AquababesNI is the original baby swim school in Northern Ireland. We have 40 years+ of experience in all things baby swimming. Our teachers are all endorsed and qualified by the STA (Swimming Teaching Association). We adhere to all updated knowledge and guidelines for baby swimming and offer a bespoke service to all our members of Aquababes.  In saying that, we are dedicated, fun, warm, friendly, approachable and empathetic to all our parents, having gone through the parenting journey ourselves we will guide you as best we can in your swimming journey with your baby. We want to make sure your little one is confident and safe in and around the water.

AquababesNI offers a flexible and accessible service to our parents around Northern Ireland. We endeavour to bring aquababes to your closest town or village in Northern Ireland. Easily booked through our website in your preferred time and venue. We do not demand a subscription or lengthy commitment from you to sign up, you simply book as and when you can attend each course. You will be advised by our instructors when baby is ready to progress to the next level of swimming. Our approach is much more individual to suit the wants and needs of our customers as well as our babies to ensure the best outcome for all involved.  We have interest free payment plans such as Klarna and pay later with paypal. We feel that baby swimming should be accessible for all our babies in Northern Ireland.

Our classes start from birth up until your child starts school.  We have very enthusiastic new parents who want to book while still still pregnant with their little one. We advise to have baby first and decide when you get baby home when baby or mum feels ready to go swimming.  If your  baby is premature always check with your doctor before starting lessons. As long as your baby is deemed medically fit, it should be absolutely fine to for them to attend lessons once they are past their due date.

Improved Balance : Being in a swimming pool is a safe place for little ones to really explore their balance and building their confidence, meaning they’ll become a lot more coordinated out of the water too. Water supports babies vestibular system which massively aides their balance.

Walking Earlier: With the benefit of improved balance babies that attend swimming lessons are proven to crawl and walk earlier.

Builds Strength: Swimming strengthens their heart and lungs as well as their arm, leg and neck muscles.

Hand-eye coordination: Cross lateral movements like reaching for a ball and the various holds and techniques AquababesNI delivers helps baby with their hand-eye coordination.

Eating & Sleeping patterns: Baby swimming is proven to help with babies eating and sleeping patterns.

Cognitive, intellectual and social benefits: Baby swimming activities builds nerve pathways, helping the brain to store and retrieve information. Research has indicated that baby swimming results in increased social, academic and personality development. Increases confidence and babies sense of achievement will develop their love for learning and mastering new skills.  Babies learn to listen to instruction quickly in a fun and playful way.

Bonding : The time in the water strengthens the bond between you and your baby with plenty of skin to skin contact. Your baby can smell you, feel your heartbeat, hear your voice and the rhythm of your breath which helps calm and relax them and you!

Importance of play: Through play, babies and children learn about the world and themselves and what better environment than a swimming pool, with a multi-sensory environment such as this, babies increase confidence rapidly.

You will need the following: a baby, swimming costume, wetsuit or rash vest, aqua nappies, cover nappy, towels and a change of clothes for after swimming to keep baby happy & clean.

Due to the different towns and venues in which aquababesNI attend, each venue is different with different sizes of classes. We ask that you attend your first lesson yourself and ask instructor is it OK for both parents to attend the following weeks.

We have various times and venues across Northern Ireland and endeavour to bring aquababes to a town near you! You can see our venues by visiting our booking section on this website to see a class that suits you and your baby.  Our classes are all 30 minutes in duration, this is more than enough time for babies and toddlers to focus and learn in this multi-sensory environment. Any longer runs the risk of making baby over-tired and over stimulated.

NEVER EVER put a regular nappy on your baby when you bring them swimming. It is essential that you double up your waterproof nappies. A huggies or pampers waterproof disposable nappy and a cover orby nappy to ensure there are no leakages into the pool and for peace of mind for both parent and teacher. We highly recommend the Orby Swimwear range. Premium soft neoprene to regulate your babies temperature in the water, secure fitting around tummy and legs your orby nappy or orby swimi gymi will ensure security and comfort in the water. Neoprene suits have been proven to increase your childs sense of security and warmth in the water and therefore will increase their time in the water by 97%. 

The short answer is no! Its perfectly safe to take your baby swimming before they have had all their vaccinations. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that some little ones may feel a little out of sorts after some of their vaccinations and may not enjoy swimming – or any other activities- as much as normal as a result.

Once you have completed a course at AquababesNI you will be invited to attend a photoshoot. The shoot involves above and underwater shots of you and your baby swimming. It truly is a fantastic experience and captures the precious time that you and your little one have learnt together. It is something you’ll want for a lifetime. Our photoshoots captures that special moment where your little one shows off everything they’ve learnt so far in their lessons.

This is a bespoke service offered to all our aquababes customers. At a fraction of cost compared to competitors again we feel these moments should be accessible to everyone.  Once you have attended a photoshoot day, it is simply a matter of purchasing your photo file online through our website under the photoshoot section at £35. You will then be emailed a dropbox folder of all your pics. They are high resolution shots and so you can decide how you want to use them. No photos of you or little one will be released online via aquababes until purchase has been made. This is inline with our child protection policy and you must achieve ownership of your pics by purchasing them before we release your folder to you. You will have the opportunity to view your pics on the day of the photoshoot.

Consistency is key in most things in life. We do recommend that you keep up with your baby swimming. It will in fact become more cost effective as your child grows and save you on your time and money in the future. Use your time with your baby to the utmost effectiveness and efficiency. You will not get this time back. So come swimming as much as you can!

AquababesNI have progessive lessons already mapped out for you to continue your journey with us. You will be monitored individually by our expert instructors and each individual child will progress at their own pace. There is no regimented pathways –when your child is ready we will progress them.  We believe each chid is individual and will progress at their own rate. 

What is a Jetsuit?

The orby Jetsuit is an award winning innovation that is taking the swimming world by storm.  An adjustable buoyancy aid for toddlers aged 2-6 yrs. Developed by our very own founder Lee-Anne Daly we have developed the jetsuit in response to the needs of parents. The jetsuit is an air assisted wetsuit which can be adjusted to your individual childs needs. It promotes independence, proper swim position and muscle development. The air is released as childs ability increases.

What are the benefits of the jetsuit workshop?

Our bespoke workshops are truly achieving some incredible results in our young swimmers. A fun, exciting way to learn independence in swimming and Swim technique, we follow a protocol putting safety as our number one priority. Teaching parents and child safety first and progressing them to independence and joy in the water. The sense of achievement from both child and parent is simply wonderful. Seeing your child swim independently for the first time truly is a sight to behold and a magnificent achievement.