Water Babies Reviews

The confidence waterbabies gives little ones around water is worth every penny and then to top it off, by the time they finish the programme, they can swim. I've been lucky enough to have waterbabies as part of my life for the past 13 years. I started in 2011 when my eldest was born and have been there ever since with my 2nd and 3rd. I've been again lucky to have wonderful teachers along the way that have made the experience even better. It's a great way to spend time with your little one and it's the best feeling in the world to see them happy and giggling jumping in and having fun in the water.

Emily is a fantastic instructor who encourages and engages the babies. The lessons are well structured, enjoyable and delivered well.

We love our lessons, and can’t wait for them each week. Cate is so great. We love building water confidence and safety whilst having fun together too.

Both Leanne and Jackie have been great with Delilah, interacting and making her feel welcome. Delilah has come on leaps and bounds and was even more happy getting star of the week, this made her very excited! She loves to swim and continues to learn and grow every week, so thank you!

Excellent lesson delivery from Jenny - make us very welcome in the lessons

All. About. The. Money. The cost is absolutely extortionate for a 30 minute lesson. The things you learn in the lessons are nothing that you can’t take away and practice yourself and save hundreds. They offer underwater photoshoots. Sound great? No, you are expected to pay a FIFTY pound booking fee, and then an additional £90 MINIMUM fee for any photos + videos. As if they’re not making enough money charging almost £200 for 6, 30 minute lessons. Would not recommend these to anyone.

My son loves swimming lessons at "water babies" Great trainers, warm water and a lot of fun during the lesson.

Our 19 month is so confident in water, he’s already consistently kicking his legs and understands that this causes him to move through the water. His instructor Danielle at Castle Rock is fantastic

Their swimming lessons are fine, but the online shop is a scam. Overpriced products, sizes are all messed up and they refuse to exchange products asking you to return and place a new order only for them to refund less than half the price you paid. Disgusting

I have taken my son since he was 3 months old and I am so glad I did. Tommy has had two teachers, Claire & Katie and they both made our experience fantastic. Watching my son learn how to swim and the confidence he now has in the water at only 2 years of age is amazing. I always recommend water babies to anyone with young babies as think it’s a great skill to learn even from such a young age.

Had been using these for a while but their support and log in portals were always poor. We finally had enough after we missed 2 weeks of swimming (in the 21st century they can't send a reminder email) and called to cancel, you can't do it online at all. Mark Russel who answered the phone was defensive but just kept repeating we were told at the end of the last lesson, when I pointed out that was 7 weeks ago he quickly became abusive and threatening. Avoid at all coats

I want to share my experience with Jackie and how she transformed Ryan from a child who cried at the thought of swimming into one who now gets excited about it. Initially, Ryan was terrified of the water and would cling to me, but Jackie recognized that he just needed more time to learn the basics and gain confidence. She assured me, "Be patient, he’ll get there." And she was right today, Ryan swims happily on his own, even going underwater without fear. Sometimes he still cries, but that’s normal. Thank you, Jackie, for your patience and dedication. You’ve made a lasting impact on Ryan, and I’m sure many children will remember you fondly in the future. Maybe one day Ryan will even make it to the Olympics and mention your name🙏. To every parent reading this, I feel you, their crying makes you break inside, but with time you will feel proud that you continued and didn’t give up💪 be patient and give your all it’s worth it in the end.💪

Classes were ok, no better than those run by leisure centres whilst being more expensive, and their customer focus is poor. The cancellation policy has a ridiculous long notification period (as noted by other reviews here) and they are also inflexible with make up classes in the initial 8 weeks. But it's all "written in the terms and conditions", so you better read the fine print! That was the default explanation given upon any complaint/feedback, which is terrible customer service. Just make sure you read the T&Cs and don't sign up just because you've been on the waiting list and have been offered a place.

My child has been attending Waterbabies since Spring 2023. He loves being in the water so we thought a weekly lesson would be beneficial for him. However we have been without a permanent teacher since April 2024. This has meant that the quality of lessons has been inconsistent and there has been limited progress each lesson. We have had temporary teachers who have been lovely, but we are missing that personal touch that having a consistent teacher brings. Our lessons are now costing £80 per month which is an increase and we are not understanding the justification of the increase given there has been a decline in service.

My baby has been going to Water Babies since he was 10 weeks old and the improvement in his confidence is amazing. He now loves his lessons and our teacher Jackie is brilliant. She is always really accommodating and makes sure you and your baby are comfortable with the new skills that you are learning. Swimming with Water Babies is a lovely bonding experience with your baby as well as teaching them a crucial life skill and making sure they are confident in the water. Thank you so much Jackie and Water Babies.

I have been contacting head office and local branch about my complaint I cancelled the day after the first lesson which I paid separately to the first month I paid the first lesson with my credit card and then put my bank card in for the direct debit I cancelled direct debit which was for the monthly payment and emailed saying due to being in ill health I will have to cancel And they then proceeded to take the money out from the credit card which was not saved I told them this is fraud and have a open investigation now I have proof of the direct debit before I am just waiting for them to try back there self up Also I got told I spoke to there branch rude I did not the women have poor customer service and there quick to get rid of you when you have a complaint I will be keeping this on and spreading the word of the fraudulent company Most of the women who come to this company are new moms on maternity leave and are quick to take money when there is no permission you took it out after the 8 weeks and I had cancelled I did not sign any thing so you can’t say I signed any terms and conditions if you have some sort of signed documents from me feel free to send

Have been using Water Babies with both my kids (3 and 1.5) and have really appreciated the structure and the way the classes build on their skills, confidence and help you as a parent know how to manage them in the water. Would be a higher rating but the cancellations are simply getting too hard to manage. Each time it feels like a 50/50 chance at best of going ahead, lessons get cancelled sometimes with just an hour to spare. Last update I had was that all lessons were cancelled 'until further notice' so I've had 2 months of direct debits taken for just 1 class. Trying to plan activities for 2 young kids this has simply gotten to be too much as we want them to have regular swimming lessons. Sadly now looking at alternatives.

My son has been swimming with Waterbabies from the age of three months. He is three now and swims competently. We will be completing the course up until the age of five. I wouldn’t recommend any other swim school other than Waterbabies.

Echoing what others have said, the small print in the "contract" is that you have to cancel 2 months in advance; you could put in a request to cancel on the 1st day of the month and you will still have to pay for lessons up until the end of the following month. Not a transparent system. The swimming lessons are not worth the poor customer service.

We love it and made great friends there too