First swimming lesson with Water Babies (AD)

I’m really keen for Elsie to be a confident swimmer so when Water Babies asked if we’d like a free taster session in return for an honest review I immediately said yes.*

I had swimming lessons when I was younger and during one of my very first lessons I got into difficulty and had to be rescued.

I’d gotten myself into difficulty when swimming backstroke at a funny angle which saw me end up in the deeper end and panicking.

The lifeguards had to rescue me.

All the other kids and their parents watched on and I was humiliated. Ever since I’ve not had much confidence in the water and I also hate getting water on my face.

I want Elsie to be a good and confident swimmer – it’s a really important life skill to have and be much braver than I am!

Water Babies runs across the UK and my friend in Ireland also has lessons for her little boy too.

Lessons start from newborn and carry on up to five years old.

For babies 0-1 the aim of lessons is to help your baby gain confidence in the water straight away.

There’s only 10 babies accompanied by a parent or career per lesson and each session lasts for 30 minutes.

Instructors use carefully considered swim positions and activities to encourage babies to kick their legs, stretch and use their arms.

Throughout the lessons babies will be building their core, learning breathing techniques and how to cope in an emergency situation.

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Our Water Babies taster session

We went to a local high school which has a hydrotherapy pool so it’s smaller and warmer and shallower than most pools – perfect for babies.

Elsie was given a Water Babies happy nappy to wear and I wore my Hunkemoller swimsuit.

Once we were both dressed we made our way poolside.

Our swimming instructor for the next 30 minutes was the lovely Laura.

She explained how the lesson would work and one by one we passed our babies to her so we could get ourselves into the pool.

The whole lesson was about Elsie gaining confidence in the water and building up to being completely submerged and moving through the water.

We sang songs and encouraged our babies to have fun in the water.

My confidence grew throughout the 30 minutes.

I must admit I was nervous. What if she swallowed loads of water and screamed the whole time?

But I had nothing to worry about because Elsie was great.

There were some moments of uncertainly and a few cries but on the whole she took it in her stride.

We got her more used to water on her face by carefully running my hand down her face with some water and encouraging her to breathe afterwards. This would come in handy when she was submerged near the end of the lesson.

Elsie managed just fine – no tears or cries when Laura carefully moved her through the water (fully submerged) and back into my arms.

The 30 minutes soon flew by and we ended the lesson by going round the pool in a circle singing Twinkle Twinkle.

Then the real workout started – getting us both dried and dressed and out the door in 15 minutes.

We both really enjoyed the taster session and I can see why Water Babies is so popular; so much so we’ve booked up for a term.

I’m looking forward to the next 10 weeks and I’m sure that Elsie will gain new skills and confidence in water.

A huge thank you to Laura and the Water Babies Durham and Darlington team for our fabulous taster session and for looking after us so well.

To find out more information about Water Babies visit the website and see if there’s classes near you.

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*Disclaimer

This review has been written with 100% honesty.

I was not financially compensated for this post. I was given a free taster session and goodie bag for review purposes. The opinions expressed in this post are completely my own based on my own experience.

If you would like your company/service featured on rachaelstray.com either in the form of review, sponsored post or an advertising slot, please feel free to contact me at rachaelstray@gmail.com

Please visit my contact/work with me page for more information.

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