Water Babies

All finished at The Education Village after another fabulous photoshoot! Thank you to everyone who came, we hope you all had fun and got some lovely images to treasure.

"We are swimming on our backs, on our backs, on our backs. We are swimming on our backs, flat in the water!" And now everyone sing-a-long...!

It's here, our professional underwater photoshoot. Check out our event for more details and news of our competition to win a Bubba bath book. If you need to get in touch please give us a call on 07933639920. Let's make some magical memories! #kersplashkerlick #smilefordigi

Our latest Water Babies Durham & Darlington professional underwater photoshoot is happening on 22nd July 2018 at the Education Village in Darlington! We're looking forward to seeing you all and capturing some amazing memories for you all. Check "going" to be kept up to date with tips and teasers ready for your little one's big day! You can check in here and share your photos from the day too. See you soon. 📸💦👌🏻 #smilefordigi #kersplashkerlick

Happy Friday everyone! We hope you've all been enjoying the lead up to the Summer holidays. If you've got little ones who will be off school or nursery over the holidays why not take a look at Claire Jones' fab business Honey Bee Books - Claire Jones, Independent Usborne Organiser to keep them entertained? I'll pass you over to Claire, don't forget to say hi to Claire and wish her luck. If you have your own business feel free to join in the thread and tell us more about you t...oo. Have a great weekend!
"Welcome to Honey Bee Books! I’m Claire and an independent Organiser for Usborne Books at Home and I love bringing the world of reading to little ones!
Usborne Books have over 2500+ titles for children from birth until young adult and everything in between! I offer a tailored service and also free local delivery, so those books could be with you sooner then you think!
I am also able to help your local nursery and schools to receive free books. I can happily attend your events or local business with my pop up shop, so your staff and visitors can also see what I have to offer.
Please do get in touch. Why not take a look at my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/claireusbornejones Like my page to keep up to date with the latest offers and news of everything Usborne.
Don’t forget Christmas isn’t far away! Why not think about offering an alternative to chocolate advent calendars with a 12 or 24-day book advent calendar? Only £12 or £24 (that’s just £1 a book!) and gift wrapping is also available. Contact me for more details.
And if you’d like to start your journey with Usborne why not contact me for more details on becoming an Organiser.
Much love! Claire 🐝📚🐝 Usborne Books presented by Honey Bee Books www.facebook.com/claireusbornejones Claireusbornejones@gmail.com 07715 630999"
Thank you Claire, I think I may get my order in for the advent calendar for our girls this year! xx #fridayshares #supportinglocalbusiness
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Watch Daddy and little Casper on holiday putting all of their Water Babies skills in to practice! Follow @louisebucknell on Instagram for more lovely photos and videos of her Water Babies.

Both of our rubber Bubba & Tiger toys are perfect for keeping little one happy in the water over the summer months - either in the bath or in the paddling pool:
- Made from 100% natural latex rubber from the Hevea tree - Food grade dye and hand painted - Phthalate free... - Safe for baby to chew - From newborn - Fully sealed for hygiene (no nasties hiding inside this one!) - Super squidgy!
Find out more: https://www.waterbabies.co.uk/shop/bath-t ime
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#mondaysmiles These fab swimmers had their last ever Water Babies lesson with us yesterday! Wow, the end of an era. We’ve loved teaching you guys to swim, high five to you all and we look forward to hearing all about your future swimming achievements. #lovewaterbabies 📸 Janine Mawson, thank you! Xx

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall... see how teacher Celeste helps you and your little one build up your water confidence together. How are your Humpty Dumpties going?

The Pioneering Care Centre’s annual fun day is happening today! Why not come along if you haven’t been before? There are lots of free activities and the cafe will be open as usual too for some lunch or snacks. Our classes are running as usual but please leave yourselves plenty of time to find a parking space and get into class as the car park and centre will be very busy. There is additional free parking available around the corner by the shops. Have fun!

