Waterbabies Aquatic Program

I began taking my daughter here for lessons when she was 6 months old, and it was a really positive experience. The instructors are helpful, and meeting other parents with their babies is great. I loved being able to bond in the water with my daughter, and also learn safety while getting her used to being in the water. Will be taking another course here as she grows into the next class stage.

Great program! Definitely recommend to all parents!

[review for PT1, 18−36m, Juanita/​Kirkland CAC]
Really, a fantastic program. We’ve been doing with our 2y9m daughter for over a year. She struggled with parts at first (especially submersion — I think we started her too late) but now she’s really got the hang of it and looks forward to swimming class each Saturday.
We started with Brenda early on, then switched to Vera/​Cassie due to scheduling, and now have Adam as a substitute. All have been amazing — although Adam really stands out as such a force of positive energy that he can overcome even the shyest child. Our daughter was doing well but never willing to let the instructor hold her, and Adam just found a way to make that happen. Very impressive.
The programming is generally consistent across instructors and a good mix of structured coaching and drills and play time. Walking and jumping on the floating foam platform is our daughter’s favorite.
We found the Juanita facilities to be more than sufficient. Parking is always a little touch and go but never actually had a problem. The family changing rooms fill up quickly but the men’s locker room is on the other end of the pool and works just as well, and there’s almost nobody there.

We are in our third class at water babies. We started our daughter at 10 weeks old and she has been submerging since before she turned three months old. She is 9.5 month now and in the pre toddler program. She is fearless in the water and I love the skills they are teaching us now. (make no mistake, it’s not just teaching the child but also the parents how to work with the child). My baby has fun but is learning more submersion, how to flip and how to hang on to the side of the pool… to sit to listen and to wait. I feel these skills could save her life and also it’s fun, natural and wears her out… she has gotten so strong in the water.
We love water babies!

My daughter has been in the program for over a year and a half. she loves it and I enjoy seeing her progress and become comfortable with the water. We’ve had Ms. Jackie, Ms. Brenda, and Ms. Sharla. They have all been wonderful! If you’re wondering if your tot would love it, I’d say yes!

I have been waiting 2^nd year in a row and am not able to register. All available classes are taken. I understand it is a business, but the classes are also more catered for kids who are scare of water and everyone to learn as slow as possible. I think it is purely to get parents to keep paying. What a pathetic system for registration.

The classes were okay, but I’ll never take classes there again. They were continually running a promotion while I was there. Suggest a new pool and get free classes if they book that pool. So, I did, and when I got an email announcing classes were starting at this new location about 6 months later I thought, awesome, free classes! So I tried and tried to contact them to get my classes set up and a couple months later finally gave up because they just ignored me. I found Water Sprouts swim school in Woodinville, they are a great, honest business and I will continue to go there.

My baby group and I were all ready for our first class and showed up early and waited and waited and waited. .. and the instructor never showed up! We all just played around the pool instead and still had a good time.
After the initial miscommunication, we got rescheduled for another lesson with Zee who was pretty efficient in her instruction but the class goes by so quickly that I felt like my little one didn’t get a chance to practice too!

Registration and Adminstration– EPIC FAIL
Teachers: GREAT (as long as you find one who is a great fit for your kids)
My daughter has been going here for more than 2 years. We tried several different instuctors that didn’t work for her, and finally found Ms. Abby. She has been GREAT with my kid – made her overcome her fear for safety jumps and even took an extra session for backfloating. She is the kind of person who will go the extra mile to teach your little one to truly appreciate and learn swimming responsibly. I don’t understand when parents says that teachers progress at a slow pace. Well, would you expect your kids to learn their letters and numbers in a month? Swimming is an essential life skill and you cannot rush through it.

I’m only giving this 2 stars because Abby is a good teacher. The program itself is poorly run. Registration is impossible and frustrating even after years of being in the program. You’d think they’d make it easier for parents with multiple kids that have been loyal to the program to actually get a class they want. It’s easier signing up for college. For this, they get a 1-​star.

