Our son's first bath came very early on and he was quite relaxed, but then we left the whole bath thing alone for about a month and when we came back to it he was utterly horrified by it. He lay in warm water in his lovely little blue bath, hands clenched in fists on his chest, staring fixedly ahead, ignoring our smiles and coaxing as well as the yellow rubber duck sailing around his legs. It took weeks to gradually unclench his fists and bring them into the water, let alone get a smile out of him.
Once he got the hang of it though, the small bath didn't stand a chance against the splashing water he kicked up, so a transfer from the bedroom to the main bath (with a brilliant bath divider given by a friend) was effected. he even got used to having water splashed over his face. Starting with a tiny stacking cup (number 1) we are currently up to number 6, quite a sizable amount of water in his face with no qualms.
But our first lesson at Water Babies, a swimming class for babies, was fairly terrifying as an onlooker. The class lasts just 30 minutes and within twenty minutes each baby was taken and their whole body including head submerged underwater - fortunately by the teacher, while the waiting parent was told to keep a big smile on their face as the baby resurfaced. Remarkably, no-one drowned and no mothers fainted although you could feel the tension rise from each woman as her baby was dunked. Quite possibly out of the fear of this very moment all the daddies were sent into the pool with the babies and all the mothers elected to watch from the side. Apparently it's good practice to alternate although other mothers I know who are a class ahead of us say it's usually the dads in the water and the mums on the side. My turn next week, eeek. The babies ranged from three months up to a year old and while some splashed in quite happily and didn't seem to care about being dunked at all, one baby howled, setting off our baby, who kept looking at the first baby's terrified face and crying, only to be comforted when looking at the happy babies.
Top tip for all baby watersports then: keep a big smile on your face - and turn your baby's face towards the happy babies!
Once he got the hang of it though, the small bath didn't stand a chance against the splashing water he kicked up, so a transfer from the bedroom to the main bath (with a brilliant bath divider given by a friend) was effected. he even got used to having water splashed over his face. Starting with a tiny stacking cup (number 1) we are currently up to number 6, quite a sizable amount of water in his face with no qualms.
But our first lesson at Water Babies, a swimming class for babies, was fairly terrifying as an onlooker. The class lasts just 30 minutes and within twenty minutes each baby was taken and their whole body including head submerged underwater - fortunately by the teacher, while the waiting parent was told to keep a big smile on their face as the baby resurfaced. Remarkably, no-one drowned and no mothers fainted although you could feel the tension rise from each woman as her baby was dunked. Quite possibly out of the fear of this very moment all the daddies were sent into the pool with the babies and all the mothers elected to watch from the side. Apparently it's good practice to alternate although other mothers I know who are a class ahead of us say it's usually the dads in the water and the mums on the side. My turn next week, eeek. The babies ranged from three months up to a year old and while some splashed in quite happily and didn't seem to care about being dunked at all, one baby howled, setting off our baby, who kept looking at the first baby's terrified face and crying, only to be comforted when looking at the happy babies.
Top tip for all baby watersports then: keep a big smile on your face - and turn your baby's face towards the happy babies!
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