Water Babies Baby Swimming Classes

My daughter was five months old and I enrolled us at our local YMCA. As soon as we got into the water, one of the instructors took my baby girl and abruptly dunked her underwater and spun her around. When she was face up - she was gasping and had a look on her face I will never forget! She was shaking, too! I was told to use "one finger" under her head to support her to float. I felt so bad, since she was born I did everything to avoid injury, pain, cold, hot whatever. It was all shattered that day. When I finally got her out of the pool, she turned her head the other way from me. She was upset and I felt so guilty. I called my husband crying and he drove over immediately, confronted the "instructors" and demanded our money back. (A small fee, I forget, but..) My daughter developed anxiety and fear of suffocation and I know it's from that terrible experience. It is possible that things have changed, but I live with that regret every day.

My baby was injured due to the inadequate facilities for parents and babies. There is no private space for parents to change and there are no toilet facilities for parents with babies. I believe the provision is not compatible with the Equalities Act 2010. I queried this with Water Babies and was told to put my baby on a wet dirty floor and to change a tampon in a public area. I can’t believe my family have been subjected to such horrendous, discriminatory and damaging treatment in 2022. I’m appalled.

It has been so much fun swimming with Water Babies. first with my daughter and now with my son who is due to finish this term. They both looked forward to the classes so much every week. They still remember all their teachers and loved all the games and songs. It has given them both such confidence in and out of the water. The best thing is that they've learnt to persevere even when they found it difficult and you could see the pride they had when they did achieve it. My son is only just 4 and is now completely independent in the water - and has recognisable front crawl, back stroke and breast stroke. Its AMAZING.

Whirl wind experience.

Booking on, lovely lady and easy process.

First session, warm pool, nice instructor. Dunking was done at the end of the session. My baby was upset so agreed not to do. The other babies were fine though some cough and spluttering.

Second session, 4-5 dunking in this session. My baby is not up for dunking yet at all so sat out on those activities. Basically sat in a pool with my baby for £17. Granted the entering and exiting the pool safety is good and other activities like Humpty Dumpty

is good. Felt very excluded though when it came to dunking.

Mould around the pool and wonky tiles. Changing facilities tiny, can’t accommodate 8 babies and mums. I had to go in the sun bed room which was covered in dirt and hairs. Just rank.

Cancelled today due to disgusted with facilities to be honest and too much dunking. You can do this before the 3rd session if read the policy, for those mums worried about getting out of it. Though the hefty £50 admin fee is a shocker. I have asked for a breakdown of this fee to understand better.

Overall, will not use again. 2 star just because instructor was pleasant.

I have emailed complaints so awaiting their reply.

My 2 year old son was booked onto a class which was far too advanced for him. We questioned this at the time of the trial class and was told he’d be ok and could catch up despite never having been swimming before. Having paid the course money and now on lesson 5 it was clear that they are moving way too fast for him, with a different teacher every week. He was left terrified today.

Awful company who tells you anything to get your money.

We singed up Our 6 month old daughter for the first chapter at Great Ormond St Hospital. Although the teacher is good, the changing facilities are very poor for what we pay: only one changing bed for ten babies t use before and after the class. Some mums end up changing their babies on the floor! There are no nappy bins so we have to take dirty nappies with us and throw them outside the hospital!

The worst of all though is their policy, they are trying to get you to sign automatically to the next chapter! I called to cancel 30 minutes past the deadline and they charged me 30 pounds for giving me a refund saying that was their policy!

I would definitely NOT recommend water babies. Having searched online there are cheaper and more customer/parent friendly swim classes for your little ones in London.

Whilst the instructors are very good and the lesson content is good the organisation of this is awful.

We have been using water babies since my child was six months old and she is now two and a half years old, we have paid on time each term and never missed a payment to secure a place at our weekly lesson.

We were sold the swimming lessons as a course that would take our child up to approximately 4 years old however we have now been told that due to the swimming pool not being big enough our lesson is being cancelled. This would be ok but we have not been reserved a place anywhere else and have been told that we have to wait and see if anyone else drops out and a space becomes available.

