Free Taster Class in April for Tipperary Water Babies

Water Babies, Ireland’s leading baby and toddler swim school is launching their new Spring term in Carlow (28 April), Waterford (17 April), Wexford (24 April), Tipperary (23 April) and Kilkenny (24 April).

Sean Murray 6 Months from Carrick on Suir, South Tipperary

Water Babies offers fun, innovative baby swimming classes, taught by world-class instructors.   With a multi-award winning programme which teaches vital water confidence and safety skills from birth, the overall aim is to teach parents to teach their baby how to swim.

To celebrate the launch of the new term, Water Babies are inviting beginners to come along to a FREE taster classes as follows

Waterford

Sunday, 17^th April – WIDA Killure Manor

Tuesday, 19^th April – Woodlands Hotel

Wexford

Sunday, 24^th April – Clayton Whites Hotel

Thursday, 28^th April – Maldron Hotel

Friday, 29^th April – Amber Springs Hotel Gorey

Carlow

Thursday, 28^th April – Talbot Hotel

Kilkenny

Sunday, 24^th April – St. Patricks Centre

Wednesday, 4^th May – Ormonde Hotel

Tipperary

Saturday, 23^rd April  – Rockwell Cashel

Saturday, 23^rd April – Ferryhouse Clonmel

Water Babies Taster classes gives parents an opportunity to experience what baby swimming with Water Babies is really like and to show that it is an amazing way to spend a half hour with your baby.   To book a place, please call 051 397444 or email monkeymonkey@waterbabies.ie.  Water Babies gives children a lifetime’s water confidence and safety skills while swimming from birth stimulates the brain and develops muscles in a safe, relaxed way and water is a familiar environment that babies love.

Elaine Dunne who runs Water Babies classes in Carlow with her husband George explains “Baby swimming with Water Babies is an exciting, enriching experience for both you and your little one.  Not only does Water Babies teach vital life skills, but it also enhances the way babies and toddlers learn other skills, too.”

“No one else reaches our high standards of professionalism, and no one else works harder to make sure you and your little one feel happy and safe.   And we always incorporate lots of bonding, fun and socialising, so you can be sure that a Water Baby is a happy baby!” added Elaine.

The Water Babies programme, which is designed to make the most of babies’ natural affinity with water, teaches confidence and safety, using specialist techniques that see many swimming short distances from as young as 30 months.    Baby swimming is an entirely safe and gentle activity, a wonderful way to exercise and have fun with your baby while your child learns a valuable life-saving skill.

The Water Babies swimming course is very different to traditional swimming lessons.  Because Water Babies only use warm water pools (30° or above) babies can join classes from birth and immunisations are not required or necessary in order to start classes.  And while the emphasis is on having fun, the course is carefully structured, with progressive lesson plans for each week.

The core Water Babies programme lasts one year and is divided into five ten week terms.  Each of the 50 lesson plans is carefully worked out to progress learning and understanding. However, fun is also a key element of the Water Babies’ lessons. And overall, the aim is to provide an enjoyable and stimulating activity for both parent and child.

To find out more about Water Babies swimming lessons in Carlow, Tipperary, Kilkenny, Wexford or Waterford please visit www.waterbabies.ie or call tel: 051 397444 or email monkeymonkey@waterbabies.ie.

About Water Babies

Since it was co-founded by Paul Thompson in 2002, Water Babies has grown into the world’s largest baby swim school, today teaching more than 45,000 babies every week through a network of family businesses across the UK and Ireland with international operations in New Zealand, Canada and The Netherlands.

• Water Babies has won nine baby swimming awards in Ireland over the past six years including What’s On 4 Little Ones Best National Baby & Pre-schooler Development activity 2013, 2014, 2015 and Maternity & Infant Best Mum & Baby activity 2013 and 2014 voted for by parents across Ireland
• Water Babies instructor Claire Hogan was named What’s On 4 Little Ones Most Outstanding Activity Leader in 2014 and 2015.
• Water Babies has raised over €100,000 for a number of children’s charities across Ireland in just six years including Temple Street Hospital, Crumlin Hospital, the National Children’s Hospital, Cork University Hospital and Jack & Jill through the Water Babies bi-annual Splashathon.
• Having fun and enjoying the water is the primary aim – so Water Babies rarely feel like they are in a lesson. However because the course is highly structured, most will happily be swimming distances underwater by about 30 months, then naturally start swimming on the surface as their strength increases.
• Water Babies is the only baby swimming school with its own pool consultancy service, passing on its expertise to pools across the UK and Ireland.  Water Babies is also the only swim company to have its own in-house, award-winning underwater baby photography unit. Last year over 290 underwater photo shoots were held and 125,000 individual underwater shots were taken by its skilled photographers.
• In June 2012 Water Babies teamed up with The University of Manchester to undertake a research study which will be the first of its kind to examine the physical and psychological impact of structured, taught baby swimming classes on parents, babies and the family unit as a whole.
• In June 2014 Water Babies featured on ITV’s Secret Lives of Babies.

What makes Water Babies different?

Babies have natural reflexes that mean they instinctively hold their breath when submerged. However, the Water Babies course actually teaches babies to control their breathing instead of relying on reflexes, thus negating the risk of water inhalation and giving the babies a sense of being fully in control.

The core points of difference between Water Babies classes and mainstream baby swimming lessons are:

• We teach babies from birth. Our youngest pupil was just one day old, but normally they start at around six weeks
• The course is highly structured, including clear progression, aims and objectives and detailed lesson plans
• We teach without the use of flotation devices. This is in order to prevent children developing a false sense of security and because the water naturally supports their body weight
• Children lack the strength or co-ordination to swim on the surface until at least two years. From birth we enable them to swim short distances underneath, allowing them to move freely without constraints of gravity

How qualified are Water Babies teachers?

Our swimming teachers are the only ones who can obtain a nationally recognised diploma in baby swimming, which has been developed in conjunction with England’s national governing body for swimming, the ASA.

• All Water Babies teachers must first complete their mainstream swimming qualifications with the ASA, before commencing the intensive Water Babies training course. All teachers must also be qualified lifesavers, renewed bi-annually and be DBS-checked
• With the 300+ hours each Water Babies teacher invests to become fully qualified, they could train to be a private pilot… five times over!
• In July 2011 we signed a skills pledge with the Institute of Swimming (IoS) to provide premium education and training in baby and pre-school swimming, which means that the Water Babies programme is now endorsed by the ASA