New Parents / Pool Advice

We were thinking of taking our little one to the pool, and I was wondering if there was a link to helpful hints for first time parents. Things like what kind of diapers to bring, how long to dip the kid in, etc...

 

Swim diapers, bathing suit, lots of sunscreen, and who cares how long as long as the kid is having fun?

Forget the hats and sunglasses....the baby will kick manage to get them off anyway. If you haven't already purchased a suit, get the kind that are the shirt/shorts with UV protection in them. Yes, even for the girls. Baby girl bathing suits are a pain in the a**. Bring extra swim diapers. Bring regular diapers to change into before going home. No kid wants to sit in a soaking wet swimmer! As for how long, it really depends on your kid. I don't know how old your child is, but if it's a baby then you're probably not going to be there for very long at all. If it's a toddler, you'll be there for longer.

That's just my perspective...I've got 4 kids.

 

Our daughter is 7.5 months old, and she loves loves loves the water and we took her to the Southern Walk pool for the first time last week. Before we left the house, we covered her in infant sunscreen, then at the pool changed her into her swimmer diaper and swimsuit since swimmer diapers aren't designed to stop liquid messes - just the solid ones - and we didn't all want to be wet before getting to the pool... Two-piece suits are much easier for many reasons!

Our little one likes her hats, so we didn't have a problem keeping her big hat on her head, though once it got wet, it drooped into her face a lot more than it started out. I just held her and kept her facing away from the sun so I was a shield and she didn't get much sun at all. We also went later in the afternoon, so sun wasn't as hot/high. We both stayed in the water for at least half an hour, and she would have stayed in longer, but it was dinner time.

 

Sunscreen is fine, but if they are under age 1 you're not supposed to use it. We're in Florida on vacation right now with our 10 week old (who, apparently, loves the pool!) and we're making it work by swimming in the shade and keeping his hat on when we have to go in the sun. We've got a monster long sleeved/long pants bathing suit, but it just seems silly if there is shade. If we were at home we'd be at Summerbrooke dipping in the area under the big umbrella in just our swim diaper. Hope your baby loves it as much as mine does!