We’ve been coming here for nearly a year now, and are totally satisfied. Our youngest started in PT1 at 18 months and they focus on developing good, safe water habits in addition to building a great foundation for swimming skills.
We’ve had several different instructors now, and all of them have been fantastic. Parents should thoroughly read their website and/​or attend their pre-​class orientation to learn about their teaching style as well as class «rules» to help them understand how the class is structured. Each class starts with a «Sit, Listen, and Wait» and this is so important so that the child learns not to just jump into the water, and wait until they are told to enter the water in a safe way. There is singing and games played, mixed in with activities to learn water skills.
Our daughter developed a sudden fear of going underwater midway through PT3, and it was getting frustrating to have her protest getting into her swimsuit, and crying during class. But after emailing the teacher and getting some advice, we stuck with it and like a switch several months later, she now loves swimming can’t wait for class each week.
Our older son (4 y/​o) took swim lessons at the Y several years ago and also hated it, and had a very strong aversion to pools. So we had him watch his younger sister’s swim class and later enrolled him in private lessons. Christie was so patient with him, even though it took the entire first lesson to get him to sit on the top step into the pool. Each week, she gently encouraged him to do more, so that now 6 months later, he is diving to the bottom, and floating on his back independently. He keeps asking when his next swim class is.
Locker rooms are decent with plenty of cubbies and lockers, with two showers stocked with soap, shampoo, and conditioner. They are cleaned every hour, and I think they do a great job considering the number of young kids and adults who come through there. Another perk is the warm pool temperature (at least at 1^st Street), much better for the young kids. Parking is free, and generally readily available.
The only difficulty is actually getting into your desired class, especially for new families. Current families get priority for online registration, and if you are not online at 6:30 AM when the registration opens, you may not get your first choice. Weekend morning classes go quickly. However, just email them if the class you can make are full, and they will add you to a wait list, and will often add additional classes to accommodate families.
For these reasons, I think Waterbabies is a fantastic program and teaches important skills to build upon.

Both of my kids started Water Babies at age six months. Each class builds and leads into the next level. Is it true if you have a six year old he will be bored in PT1, but Water Babies is not just about teaching different swimming strokes. They are also about safety.
My 2 ½ year old daughter is an awesome swimmer and she would not be that way from my teachings. She never enters a pool without permission and she always enters in the same safe manner.
We have worked with three instructors and they all have been very clear with instructions and expectations. When a parent screws up it has been because they were not paying attention to the instructor.
Water Babies is not a free for all fun swim, and in the early classes you kid is not going to become Michael Phelps. However, your kid will be incredibly comfortable in the pool and will understand safety.
As you rise in levels you will clearly see the development of your child’s swimming ability. At 2 ½ I was not expecting my daughter to swim 10 to 15 feet without any assistance, or dive down a few feet to pick toys off the pool floor.
Great program.

Note, this is my personal opinion. I’ve had many other parents RAVE to me about the Waterbabies program … and I’ve seen many parents stop attending classes after only a few sessions. As with most of life, YMMV!
Personally we signed kiddo up for the PT1 class, and then after he «passed» that class we signed up for PT2. Halfway through PT2 we gave up and stopped attending. My issues are that
1) they «teach» unbelievably slowly in PT2 and kiddo was bored out of his mind;
2) the fun learning activities (like retrieving toys on a platform or chasing balls) are minimal in comparison to the group singing you have to participate in … no, this is NOT making it «fun» for baby or parent, no matter what the marketing says; and
3) you don’t get any fun splashing pool time before or after your lesson, so there’s no «fun» reason to come to lessons or time to just enjoy the water.
We still like the pool and try to come once a week, but we do it WITHOUT the class. Kiddo’s love of the water has exploded since we stopped forcing him through the dunking and singing exercises.

So far, we have had a really good experience with this program, but I guess it helps that my daughter likes to swim. Water safety is a top priority with them, which is really important, but kind of silly to teach to infants. Oh well.