This week I took my son swimming for the first time, we took him to Riverside pool in Norwich on Wherry Road. They have 2 pools including one for children. It is a lifeguarded pool, with unisex changing stalls and family changing rooms.
I researched what exactly he needs to wear for baby swimming and what is the most leak proof swim nappies to use. Babies can’t regulate there own temperature, so in addition to his nappies he had a swimsuit. We don’t live very far from the pool so I changed into my swimsuit with my clothes on top. I changed my son into his swim gear and just had him in a hoodie and sweatpants with socks.
I use swim nappies from Huggies which go underneath the Splash Happy nappies, double protection is standard in swim classes. Lastly we also brought a bee float with us, to start his dad and I took turns holding him in the water and passing him between us.
When he had relaxed in the water we placed him in his bee float and then chased each other around the pool helping baby kick his legs so he could see what he needed to do. For his first baby swim he did so well lasting the full hour and he had lots of fun chasing his dad around with me pushing him in his float.
As he is teething I took a bath toy with us that he loves which is a squeaky sheep however he didn’t end up needing it as he was so engaged with looking around his new environment.
For his swim bag/Outfit:
- Baby Towel
- Bath Toy
- Bee Float
- Swim Nappies (Huggies and Splash Nappy)
- Swim Costume
- Normal nappies
- Sweatpants
- Long sleeved bodysuit
- Socks
- Hoodie
- Nappy changing mat
The family changing room has a seat with straps and a changing table, taking your own changing travel mat is a good idea to lay over the top of the changing table. We changed our son into his clothes first so he didn’t get cold deciding to bath him at home.
I can’t wait to go again and I’m super excited to start teaching him how to swim and maybe signing up for baby swim classes!