Foundation baby swimming lessons
Newborn and baby swimming classes
At Eaubaby, our Foundation stage baby swim classes Duckling, Cygnet and Dolphin introduce your newborn to the water to help build their initial confidence, introducing basic skills so your baby becomes familiar with the water.
Eaubaby’s foundation stage baby swim classes are open to babies aged eight weeks and upwards. It’s encouraged that babies learn to swim from a few months old to help with their balance, coordination and mobility; Eaubaby’s approach will see your newborn grow in confidence and ability as they swim their way up through from Duckling, to Cygnet to Dolphin level.
Introductory swimming classes for infants
Foundation stage baby swimming classes at Eaubaby are kept at a suitable group size to ensure that you and your baby receive appropriate coaching and guided attention and coaching in the water.
Baby swim classes are a perfect way to bond with your baby and communicate in a new and stimulating environment, with a focus on independence in everything Fiona and Nicky do.
Foundation baby swim classes
With a wealth of knowledge and passion, Nicky and Fiona founded Eaubaby Swim School in 2021. With 50 years of infant swimming experience between them, they now teach from locations such as; Moreton in Marsh Fire College in Moreton in Marsh, The Moretons, Bredon nr Tewkesbury and Bettridge School, Up Hatherley, Cheltenham.
Level 1: Duckling
Our aim in the Duckling class is to give both you and your babies an introduction to our foundation stage classes, and to give you both the confidence in our programme and the ability to enjoy the many benefits of teaching your baby to swim.
We will follow the cues given by the babies as we want you both to be happy every step of the way.
Amongst many other skills we will pass onto you is; teaching your babies to breath hold, parents also perfect the ability to take their babies under the water and release them so they can watch them doing their first free swim. We will also teach you many other techniques; ‘holds’ and life-saving skills to practise with your baby. We will help you as parents become more confident so that you can take baby swimming by yourself and put into practise all that you have learnt.
You will learn 28 new exercises just in your first 10 week term!
Level 2: Cygnet
Moving into Cygnet level compounds the skills learnt in Ducking, encouraging independence to ‘hold on’ by themselves, and ensuring parents are confident to release their baby both from a ‘Ready Splash’ position and also during a short swim. Reaching out for a ball becomes much easier and is a valuable skill to achieve. The concept of turning is introduced at this level as an essential life-saving skill. Two consecutive submersions are encouraged to move on from Duckling and babies need to be happy and confident doing this before moving into Dolphins. We also start to teach parents how to do an extended swim, which can be a challenge when it comes to multitasking.
Level 3: Dolphin
In this level, we encourage independent movement around the pool while holding on to the side. The concept of ‘turning’ is brought on with the introduction of ‘free turns’. Turning from the poolside when asked (introduced in cygnet) is mastered and progressed on to a more independent level.
In this level we also bring in dive sticks, rings, and the ever popular ‘Zoggies’ giving the babies their first opportunity of picking up an item held under the water. This is great fun and done best when sat with your baby on the steps. You can also practise in the bath! Around this level babies can go through various development stages, such as ‘separation anxiety’, learning to walk, and the ever-present problem of teething!
These can be exceptionally challenging times for parents, no matter how committed, and they can sometimes see their previously happy and confident Eaubaby morph into a very unhappy individual. This is a perfectly normal stage of development and all our teachers have been trained to advise and help you as well as offering fact sheets to help you through this difficult time and move you both into the next phase of swimming which will see you and your child enjoying their swimming once again.
Book your baby's swimming lesson
Ready for your baby to take the plunge and begin their journey from Duckling to Swim School? Book their swimming lesson by visiting our bookings page.
