I've been doing Gymbaroo with my DS, we started at about 3 or 4 months and he loves it. While I agree that a similar kind of stimulation could be replicated at home, I prefer to go to the session because DS gets to look at other babies, be in a different environment and I also get out of the house (we don't have any family down here in Melbourne so our social circle and opportunities for DS to interact with people are a bit limited). It's also a nice break for me to have somebody else leading an activity with DS. My DS is very inquisitive and quite frankly I sometimes run out of ideas.

There is a 6 week old in our BabyRoo class and it is ever so sweet! He looks a bit stunned most of the time but at that age their brains are so receptive (eg the benefits of reading to tiny babies are proven), I am sure that even though he is so tiny, he must get something out it. His mother seems to be a big believer in Gymbaroo, he is her second child. However I must say that I wouldn't be madly inclined to start quite that young.

Babies usually nap really well after a Gymbaroo session (a big plus IMO ).

We also do swimming - the baby pool is really warm and it is very warm and humid inside, so it's actually quite pleasant to walk into the pool area from the chilly car park. I dress DS in fleecy trackpants and a hoodie to keep him warm from the pool to the car, have the heater blasting in the car on the way home and we have a shower together when we get home.

There is so much demand in our area for baby swimming lessons I am glad we started now in the "off season" because now we are "in" and get priority re-enrolment - I reckon if we'd waited till summer I might have had trouble getting him a place in a class.

Lastly, speaking as an ex-swimming teacher myself, the younger you start them the better. The older they are when they start swimming, the more likely they are to be nervous or frightened initially. As babies they are brilliant - so much more accepting!