babies. Surprisingly, I found out babies can go swimming from any age! Fun fact Rebecca Adlington took her baby at 3 and a half weeks old! Even the NHS guidelines have stated that they don’t need to have their first immunisations. However, I waited as I was/am an anxious mum.
I also had to wait because I had a c-section so I needed to get the all clear. Luckily, my recovery went well even though I had to slow down at times!
When doing my research it made me feel more confident in my (well our) decision to start James swimming. As it will help him to avoid any traumatic experiences. As I even remember falling into a fish pond when I was a kid at a restaurant and my dad had to jump in to get me. I still remember seeing him jump in for me. I was so scared and terrified. I wasn’t confident in the water and wasn’t sure what to do. I feel so lucky that my dad rushed to get me. Even though he didn’t have a change of clothes and had to wear my mums leggings! So now I am not a big fan of fish ponds (I don’t even know how I managed to swim with sharks at deep sea world)! Now, that fish pond is no longer there and is now a park! Even thinking about it gives me the chills! This made me more determined to start James in swimming classes, as I don’t want James to go through the same situation as me.
So what else did I have to worry about?
One extra thing I was worried about was what would James be like in a pool? I was worried that James wouldn’t enjoy his class or even the water. So we started giving him baths more often to get him used to water, to get him used to the sensation of it on his skin. We started to put some water on his head so he won’t get a fright when his head accidentally goes under water. I think being worried about your baby not liking a class is probably a natural worry. Especially, when it is something completely different that they haven’t tried before. Also when you don’t have much experience. This puts a lot of pressure on the first class. Building up a lot of hope that your little one will enjoy and you are worried for no reason at all. I am a big worrier so I worried about everything and anything I could think of, for taking James swimming.
I was also worried about his safety. However, his classes teach him how to jump in the pool and what to do at an early age. This gave me a lot of reassurance. Especially because of that horrible experience I had! Even now James is getting used to jumping in even though I need to encourage him by shouting go, go, go! Then splash! He jumps in with a huge smile on his face! Beaming with pride.
I am still taking him swimming every Friday for his own confidence and also for mine! James has amazing swimming teachers who goes at his pace and interact with him and making it more enjoyable. Through the use of nursery rhymes, some I haven’t heard before, he has learned some skills already and helps his cognition and coordination.
It’s also even great to meet mums and even dads there. It helps builds socialisation skills for your little ones. James is slowly starting to interact with a little girl by shouting yay and smiling (he is a charmer)! This is great to watch and also allows you to interact with adults where you can both dote on your little ones and moan about the weather.
James is a very determined little boy who know what he likes and doesn’t like. Even at a young age! So I was able to see if he likes his class. He did cry for the first couple of lessons. However, after a lot of persistence on my part and having great swim teachers James became more interested and interacted more and more. He even claps at the end of some activities and is probably the most enthusiastic toddler in the pool!
In hindsight, it was probably the best decision we made! Watching him grow in confidence both in and out of water is amazing! So if you are thinking of taking them swimming, do it!
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Shining blue eyes 