"Swim" lessons?

SuzyQq02

Has anyone started or thinking about starting swim/water classes with their LO?

Our local Y offers a half hour "water babies" class on Saturday mornings with a parent to get them used to the water, ect. I would love to take LO, as neither MH nor I are strong swimmers and I'd like her to be more confident than we are, and I've always heard it's best if you start young. But it's sort of expensive, and I'm not sure she'll actually get anything out of it at only 6/7 months (the age range goes up to 24mos for this class).

What are others doing?

JackieP1023

I wanted to do them with DD, but the (cheaper) municipal rec classes ended the end of July, and required DD to be 6 mo (which she reached August 3). There are a couple of gyms (affiliated with the local hospitals) that offer the same classes, but they cost quite a bit more since we aren't members of either. I haven't decided yet if we want to wait until next year, or pay the extra to get her in this winter yet. The water familiarity is super important to me/us--we live on a small lake, and spend weekends at an even bigger lake.

sdlaura

Yes, DH started swim classes at our local YMCA with DD when she was about 8 months, and we've done them most Saturdays since.  Now that she turned 2 she can move up to the "Transitional Twos" class where a parent doesn't have to be in the pool, so he's going to start the parent/tot lessons with DS. 

MissDemeanor

I've been taking Reece all summer. Next week is our last class I think we get a lot out of it. Interaction with other moms and babies. Fun together. Excercise for me. R has learned to float well with me just holding his head, and he kicks when on his tummy. He is now comfortable floating in a life jacket, and really enjoys 'jumping' off the side into the water. Our class also covers water safety, what to do if they choke (not swimming related but important), life jackets, all sorts of stuff. Please we also bounce in a circle singing wheels on the bus.

boogerbearoriginal

Early on it's just getting LO used to the water, most classes will teach basic safety too like how to enter pool safely, how to float, etc. 

LO1 enjoyed them, we did classes starting when he was ~6m.

SuzyQq02

Thanks, ladies! I actually found a class at a college rec center that's significantly cheaper than the Y (like, half the cost) so I think we're going to do that. Haven't decided if we'll do this session (starting 9/7) or wait until the mid-October one, but we'll definitely start this fall.

MissDemeanor

That sucks to hear the cost is high at many places. I paid $42 for 10 sessions, which I thought was pretty good. It's $2.80 to just take him swimming without a lesson. (Although $5.50 for adults to use the pool alone)

SuzyQq02

Any kind of kiddo class around here seems to be absurdly expensive. I wanted to do a music class (both MH and I are musicians) and it's $20 per session plus a registration fee! That just seems bananas to me, but obviously people pay it!

MissDemeanor

SuzyQq02 said:

Any kind of kiddo class around here seems to be absurdly expensive. I wanted to do a music class (both MH and I are musicians) and it's $20 per session plus a registration fee! That just seems bananas to me, but obviously people pay it!

That's ridonkulous! Do you have community centres? Or is that a weird Canadian thing?

SuzyQq02

Bookshelves said:

That sucks to hear the cost is high at many places. I paid $42 for 10 sessions, which I thought was pretty good. It's $2.80 to just take him swimming without a lesson. (Although $5.50 for adults to use the pool alone)

At our Y, it's $25 per session for members, $45 per session for non-members. I haven't run the numbers yet, but the membership is so expensive that I still think the non-member fee would be cheaper in the long run. It's kind of ridiculous. ETA: I just re-read it, and I think maybe it's for all the classes. The wording is too vague. I'm going to call and clarify. $45 for the season is a lot more palatable to me!

I hope it's per session of classes! At our local Y, it's $118 for 6 weeks of classes for non-members.

JackieP1023

We have 3 places (that I know of) that offer swimming lessons. Two gyms affiliated with the two hospitals, and the city recreation department. I briefly looked into them. Gym A costs $70 non member, $60 member (for one summer session-12 lessons). Gym B costs $70 non member, $45 member (for one summer session-12 lessons). City costs $40 non resident/$35 resident for a child, $45 non resident/$40 resident for adult.

I am not a member of either gym, nor am I a resident of this city. We will probably do the city non-resident lessons next summer. I don't know what 'private' lessons cost, but I don't think we would do that, anyways! I assume the water babies class would be the child cost, so $40 for 12 sessions isn't too bad--I think we can afford to do that.

RedSoxGirl10

I'm going to try to sign up tomorrow actually for a Y class. It's annoying because I am a member but because I don't have a family membership (which would be double the price and my husband works out at home so it's not worth it) I have to wait until non member sign up. Oh well. I was thinking about skipping it until next year but I've read a couple of places that the best time to introduce the baby to water is before 1. He is definitely used to water now after the summer so I'm hoping to keep that up!