We went to baby swim class!

[Rachels]

Lots of fun! The pool was a little chilly, so we got out a few minutes early, but Abigail seemed to really enjoy herself. It was basically a swimming playgroup. We sang songs and kicked feet and played with a truly epic number of floating toys. No dunking, nothing scary. And she came home and took a 2.5 hour nap! We'll definitely be going back.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[atlbaby]

Sounds like so much fun! Was it Abigail's first time swimming? Did you get her a little suit? How many babies/caregivers are there? And the nap makes it a wonderful experience for *you* too now, huh? :)

Arielle's still never been swimming, I got her an adorable suit clearance at Children's Place last summer and we never had the opportunity to go! :( It still fits I expect, so maybe I'll just take a picture in the bathtub! But perhaps I should look into where I can take her swimming, sounds like a lot of babies here have a good time!

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01

[Kate888]

Wow!! It sounds wonderful! I'm thinking about taking swimming lessons, too. But don't know how I'm gonna handle the clean up afterwards. DD is 11-month and crawling. How am I gonna take a shower and dress both of us after that? Any tips?

Thanks a lot!

Kate

[egoldber]

Sounds like the way my swim class was. Sarah really enjoyed it. And yes, those post-swim naps could be epic. :) In fact, a bunch of used to go to lunch right afterwards and the babies all slept blissfull in the strollers all through lunch. Ah, those were the days...

[shopaholic mom]

2 options:

1- Take the class w/a friend and you can take turns watching the babies while the other one gets showered and dressed.

2 - Wait to shower till you get home - just get dried and dressed after you've dried and dressed DD and put her in her stroller (make sure they allow strollers in the locker room).

Good luck. We are about to re-try swimming - we tried it a few months ago but DD stopped enjoying it when they started dunking her, so we're on hiatus now but starting up in a month.

[newbelly2002]

Glad you had fun.

My enthusiasm for swim class is a little dampened (pardon the pun) once I talked with my friend and her son today. We all went swimming last Tuesday and all came down with terrible colds (babies included) starting Friday. Because Dante had a fever and was too congested to nurse we went to the Dr. today. She heard we went swimming and shook her head like I had suggested, oh, I don't know, horseback riding with an infant or the like. She said it was a terrible idea, the pools were filthy, etc. I dismissed her comments, until DH pointed out "well, 4 people went swimming, 4 people are sick." It's hard to argue with logic.

The flip side is that Dante had so much fun. I really would like to go again--just without the aftereffects this time. The pool *seemed* clean and hygeine seemed good. Any suggestions from more experienced "baby swimmers" on how to avoid colds/germs and other contagions?

All I can say is Rachel take your vitamins!

Paula

[Kate888]

Thanks a lot :) Can't wait to try it when the weather gets warmer here.

Kate