How crazy is this statistic from the Huffington Post? Apparently 18% of British children have never set foot on a British beach. How does your little one fair? Have they experienced the joy of playing on our beaches? With the weather we've been having lately who needs to travel abroad! Image/Photo credit: Splash About UK

Happy Friday everyone, I hope you've had a good week so far! Today's Friday Shares comes from the lovely Hayley Tonner with her fantastic new business teaching children to cook, Kiddywinks Kitchen. Please have read of her story and say hello in the comments. Hayley is running classes through the holidays so if you've got little ones off school and are looking for something to do why not give her classes a try. Don't forget if you've got your own business this is your opportun...ity to tell us all about it and give your business a tag too. Over to you Hayley...
"Hi everyone!! I’m Hayley and I’m a nurse working in special care baby unit! ☺️ I’m currently on maternity leave after giving birth to my beautiful little girl and I also have a very handsome little chap too! ☺️
My little boy loves to help me in the kitchen and I love to let him! It allows him to gain some valuable life skills that otherwise he wouldn’t learn until he was in school probably!
It was through this I decided to offer this opportunity to other children! I opened up some cookery classes specifically aimed at children aged 1-12! It’s adaptable to all ages really as long as the child is interested in cooking! ☺️ these classes run through the school holidays too so if you need to entertain the children while they are out of school these classes are ideal! ☺️ we also do parties!! Enquire for more details! ☺️
I run the classes in Crook on Monday mornings 10.15-11.15, Saturday 9.15-10.15 and Sunday 1-2! ☺️
Booking is essential as I can only hold so many children in each session! Get in contact for more info or like our Facebook page Kiddywinks Kitchen
Www.facebook.com/1710019452408257 Email: kiddywinkskitchen@outlook.com Phone: 07595998043
Thanks for reading! Hope to see you at a class soon! ☺️
Hayley 😘" #fridayshares #supportinglocalbusinesses
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See how teacher Tory takes her own little one for a dip - Name, Are You Ready? Go! How were your little one's early underwater dips?

Let's help raise awareness and offer support to the 1 in 4, such a tragically high statistic. Tommy's do an amazing job, if you haven't heard of them before please check them out. #togetherforchange

Are you watching the football tonight? I’ve been surprised how excited our girls have been getting about it all. They’ve never really shown an interest in watching football before but I think all of the hype around them must be rubbing off on them. They were jumping up and down after we scored last game and they can even name more of the England team than I can! #comeonengland #threelions #football #england #worldcup #familytime #watchingittogether #gettogether #newfoundinterest #abigailandcharlotte #waterbabiesdurham

Our Bubba Bath Book is up for TWO Lovedbyparents.com awards!
If you love a bit of Bubba at bath time, then we'd really appreciate your votes...
You can vote here:... https://lovedbyparents.wufoo.com/forms/z1 77gee10a565r1/
1) Category name: BEST BABY BATHTIME PRODUCT Product name: Water Babies Bath book - 1-2-3 Bubba in the Sea
2) Category name: BEST BATHTIME PRODUCT Product name: Water Babies Bath book - 1-2-3 Bubba in the Sea
Thank you so much!
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Ahhh water and babies... I love the effect water has on our little babies. Which is it for you? Does it send your baby to sleep or wake them up? #lovewaterbabies #thewaterbabieseffect

