Tegan - Hannah started swimming lessons at 5 months, and went underwater pretty much straight away. Apparently very young babies know instinctively not to breathe underwater (having come from a watery womb). The older kids in the class (1-2 years old) took a little longer to learn to go under, but the instructor was very patient with all of the kids and took them all at their own pace. Some still haven't ventured under the water, and others just took to it straight away. The main aim of the game is fun. We just sing songs and splash around getting the kids used to the water. The instructor is just as careful to make sure that the mums are ready for each activity and won't force going underwater if the mum is nervous. You could just go along to a lesson and watch the kids...

Kirsty - Kingaroy pool won't take them at 5 months, they're very strict about them being 6 months. I tried to get Hannah in there at the start of this swimming season (when she was 5 1/2 months) and they said we'd have to wait until the next season 'cos she wasn't 6 months yet. I take Hannah to the Nanango pool - it's all indoors (unlike the k'roy pool), and they take babies younger than 6 months. My whole mother's group comes along with me. They may even accept her at 3 months - one of the bubs in the mums group was 4 months when we started. Not sure though... It'd be worth asking anyway.