Water Babies - Is it worth the money?

littleme96

I am looking at taking our baby to Water Babies, but am put off by the price tag (roughly £10 per session!). I need to decide soon as I understand that some places have waiting lists and they must start before they are a year old(not a huge problem, as baby is only 11 weeks and hopefully waiting lists aren't that long...).

Does anyone else do this and is it worth the money or a waste of time?

blackcoffee

I took my 1 & 2, I was a member of a gym and they offered it, lot less than £10 a session tho.

With number 3 we cant justify it, dh's job had changed etc. So I took number 3 with my friend and her baby, once a week, £1.50 for me, baby went free at local leisure centre. we actually did/do a lot more in our time that I did when i took 1 & 2 and it was/is around our time not someone elses.

it also means i have met up with my friend once a week.

jacksons_mum

im not quite sure what water babies is but my son has been going to 'little fishes' (parent and baby/toddler swimming) since he was a couple of months old,we do nursery rhymes, and all the actions help teach them to swim. he is so confident in the water and really loves it and cant wait to start proper swimming lessons in jan when hes 3, so for us it is definately worth it. it only costs £3 a session though, i dont think i could afford it if it cost £10 a session.

Js_Other_Half

DS has been going to something similar since he was 14 weeks - which costs about the same. There was a 3 month waiting list, but I refused to put him on it when he was still a bump - although one of my friends did!

The way I looked at it, public pool lessons cost less, but have more kids; I'd have to pay for public parking rather than the free parking in the venue we go to now.

Another factor was this firm don't do swimbands, etc so DS is used to being in the water just in his trunks and nappy. We can now jump into the water from standing, climb out on his own, monkey along the bars and hold his breath and kick underwater.

Is there anyway doting grandparents could fork out for some of them?

Nikabella

I have to admit I am a huge Water Babies fan. Our daughter is 22 months old now & has been going to Water Babies for just over a year, she is now in the toddler classes. She started when she was 9 months old as we were on the waiting list for absolutely ages due to us wanting to swim on a specific day/venue.

I agree that you can swim for a lot cheaper in a public pool or even take your little one to a council run class for a lot less than £10.50 a lesson but I have to say that these classes are usually much too big & the pools very cold for little ones. In my opinion the level of tuition at Waterbabies is far superior to anything I would have thought to teach my daughter & even more importantly we have made some fantastic friends. Our class allows spectators which is lovely as my partner comes & watches our daughter every week (we were supposed to take the lessons in turns but I decided I didn't want to share them lol).

The question as to whether the lessons are too expensive really boils down to can you afford to & do you want to pay that much. We feels its worth it.

Points to consider though:(wish some one had pointed these out to me!)
Be careful which venue you choose - we chose a posh city centre hotel & it means we have to pay £5 for parking per week. If you choose a school or non city centre they will undoubtedly have free parking. The cafe in the hotel also costs us a fortune when we have a drink whilst the children are eating their lunch (not a necessary expense or very money saving I know!)
The price can go up - the next round of lessons is going up to £115 I believe (might be £110 not got the letter to hand) although its the first rise in years apparently.
Your child may not always enjoy it - our daughter has had 'the wobbles' which is where she decided she no longer wanted to swim under water or do all of the activities, however, they do get over this. It is disheartening when you are wanting them to enjoy it & it is costing you a lot of money! Your child may not have this though.
They need to start young - at 9 months old our daughter & the other older children in the class took a lot longer to conquer the technique for swimming under water.

Wow that's a ramble! Sorry it's so long but I know that Waterbabies is a huge expense & so hopefully it might help you to make the right decision for you & your little one.

PS our daughter has also done Gymbabes (Tumble Tots) & currently does Baby Ballet & Music class so I happy to give people an opinion on any of those classes too.