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Water Babies bookings open! ⭐️⭐️⭐️ We've opened bookings for our new term and have some fantastic classes available for babies from birth to age 12 months. We have spaces for older babies and children at later Chapters so don't worry if your little one is older than 12 months, give us a ring and we can find a suitable class for you. (We've got a timetable coming soon for older babies soon so keep watching our page).
Our beginner classes teach you to teach your baby to... swim and Water Babies instructors really are the best in the world. They're qualified to ASA extended diploma level in teaching baby swimming and they'll be with you every step of your journey offering reassurance, knowledge, tips and support to get the most from you and your baby's sessions in the pool.
Our classes are generally 10 week terms and cost £160 (shorter term prices are reduced accordingly), payable up front to secure your place. Your beginner's package includes our fantastic welcome pack with magical journey book to chart your little one's progress, a complimentary space on the underwater photo shoot (products / images are additional) as well as our award winning Water Babies classes and some other goodies.
For more information or to secure a space please call us on 01325 728 728 or email splash@waterbabies.co.uk. Places are going fast as we've already emailed our waiting list and are starting to call round too! www.waterbabies.co.uk/ask-about-class…/ durham-and-darlington
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Meet Donna, our baby swimming teacher of the year, who explains what makes every single Water Babies lesson so special...

We sent out our confirmation emails to all of our new term swimmers on Thursday. We also sent out our Chapter 1 timetables and booking information to our waiting list on Friday and some of our classes are almost full already. Please check your inboxes and junk if you haven't spotted our email from splash@waterbabies.co.uk yet so you don't miss out. The office is back open tomorrow so any queries please give us a call on 01325 728 728 or you can drop us a PM over on here.

Coming soon... Our brand new Chapter 1 classes will be shared on here from Monday. If you'd like an advance peek and the opportunity to hold your place until our office opens then please drop us a PM with your email address and telephone number and baby's name and date of birth or due date and we'll send you over some more information.

Bookings are open and so is our office, but only until 1pm today! Give Charley a call on 01325 728728 if you're looking to confirm your place or want to find out more. Spaces are going fast as we've already emailed our waiting list. #bookingsopen #letsteachyourbabytoswim

Survey Saturday! Which one are you up to today? 🎾💦⚽☀️ 🎾 Watching Wimbledon? 💦 Swimming with Water Babies? ⚽ Watching the World Cup? ☀️ Enjoying the sunshine?... #surveysaturday #comeonengland
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It’s time for our July #fridayshares and I have to start with an apology to Hayley from Kiddywinks Kitchen. Hayley was our chosen business for last Friday but with technology issues and family life getting in the way I didn’t manage to share her post, sorry Hayley. I’ve earmarked you for next Friday instead so look out for it then.
If you’d like to feature for one of the remaining Friday’s in July or know someone who deserves a mention please tag them below and tell us more about what you or they do. I’ll choose two more businesses to feature on the 20th and 27th July from the list...
Happy Friday everyone!

See how our amazing Water Babies swim with confidence through the summer months! We'd love to see your own holiday adventures...

Did you know.... the "chlorine" smell or irritated skin and eyes most commonly associated with swimming pools isn't caused by the level of chlorine in the water? It is caused by a chemical reaction between the chlorine and any dirt, make up, gels, soap residue or creams that are brought into the pool.
By showering before you swim and removing any make up or sun creams the quality of the water is maintained and everyone is more comfortable in the pool. Next time you're at the ...pool don't forget to hop in the shower for a quick rinse before you swim.
TOP TIP - Saturating your hair will also help protect it from the pool chlorine as your hair soaks up the fresh water so there's no room for the chlorinated water to penetrate. Win win! :-) #didyouknow #toptips
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Underwater work is an important and exciting part of our courses. However, it only constitutes a tiny proportion of the work we do, around 95% of the lesson takes place on the surface, and our underwater swims only ever last a few seconds.
Children naturally learn to swim under the water before they're able to co-ordinate their stroke, technique and aquatic breathing to swim on the surface. Once they've mastered swimming underwater, we teach them about aquatic breathing, and ...then in time (along with their development), they learn to swim on the surface. This is just one reason why we take babies for underwater swims from their first lesson.
The second reason is that it's a safety skill! Drowning is still the 2nd most common cause of accidental death in infants under 5 in the UK - that's way too high! Those babies were likely startled by the feeling of falling into water that they panicked. By swimming babies underwater in a structured, gentle, baby-led class, you are slowly removing that startle response, and instead teaching them to focus on what's next, kicking to the top and holding onto a stable surface.
And of course, we always listen to our babies! If they tell us one week they don't want to swim underwater, then they won't! :-) www.waterbabies.co.uk/ask-about-class…/ durham-and-darlington
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A huge, super-big thank you to everyone who nominated us in the What's On 4 Kids Awards. We're now in the running for two awards!
1) Best franchised/licensed Baby & Toddler Activity (more than 50 franchisees/licensees)
2) Best franchised/licensed Pre-Schooler Activity (more than 50 franchisees/licensees)
... Voting’s now open: https://www.whatson4littleones.co.uk/awar d-voting.asp
So if you think we make a real difference to you and your little one, please vote for us!
Voting closes on 13th July
Thanks so much for your time and support – we’ll be keeping everything crossed!
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Have you seen our blog? There's lots of hints and tips on our latest blog for keeping your baby safe in the sun. #toptiptuesday

