taking a baby swimming

[Jyates]

Hi can people offer me advice? My dd is 10 weeks old and has just had her first lot of immunisations. When if possible is she allowed to going swimming. Some people say there is no age limit and others say after they have had all 3 sets of their immunisations. Im utterly confused!!!!!! Im going away to centerparcs next week and they have a SUBTROPICAL SWIMMING CENTER and would really like to take dd in to the pool I've bought her a dinky costume too.......Please give me your thoughts

[jobi]

Our doctor told us to wait until they had all 3 immunisations.
My last ds had his last one 18 months ago but i wouldn't have thought hings have changed.

[mrsrobbo]

I had this same wuestion. my husband is in the army and my little boy was born in england and we were told there we had to wait until he had all of his immunisations, we are now in canada and I asked when we moved and they said he couold have gone after the 1st lot! The doctor here said it used to be after all 3, the main reason being because of polio, as it lives in the eater or something, but as its pretty much non existent now its not as strict. The biggest problem is keeping them warm when you get them ut of the pool

[kezzi78]

i also heard that it is safe to take after 1st injections, you want to watch out for the level of chlorine so it does not irritate their skin and the only other issues is the temperature ideally needs to be around 31 to 32c otherwise they get cold very quickly

[Sarah J]

confusing isn't it??

when my lo had his first injection the health visitor said i could take him swimming.

when he had his 4 month injection the health visitor said "you can finally take him swimming now..."

[janelle]

Well, my dd has never ha0d any immunisations and we started taking her swimming at 10 weeks old in a heated pool with no problems.

[Lici's Mum]

My little water babe has been swimming since a week old and has never looked back. I was never told about having to wait for any immunisations.
One word of caution though - try not to get too much water in your lo's mouth - Lici had a couple of e coli incidents.... nasty but then we were living in Thailand and the water there is not potable....

[Nikki~Nathanamp;Danielle]

No, I've never heard of the immunisation thing either.    My kids don't go to regular swimming classes (but have been to public outdoor pools) and aren't vaxed, but I've still never heard of that.

[deenz]

Most of baby swim class things I've looked into start at 3m and don't say anything about vaccinations.  But a friend of mine says her class wouldn't allow her daughter to start until after the first 3 immunisations (5m here in NZ).

[Katet]

The swim school I take both my boys to says about 4months, after 2nd lot here, which makes sense as the 3rd lot are a "booster" for the approx 10% of babies who need it ( that can only be worked out by doing a blood test, so a 3rd set is an easier way not to miss the bubs that need the 3rd set to have good immunity)

Part of the reason for leaving it longer is babies dehydrate/loose salts quickly & when they are small they have a large surface area, so they can go "pruney" very quickly... a sign of dehydration as the salts of the body get leached out.

So if you take younger, it is better to keep it short & make sure you keep the fluids up to your lo.

[evanskimberley]

My DD had the old immunisations not the new 5 in one so this may be old advice, but i don't think so. My HV said that they used to say wiat till injections are over cos they used to use live vaccines so it was actually dangerous for others, not the babies. The vaccinations have now changed so this no olnger applies, you can take them as soon as you are happy to do so.
I guess in this weather we're having (snowing today) just be aware of how cold it is compared to the warmth of the pool and dress them accordingly.

[Michelle72]

Daniel now is 12 weeks and we started a baby swimming course when he was 8 weeks, they told us no earlier.  The course is great we had a meeting the first visit and was told how they would  begin and progress  how the main thing was to teach the baby respect for the water, not to be scared and also not to take it for granted.  They showed us a video and when I seen it it was so beautiful, all the parents singing as a group to the babies and they loved it,so I could not wait to begin.  The center we go to is for special needs so it is fantastic and caters for all your needs and there is nobody else in the pool when we have the course as the first times it can be a little overwhelming for your child, I do recommend your baby having a good nap before hand and not to eat too close to the time.  The temperature of the water there is 34 C so a week before we started dropping the temp of his bath at home and started taking him into the shower just to make it easier before we started the course.  Its great fun, highly recommend it.

[LŠuren]

I went when DS was 17 weeks, he had just had his 2nd jags and was still due his 3rd.

I was told it was Ok after his 1st set.

[*Natasha*]

We just started Catherine a few weeks ago and she loves it she was 6 months when we started. I don't think the place we take her accepts any babies before that age. I think this is a good age to start as she sits up really well now and is almost mobile.