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Millennial Mother Product Review

Posted on 3rd October 2018

Millennial Mother

Full Review:

I have a confession to make. I can’t swim. I hate the water. I am petrified of not being in control. My mum took me to swimming lessons, I did swimming in school, my siblings are all good swimmers but me … I don’t even like going above my belly button in a swimming pool. You can imagine this makes it difficult to teach Nancy to swim. But, I am determined that she will love water.

It seems the done thing to do when you have a newborn is to attend baby swimming lessons. I personally didn’t attend baby swimming lessons partly because I hated my body and the thought of getting in a swimming pool in my swimming costume made me want to curl in a ball and partly because I was worried about the water with a little one. We tried to take her swimming once in a while during the first year of her life but she cried and I was so nervous. It didn’t really work. Everyone told me she had to start swimming for birth because otherwise she would never swim, she would hate the water and the whole world of swimming would collapse.

When Nancy was two we thought that maybe we needed to try swimming lessons to help us both feel confident in the water. At this point she didn’t even like baths and washing her hair left us both distressed. We signed up to one and we lasted maybe 4 weeks. Nancy cried and cried and clung to me in the water so tightly. I nearly exposed more than I wanted to as she clung to my swimming costume straps! We decided that her screaming for 30 minutes was a waste of time and money so we stopped swimming lessons. Plus when she cried I became nervous and I honestly think she picked up on my nerves. We tried to take her swimming a couple of times a month for the next 9 months. Although neither myself or my husband knew how to teach her to swim but we did help her develop confidence in the water. When we went on holiday this year she really fell in love with swimming.

 

Last month we decided to give swimming lessons another try. We spent a lot of time researching and found a lovely small business called Dolphin Swimming Academy run by Rich and his wife, Charlotte. He invited us to attend a free trial to see how Nancy got on and it really worked. Her instructor was so lovely and really took his time to make Nancy feel comfortable. He also has a magic watering can which is totally awesome.

We then made it fun by giving Nancy some fancy new swimming items from Splash About. She received a lovely swimming costume matched with a warm poncho to wrap around her when she got out the water. The idea of having something special for her swimming classes really made her feel excited about going. The costume itself is a beautiful design and Nancy definitely approved. I also find it so durable and we have used it a number of times and washes it with no problems. The poncho is an ideal purchase for putting on when Nancy gets out the pool, with a hood which keeps her head warm. The best part is that it washes and dries easily, so I imagine on holiday this would be a dream.

We then took her to a swimming class and from day 1 she went in the water on her own with the swimming teacher. This wasn’t too difficult because Nancy attends nursery so she is pretty confident without me. I honestly think going in the water on her own with a fabulous teacher is the dream combination. She now practices back stroke, bubbles in the water and even jumping off the water. For a girl who cried a year ago I couldn’t be more proud.

As I mentioned before, I’m nervous in the water. To try and help me with this and to increase my confidence I used Splash About’s float suit with Nancy.  It’s different to armbands, because the floats are centred around Nancy’s chest and back so she can move her arms and now has more freedom in the water, it also puts her in a natural learn to swim position in the pool – watch this short video of the floatsuit in action here

I really hope the swimming lessons help Nancy grow into a strong confident swimmer who is able to enjoy the water safely. And in light of my title ‘what happens if you didn’t do water babies?’ Absolutely nothing. Nancy is learning to swim with children her own age. She grows more confident every week.

Splash About have a variety of products. I have previously purchased their happy nappies and they are ideal for youngsters as nothing is escaping those trunks. Here are my top picks

  • Baby wrap to keep your newborn warm. Personally I love the Nina’s Ark print
  • Happy Nappy Dragonfly costume. No number 2’s will escape those beauties.
  • If I had a boy I would definitely be purchasing the Board surf shorts because they are so cool!
  • Goggles are a great purchase. Nancy loves wearing them in the water and only lets the swimming teacher adjust them.

 

Thank you for reading everyone.

Kelly Yasmin Bayley
Millennial Mother