My son is just two months old but I'm keen to take him swimming fairly soon- any recommendations for public (indoor) pools that are heated to a warm enough temp for babies and have good facilities? Also, has anyone got experience of the 'Harry Wright International' swimming courses or any other baby swimming lessons? Thanks!
Swimming with small babies
- Thread starter sunnyk
- Start date
nicolejoy
Registered User
I really like Harry Wright. I didn't start with them until my daughter was more like 10 months - but I think they're really good. I think they start at 4 months though. We go to the pool at the SCAA in Causeway bay and it's heated and pretty good for babies. Although it's still cold in winter, mostly because the air temp is still pretty cool even though the pool itself is warm...
nicolejoy
Registered User
I've never been to YMCA but I heard that they "baby" them a bit much, like just kind of flicking water on their face rather than teaching them to be comfortable with submerging. One of my friends did classes there, and she submerged her kid because she'd done previous classes elsewhere and the teacher was like "Wow, please show me how you did that!!" - something that a teacher should probably already KNOW how to do.
But then again if your aim is to just get them into a swimming pool rather than to get them comfortable with submerging and being more independent in the water, maybe it is for you.
With Harry Wright, there is a progression - first splashing their faces with water, then when they are comfortable with that, teaching them to hold their breath under water, then when they are ok with that, letting them go for brief periods of time. All under the age of 1. But from what I understand about YMCA (never having been there myself, just hearing friends talk about it), there isn't that progression - they just stay at step one, flicking water on the babies faces...
Maybe it's different for different YMCA teachers or locations - but I just know that my friend was very dissatisfied with them, in the class she was doing...
But then again if your aim is to just get them into a swimming pool rather than to get them comfortable with submerging and being more independent in the water, maybe it is for you.
With Harry Wright, there is a progression - first splashing their faces with water, then when they are comfortable with that, teaching them to hold their breath under water, then when they are ok with that, letting them go for brief periods of time. All under the age of 1. But from what I understand about YMCA (never having been there myself, just hearing friends talk about it), there isn't that progression - they just stay at step one, flicking water on the babies faces...
Maybe it's different for different YMCA teachers or locations - but I just know that my friend was very dissatisfied with them, in the class she was doing...