We started when Evie was 6 weeks old and she’s loved every lesson so far! It’s our favourite day of the week when it’s waterbabies day. Thanks to the whole team x

We only intended to do Chapter one, then carry on ourselves. We've just booked Chapter 6. The staff are amazing with the children, we're gutted to see our teacher move on to her new role within Water Babies, we're going to miss her terribly, but we're looking forward to getting to know our new teacher too. This transition has been supported well (time in the pool with both teachers rather than just handing over). I would recommend this to anyone looking to build water confidence with their little ones :-)

We absolutely love water babies. We are moving into chapter 9 in September and I can't wait. My little girl just loves the water and she has learnt so much from the lessons. She is so confident in the water even just from having one half an hour session a week I have seen so much progress from her. She is so unafraid of jumping into the pool and going under water. I intend to do the whole course and have another little one on the way due in November and am definitely going to sign them up too!! Thank you so much water babies xxx

We absolutely love our water babies lessons. We only intended on doing the 1st chapter. However we are now going into chapter 11 wit Sophie and Chapter 2 with Lucy! It's amazing to see the confidence Sophie has in the pool! We had to give the opportunity to Lucy too!

Theo’s started chapter two already and he just loves swimming (and the water). When we take him to his classes he suddenly comes alive (vocally). It seems to have brought him out of his shell and allows him to enjoy bath-time too which he use to hate. We now have the confidence to go to a normal pool (obviously wearing an extra layer) which we didn’t think would be possible for a long time. Wish there were classes like this for me when I was a baby, I might be more confident in the water if I’d had earlier exposure to swimming lessons before age 7 �

Loved our first session today!! The instructor was great and put us at ease and was brilliant with my daughter!

Love water babies and how much my little man is enjoying it! He got his first badge on Sunday for chapter 1 and going to continue going! It is pretty expensive but he has come on soo much in this chapter and watching him swim underwater on his own is priceless! Xx

Joining the waterbabies family has been one of the best things I've done since becoming a mummy. I can't say it's been all smiles for my baby daughter Francesca but with the fantastic support from Ali Harrison (teacher) it looks like she is overcoming the water wobbles . I would highly recommend the classes to anyone, for friendship, swimming fun & safety and lots of laughs & giggles. It's a real bonus if you get Ali as a teacher as well . Thank you waterbabies, see you again for Chapter 2

I would really recommend taking your child to water-babies. The instructors are amazing!! My daughters confidence in the water has amazed me