This is a disgraceful way to treat customers (and children) who have been swimming with waterbabies for 2 years already (investing a lot of money and time in the course), and have never been informed at any time that the facilities used by waterbabies would not be good enough to complete the course in.

The cost of the photo-shoot is also extremely expensive and I did not like the pushy 'hard sell' approach that was used to try and get us to spend more.

Unfortunately I would not recommend waterbabies due to the experience we have had.

After having called many swimming schools and asking about the facilities I settled on Water Babies. There sales pitch was convincing with the lady on the phone saying how fantastic the facilities are and how clean etc. I then proceeded to book myself into their lessons at the Hilton Hotel..Two weeks later they cancelled this and offered an old peoples home pool. At different dates & times. They then cancelled this as well a few weeks later..I was then re-booked into Bedelsford school pool.....This is where the real HORROR then started.

After being cancelled on again three times in a row for this last option we finally got to start. (After the lady reaffirming that this delay was due to renovations and how fantastic this pool was etc.) I drove all the way to Kingston to be there for at least 15-20 minutes before the lesson so that I could change my little one as well as myself..

I was greeted at the fire exit by a grumpy old woman asking me to take my shoes off at the door. It was windy and raining and I was holding a baby in a car seat plus our bags and I was wondering where shoudl I put all of this whilst I take my shoes off??

The floor was WET, MUDDY dirty and unhygienic. When I pointed this tout to the lady at the door she said yes it is but they clean the floors during the week. (!!!!) So as helpful as that sounded I did not take off my shoes but put my own shoe covers on which I had taken with me and tried to find a changing room...There isn't ANY. Whilst I was walking in there was an ongoing class with 10 babies + 2 parents each. And the class that was straight after had the same.

There was a wet and mouldy room which they called the change area but there was no area to change at all. Two cubicles with no seats or benches where filled with mops and builders equipment.

The other three were so small that I could not get in there with a baby let alone a baby and a bag. There was NOWHERE at all to put the baby, no chairs. no benches no mats NOTHING. I appropriated some sort of hospital bed which I had to disinfectant and proceeded to change my daughter all the while wondering what to do with myself when my time came to get changed...!!! There was no where to store my bag either as the floors where soggy and disgusting and the class that just ended came out of the water needing to change as well. So that is 20 babies and close to 30-40 parents trying to find out what to do with themselves in area the size of a small bedroom with no facilities that was so disgusting and appalling that I just wanted to cry. From the sounds made by the other parents it seems that I am not the only one who was shocked at being swindled by this company.

Will be putting in a complaint and asking for my money back and if that fails the ombudsman is next.

NEVER have I been so thoroughly disgusted and disappointed!

We have booked ourselves in for private lessons which work out to be cheaper than this and 300% more enjoyable and pleasant than this!

The pool and facilities at Kingston Water Babies are substandard to least. You have to enter the facility via the fire exit door and immediately take off you shows, which is a nightmare with full gear and baby in tow. It becomes even worse when you leave the facility as you have to walk across the wet floor put down your baby and bag on to a wet floor just to put your shoes back on.

The lessen is well structured but the pool is too shallow and you have to bend all lesson long. Also, when the previous class leave and the new class arrive they have to leave via the only entrance which is directly next to the pool. In winter this lets in a horrendous cold wind which is just asking for poorly babies.

The changing rooms are mixed sex and only have four "cubicles" which is not even close to being enough.

All in all I am not impressed and from past experience from other water babie pools I naively expexted better.

Water babies, Wat an absolute waste of money! Can't fault lesson content or instructor although £15 a lesson I expected more than 30 min lessons! Changing area and pool etc that we attended were not fit for purpose, couldnt have swung a cat in the place! Then the photos are just the icing on the cake, £200 for 3 photos on a memory stick, that does not include photo shoot as this is included in fees paid at the beginning and they have the cheek to charge pnp! Totally disgusted at the price, especially knowing their target audience is mums off on maternity leave! Wouldn't return to water babies if they paid me!!