Do you swim with your baby?

All 3 of my children are water babies – and I am sure some of that stems from the fact that we have taken them all swimming from a very early age. All 3 have attended parent and baby swimming classes from about 4 months old, and they have continued up through the ASA swim stages over the years, with Gemma now being a very competent stage 6 swimmer, and Jacob having just taken the plunge into the big pool and stage 3. Max swims with me in the baby classes every week, and we often go together as a family at the weekend – our local pool runs Fun Splash sessions, with squirty toys, woggles, floats and inflatables for all to play with.

To me, swimming is SUCH an important life skill, something I really want my children to have a grasp on. Let’s face it – one day it could save their life. Huggies have recently launched a new campaign, designed to inspire parents to go swimming more often. It can be one of those activities that gets overlooked for so many reasons – it can be expensive, sometimes it’s not appealing when it’s cold out, and OK – changing afterwards with a wriggly baby in tow can be a nightmare. But the joy the children get from it and the feeling of achievement afterwards is well worth the niggles in my opinion.

Huggies Little Swimmers

Teaching water safety from an early age prepares and encourages children to be confident and accomplished swimmers as they grow. Fascinating fact of the day – babies can be taught to swim before they can walk, talk or crawl. Isn’t that amazing? Seeing your baby swim from under the water up towards you is just incredible, and something you never forget. It also helps them settle and sleep, as well as promoting a bond between baby and parent. There really are no downsides to teaching babies to swim – none at all.

Getting the right kit for swimming is important – you both need to be comfortable and safe in the water. For myself, I love the range at JD Sports – lots of lovely styles and designs to choose from. For Max, I go for the Konfidence Babywarma – it keeps him warm, helps me to get a good grip on him both in and out of the water, and it doubles as a rather fantastic beachwear option – as modelled by the gorgeous Amy from We’re going on an adventure, and my very own little Max.

swimming with baby

A good swim nappy is absolutely essential – you don’t want to be worried about leaks or discomfort when you should be enjoying splashing about. With all 3 children I have opted for Huggies Little Swimmers – they were recommended to me when I had Gemma 8 years ago, and as they have always worked well for us I have seen no reason to change. They fit close without rubbing, contain pretty much anything (we have never had a leak) and are not too bulky underneath close fitting swimwear. We recently used them on holiday, both on the beach and in the pool and they coped well – even when on Max for most of a fun filled seaside day out.

One of the new items from Huggies is the Hygiene Mat. It’s a fabulous idea – perfect for when you are in a tight, cramped changing room, especially if you are unlucky enough to end up with one that doesn’t have a changing table. You don’t want to lie your little one on the cold, hard and possibly dirty floor – so what do you do? Well, you use one of these! Cushioned, non slip, easy to roll up into its own little bag and machine washable, it’s a must have for any swimming trip. This now goes with me everywhere – to be honest, it works fabulously as a portable changing mat too!

Do you swim with your little ones? What age did they first dip their toes in the pool? Do you have any top tips for swimming with children?

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10 Comments

  1. Heather Haigh
    September 15, 2014 / 8:19 pm

    I used to swim with my children when they were very small. Though neither of them became olympic swimmers they are confident enough in water.

  2. September 15, 2014 / 8:21 pm

    We’ve been rubbish at taking our three swimming – Ben has been having weekly lessons for two years which sort of takes the pressure off I guess. Part of the problem is that, aside from Mummy not having a swimming costume, the pool requires 1-1 for under fives so we had to wait till after Ben’s birthday before we could even consider taking all three of them! x
    Colette recently posted…Sharing bedroom with a 10 month old baby . . .My Profile

    • kate
      Author
      September 15, 2014 / 8:42 pm

      It’s hard when you have a few small ones – luckily our pool allows 2 children under 8 to every 1 adult, so we have always been able to juggle it!

  3. September 15, 2014 / 8:47 pm

    We love swimming in our house. James is 5 and we have taken him since he was a baby and he now does swimming lessons at our local leisure centre and almost has his 5m badge! My little girl is 3 months old and has been swimming twice and loved it both times splashing her arms and legs around! As you said I think swimming is such an important life skill to have as well as being fun for all the family to enjoy xx
    Jess Howliston recently posted…Shampooheads **REVIEW**My Profile

  4. September 15, 2014 / 9:18 pm

    I can’t swim and Little Man has been a grand total of… twice! We only ever go when we’re on holiday which isn’t very often at all 🙁 x
    Donna recently posted…My Experience of ColicMy Profile

  5. September 15, 2014 / 10:45 pm

    My little boy is almost 10 weeks. We are planning on taking him swimming it’s just a challenge of when. I was hoping to go this week but I slipped over on a wet floor yesterday so this week might have gone out of the window as I would really like for both Chris and I (Chris is my husband) to take our little boy for the first time together. I’ve been doing research into what he should wear and things like that. Seems it differs to each child. Some go for just a swimming nappy some to for a swimming nappy and a sort of neoprene wet suit thing.

  6. September 15, 2014 / 11:15 pm

    I’ve been taking Toby to Turtle Tots classes since he was about four months old. He has recently gone very clingy when he’s in the water but I just keep taking him in the hope he’ll start to enjoy it one day! We love Konfidence products too – we have the same BabyWarma as Max 🙂
    tobygoesbananas recently posted…Living Arrows 37/52My Profile

  7. September 15, 2014 / 11:24 pm

    We do swim yes. I have never ever had a baby swim though, because sadly it’s never been around where I have lived while they were small.

    We have however started going to the local pool every Sunday and so far it’s a HUGE hit!
    My daughter surprised us with her eagerness in a pool. She just jumps right in and has started to dive for toys at the bottom of the learners pool, she has started requesting we take her floaties (arms) off so she can learn how to swim and dive properly, which also surprised us, but this obv means it can only be done when we are two adults as I have 3 children and 2 who can not swim.
    I have registered her for Swim School now in September, which she is going to LOVE! She is all most 4.

    My youngest was at first really scared of the water, he wears a Zoggs floaty suit, the one that’s a whole suit with the foam belt around it. The first few weeks he refused to let go of me and was pretty much glued to me, but he was fine and smiley and loving the water as long as he could hold on. 🙂
    Then suddenly he just..let go and now he’s swimming, jumping, swimming holding on to a board and can get most places in the pool by doing this, he’s learning to steer and kick he’s legs and what works and what doesn’t, it’s really fun to watch! He’s 2.

    #UKbloggers
    ERFmama recently posted…Child Passenger Safety Week (September 14-20, 2014)My Profile

  8. September 16, 2014 / 8:56 am

    My little one is 5 months and she loves swimming, although we’ve only been taking her for a month or two. I do think half the time, she is so interested in the other children in the pool, she doesn’t actually notice she’s in the water though! x
    Mummy’s Blog recently posted…Pampers New Baby Nappies ReviewMy Profile

  9. September 18, 2014 / 10:49 pm

    We don’t take our kids swimming nearly often enough! My son, 5, was in weekly swimming lessons for about 9 months, but my 2 year old hasn’t spent much time in the water. I need to get on that!
    Laurel recently posted…Natural Immune Defense 101My Profile

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