I need to express how ecstatic I am that Rory now enjoys his lessons! Over a year and a half ago rory fell into the water backwards off the float and completely scared himself! He became terrified of the water, the teacher and letting go of me! It was horrible! People kept saying it was the water wobbles and after a few weeks he would grow out of it...I kept waiting...kept going to lessons...kept making him join in and do the things the other babies were doing! Nothing was working and he was getting more worked up each time! Iv spent lessons stressed, anxious and at times Iv cried in the pool due to this! However throughout all of this we have had the amazing support from our teacher TAMMY! I believe at times even she didn’t know what else we could do with rory! We decided to let him go at his own pace, do what he wanted in the pool and participate when he felt he could and felt confident enough! Tammy has been so patient and persistent with me and Rory and that has lead me to today in which Rory enjoys his swimming again and for the last two weeks has actually gone underwater again...something that hasn’t happened in over a year! I have wanted to quit so many times as it was distressing for me and rory and distracting for the other children in the class but we continued hoping he would grow out of it (something I never thought would ever happen!) I’m so glad we continued each time despite the stresses and we are just about to enter chapter 12 with a happy baby who doesn’t cling onto me with fear and happy mammy who can enjoy taking her son swimming! I owe it all to Tammy! Thank you! � xxx

I just want to express my gratitude to Tammy as she is a fantastic instructor and has really helped Jack gain his confidence in the water. Jack had the water wobbles and didn't seem to get the most out of the sessions. As soon as Tammy took over the class there was a step change in Jack. On a Saturday morning he is so excited about seeing Tammy and swimming. Jack was a shy, reserved little man but he has grown into a confident water baby! We are going to miss our classes over the Summer. I cannot recommend you highly enough! Thanks

I can't express enough how much our little girl Freya LOVES her water babies sessions. She started at just 6 weeks old... I was a little apprehensive however I am so pleased she started as young as she did. We are now in Chapter 2 and she isn't phased by the water one little bit. She smiles and interacts the whole lesson, which as parents is so lovely to see. Tammy is amazing and Freya seems to have built a positive relationship with her, smiling and babbling to her each week. I recommend Water Babies to all of my friends and family. We hope we can continue through the chapters and continue to watch Freya's confidence and development progress. Thank you love Rosie,Andy and Freya Keay �

I brought my little boy tonight for his 1st water babies class n I was so nervous meeting new people n not knowing what to expect n everyone was so lovely I can't wait to bring him back next week x

I attended waterbabies at Marriot Durham, Carly was amazing! My son Finlay has now 2 swimming badges he as gone from being 12 weeks old!Carly filled us with so much confidence even though the look of fear on my face when I had to dunk my son lol he absolutely loves swimming!! I feel so much more confident taking him swimming on my own. I will be going back to work and my waterbabies experience has ended but what an amazing experience definitely worth it!!

Huge thank you to Zoe our fab Chapter 1 teacher, Max loved coming to classes and we got a great picture at the photo shoot �

Daniel first started water babies at 6 weeks old, we recently changed classes to water babies Durham and I was a little worried about the change I needed of worried Carly is fantastic at what she does and within the first lesson made me and Daniel feel at ease, Daniel loves swimming & wants to get into water every time he sees it even a water feature at the Hilton recently!! At 12months old it's amazing to watch what he can do in water I highly recommend waterbabies

Can I just say that joining waterbabies has been one of the best decisions we have made, we were unsure whether to start him so early (just under 2 months) but we are over the moon that we did! Cole loves his swimming sessions now and loves being in (and under!) the water. Penny is an amazing and patient teacher and anyone thinking of starting should definitely give it a go! It is a bit nerve racking at first but so rewarding when you see them in action under water :)

Absolutely love these classes! Both my girls are enjoying their water babies journey(chapters 1 and 8)Love the confidence it gives them in the water as well as teaching them safety skills. Well worth the money and would certainly recommend to others.

Caleb loves his lessons and has an amazing teacher! And if I was just rating his lessons and teacher it would defiantly be the 5 stars.



The reason for the 3 stars, caleb had done his photo shoot and it didn't go well at all couldnt even tell it was him on the pictures so obviously wasn't going to pay £100 for one I then got told I would be able to get them re done on the next photo shoot, I didn't get told about the next photo shoot to then phone up to book on the next one with a £45 charge that wasn't there last time and its non refundable if the pictures come out as bad as the last ones, defiantly think this company is more bothered about the money, we will be finishing the chapter iv paid for and we won't be returning after that really disappointed and feeling let down