how long can a 2 year old swim for?!

binkyboo_2

this is money saving related in a way i promise! i am thinking about taking my little one to an indoor water park she has just turned 2.
It will be very warm in there and there will be pools for her to splash around in and some swimming will happen. I know when you take babies swimming they should only be in the water for a certain length of time but what about as they get older?
I don't want to waste money paying to get in if we won't be there too long as its the sort of place you spend a day at and the price reflects that!
i know when we went on holiday she would only be wet for about an hour at a time and then we would get her changed into dry clothes.
has anyone here taking toddlers to water parks before or know how long they can be in water for safely?

Katie-Kat-Kins

Most of these indoor water parks have a cafe and some poolside lockers so why not take a couple of extra towels so that you can dry her off and sit in the cafe for a while if needs be??

To be honest I would have thought she'd be too little to get the benefit of one of these places, they are really normally aimed at older kids, so if you are going for the benefit of your older kids fair enough but if it is just her a normal pool on a day when they have the kiddies soft play things out would probably be just as good.

mummy_Jay

Just to add to what katP said, if you take her to the pool when they have one of the fun inflatable things, it should be free for her to go.
I know my local pool does free swimming for the under 16's and that includes when they have all the inflatables out for the kids to play with, its loads of fun.

mwa

My 2 year old would last for a max 30 - 45 mins in a pool before shivering uncontrallably - even in a nice heated pool.

vaio

DS did a sponsored swim aged 5 or 6 to raise money for a rugby club trip, the target was 20 widths. We got fed up as he passed 35 widths with no sign of stopping so dragged him out before he bankrupted us and everyone else who’d sponsored him.

RoxieW

I took my 5 mth old to the alton towers waterpark (a treat for the older children). It is ideal there are there are deckchairs around the pool so every half hour or so I would sit with him wrapped in a towel. The air was also warm. Even so we only stayed an hour and half - I've never spent all day at a waterpark even with the older children - a couple of hours is enough to do everything etc.

Edit to say entry there is £15 per person so it was a rather expensive hour and half!

Indout96

If its only for your daughter I would skip the waterpark as they will only be in the small pool area anyway, you are paying for all the slides. We take my Grandson (5 now but taking him since he was 2) to the local swimming pool every Saturday and then onto an adventure playground where they have a toddlers area (he goes in the big part now LOL)
Cost of swimming is free for him and less that £4 for me
Playground is £3.00 for toddlers and £4.25 for the large area. nothing for me
We arrive at the poll at 9.30 and I take him home at 2.00pm shattered for £4.25 and it is the highlight of his week.

binkyboo_2

thanks for all the advice everyone, you have all confirmed my thoughts really in that she is a bit too young to spend the day there and it is an expensive hour and a half otherwise! i think i may leave it another year or so and stick to the local pool.

Janepig

We went to the new(ish) Blue Lagoon waterpark in Pembrokeshire in August, and we were a bit limited with what DS (3) could do. It was £7.50 for 3 hours, although we didn't have to pay for DS and we stayed for about 2 and a half hours without him getting cold or anything. DD was (just) tall enough at 6 to go on the flumes so she had a ball, but DS was limited to the wave pool and little shallow pool with a small slide. We also took him through the lazy river with him holding on to one of us. He seemed to enjoy though. I wouldn't go again though until he's also tall enough for the flumes.

The only problem you've got with "local" pools is that they tend to be alot colder. The Blue Lagoon was boiling!! Although our local pool has very cold water, but the place itself is roasting. I go twice a week to take DD swimming and I've got to wear the bare minimum of clothing (just about decent!) because the heat there is almost unbearable.

Jxx

Jxx

mrcow

vaio wrote: »

DS did a sponsored swim aged 5 or 6 to raise money for a rugby club trip, the target was 20 widths. We got fed up as he passed 35 widths with no sign of stopping so dragged him out before he bankrupted us and everyone else who’d sponsored him.

MSE all the way! :money:

tandraig

I used to take the kids to local swimming baths - while the older kids would stay an hour or more - my youngest had enough after half hour! so i would have to leave with youngest while OH stayed with the others... so i dont think a water park is ideal at her age...........unless there are other activities she can do while dressed.