Parent and Tot swimming with twins

[mikeys_mom]

Has anyone done a P&T swimming class with their twins? I have done it with my older 2 kids starting at around 6 months but have held off so far with the twins just due to logistics.

Has anyone done P&T classes? Did you find it difficult?
The twins are almost a year and I am inclined to just wait until they are 2 and they can go in without a parent. DH thinks it would be great if we can start them earlier. I would love to introduce them to the water - they have never been in a pool because when we are somewhere as a family there is no safe way for the 4 kids to be in the water at the same time.

Any thoughts?

[Momof3Labs]

I wouldn't be comfortable unless you had another adult there with you (so 1:1 ratio). Our local high school offers private swim lessons for all ages - do you have an option like that locally? DS1 and DS2 go, and are in the pool at the same time but each have their own instructor (parents are watching a few yards away). I plan to take the girls, too, when they are older

[fivi2]

The places I called about parent and tot classes required 1 adult per child.

[caheinz]

We didn't start big brother until he was 3 and could go by himself. We'll do the same for the twins...

[TwinFoxes]

I'm not sure from your post of DH is going with you? I doubt you'll find a place that will let you take both babies by yourself. We took lessons at the YMCA last fall with the girls when they were 14 months. It was really fun (well, after the first week when they were convinced we were trying to kill them. They screamed almost the entire first lesson!) I recommend you get a baby wet suit, it really helps them to stay warm and they enjoy it more. We got ours from warmbelly.com

We wanted to start them early for both a family activity, and we both feel strongly they should be comfortable around water (at the time they even hated baths.) We plan to give them real lessons too, the baby lessons are pretty much just floating around. I'm glad we started them young. Some of the older tots were petrified of the water. This one little boy who took a class in another part of the pool cried every single lesson. Poor thing. :(

[mikeys_mom]

I spoke to the supervisor at swimming lessons for my older kids last night and here are my options;

1) I can register one "child" for the lessons and just alternate which baby I bring every week. It's an interresting idea, still not sure how I feel about it. Certainly easier logistically to only have one child with me.

2) Register for a private lesson for the twins so that I would be holding one child and the instructor would hold the other. They were discouraging this option because P&T lessons are not much fun with only 2 babies. Group is usually 5 kids and they do songs, etc... From a logistics perspective, I'd then have to deal with them on my own to get them dressed/undressed - that will not be fun. Not even sure if it is even doable.

3) Bring another adult with me and both babies can be in the class together. This is really the ideal, but again I have logistical issues. The class is on Friday morning. I WOTH Mon-Thurs so Friday works for me. DH is working, so he can't come. MIL is probably available, but is a very anxious personality and I don't think she will deal well with calming the girls down if they get upset in the water. I can bring my nanny/housekeeper with me, but I typically use Friday mornings to have her clean up the house because I am around and can take over childcare during that time. It's a bit of a selfish reason to not do the lessons with my nanny but having her spend 2-3 hours tidying up makes a big difference to my sanity.

The pool is 90 degrees, so I'm not worried about them being cold. DH says I am spoiled from P&T classes there because I find almost every other pool I go into too cold now.

Getting comfortable in the water at an early age is really important to both me and DH from a safety perspective. I don't think it will make them better swimmers in the long run...

I am leaning towards the option of rotating one child each week but feel like I should just bring both with my nanny and not worry about my house not being cleaned. Or, maybe just wait until they are 2 and can go in on their own...

What would you do?

[fivi2]

Well, for us, at that young of an age all we cared about was getting them used to being in the water. So dh and I just took them to the pool together whenever we could. We also had a baby pool in the backyard where I could supervise both. We live in a mild climate, so I felt like they got enough exposure that way (and mine LOVE the water anyway). We just started real lessons now - they are 4. I would have done them last year at 3, but I waited to long and everything filled up. So, if your only goal is to be comfy in the water, can you join a gym or something with an indoor pool and you and dh take them on the weekends? Just a though!

[mikeys_mom]

So, if your only goal is to be comfy in the water, can you join a gym or something with an indoor pool and you and dh take them on the weekends? Just a though!

The problem is that we would always have the older two kids with us - not enough adults for all of them.

We are most definately not in a mild climate :p. Even in the summer, water in the backyard wading pool is freezing unless you add in hot water from inside the house - by the time you have the pool the right temperature, everyone is ready to go back inside!

MIL's condo has a pool, so we could try to go there on Sundays more often. Then we have 3 adults and the pool is not deep or busy so we would be fine. Yes, something to consider, thanks.

[Momof3Labs]

Is there only one class session? If there are two, perhaps you can sign them up for different class times so that they can still go weekly. I'm guessing that this won't work logistically but maybe it will.

[fivi2]

The problem is that we would always have the older two kids with us - not enough adults for all of them.

We are most definately not in a mild climate :p. Even in the summer, water in the backyard wading pool is freezing unless you add in hot water from inside the house - by the time you have the pool the right temperature, everyone is ready to go back inside!

MIL's condo has a pool, so we could try to go there on Sundays more often. Then we have 3 adults and the pool is not deep or busy so we would be fine. Yes, something to consider, thanks.

oops... Didn't read your siggie or your location, obviously :) Sorry!

just ignore me... :waving4:

But still, maybe a gym with an indoor pool and you could switch out kids in the childcare there? Or your mil's pool might work. Good luck!

[WatchingThemGrow]

Can non-multiples moms offer ideas here? I have the same issue, sort of. A twin mom in our music class always sent grandpa and the nanny. I think you should ask the nanny and ask the grandma and see which one would be willing or excited to do it with you. If either of them are...then go for it! And taking them with you would make the dressing part so much easier! I'd set aside some other time for her to do the housework.

ETA: I have the same type of MIL, and I would be a little timid asking for her "help" in a swimming class.

[TwinFoxes]

I wouldn't ask a nervous MIL to help. You don't want DDs to pick up that vibe and end up being nervous around water. If your nanny enjoys the water, I'd ask her. I think it would be more fun for the girls to go together. Also, if one of them doesn't take to the water right away, going every other week might delay her progress. Baby D didn't like it the first couple of times, I think if she were going every other week she might not have gotten over her nervousness enough to eventually enjoy the class.