As part of our Love the Water campaign, we’re sharing the stories that capture what it really means to build confidence in the water – not just in the easy weeks, but in the challenging ones too. The “wobbles” are a normal stage many toddlers experience, and they can leave even the most dedicated parents feeling discouraged. Naomi’s story shows just how powerful perseverance can be: even when enthusiasm dipped, she leaned on her teacher’s support, trusted the process and kept going. By showing up, staying patient and trusting her children’s pace, she watched both rediscover joy in the water. Her experience is a reminder that sometimes the most important progress happens when it doesn’t look like progress at all.
Our Story
Hi! I’m Naomi, a mum of two very lively boys from Chippenham. My youngest son is still enjoying his swimming lessons with Water Babies, while my eldest graduated from the programme at the end of 2025. A very sad departure, as we would have happily kept going forever!
We’ve been attending swimming lessons with Water Babies for five years, having started in July 2021 with my eldest son who was just six weeks old at the time. During that time both of my boys have developed a real love for the water but, like many little swimmers, they both went through a phase known as the “wobbles.”
Taking in how water confident the boys are now, I’m incredibly glad we persevered through that stage.
Why Swimming Was Important to Me
One of the main reasons I wanted to take my babies swimming was because I was never a confident swimmer myself. The thought of taking a child swimming and not really knowing what to do in the water was, in complete honesty, quite terrifying.
At school, whenever we went swimming, I would often excuse myself for some silly reason just so I didn’t have to get in the pool. I even remember a particularly difficult school trip where we had to go canoeing and build a raft, but I spent the whole time feeling really anxious and not wanting to tell my friends I was worried.
Because of those experiences, I have always wanted my children to feel comfortable and confident around water, rather than nervous like I was.
Our First Water Babies Lessons
Despite how important my sons attending swimming lessons was to me, I was still incredibly nervous before our first lesson. I remember arriving 30 minutes early and sitting in the car park with my heart racing. I didn’t want anyone to know how nervous I was, but I’m sure my teacher could tell straight away because she was so reassuring the second we got into the water.
Thankfully, both my boys quickly fell in love with Water Babies. Some of their favourite activities have always been “Bubba on a raft” and “Surfing” which, now my youngest is three, is quite the workout for me in the pool!
Enter: The Wobbles
The wobbles first started to appear with my eldest when he was around 13 months old. Suddenly, my happy little swimmer changed completely.
He began clinging to me and refusing to get involved with any of the activities he used to love. He would push away the fish toys, say “no” whenever I asked if he wanted to go under the water, and cling tightly to me whenever I tried to sit him on the poolside or the mat. My once happy water baby was now grumpy, unsure and unwilling to take part.
When my youngest later went through the same stage, I recognised it much quicker, but that didn’t make it any easier to go through. I remember one lesson where he spent the entire session anxious and refusing to do anything.
Finding Support
During that stage of our swimming journey, my teacher, Kim, was absolutely amazing. She reassured me that this was a completely normal phase and that most, if not all, children go through it as they begin toddling.
At home, my husband kept telling me I should stop going to lessons because it was a “waste of money” if our son wasn’t taking part. But, every week, Kim reassured me there was light at the end of the tunnel and his love of the water would return.
At times I wondered if the teachers said that to everyone just to persuade them to stay, but something inside me told me to trust the process and keep persevering.
Finding What Worked
With my eldest, I simply kept turning up each week. We joined in with the activities he was happy to do, and the ones he didn’t want to do we either adapted with the help of the teacher or simply watched the other children, so he was still learning.
When my youngest went through the wobbles, I tried a slightly different approach. He’s a bit more stubborn and vocal than his older brother, so after a couple of very loud lessons I decided to bring along his favourite toy shark. For a few weeks, the shark did the skills instead of him! Then we started talking about how the shark might like to watch him do the skills himself.
We also took him swimming outside of lessons where he could just splash and play. We called this “fun swimming”, while our Water Babies lessons were “Kim swimming”, where we followed instructions and learnt new skills we could then try ourselves.
The Moment
When you’re in the middle of the wobbles, it honestly feels like it might last forever. With my eldest it certainly felt that way, although, in hindsight, it probably wasn’t that long until the day something suddenly changed and he joined in again.
He started taking part, getting involved and showing confidence. Even more surprisingly, he knew exactly what to do with skills he hadn’t actually practised before. Despite not swimming, he had clearly been watching and learning the whole time. After that, I could barely keep him above the water! The only tears we had were when it was time to leave the pool.
Now, both of my boys absolutely love swimming. My eldest swam all the way through the programme and graduated in November 2025, and my youngest is always trying to jump in, swim under the water, touch the floor and come back up again.
My Advice
If you’re currently experiencing the wobbles with your little one, my advice is simple: Persevere.
I know how hard it can feel when it looks like your child isn’t enjoying it. I sometimes even felt mean bringing them to the lessons when they seemed so unhappy. But I trusted my teacher, kept going and now they both absolutely love the water. All the anxiety, tears and lessons where it felt like we hadn’t achieved anything were all 1000% worth it.
A Full Circle Moment
To top it all off, our swimming journey also produced another special moment for me personally. Despite not being confident in the water when I first started lessons with my eldest, swimming with my boys helped build my own confidence too. In fact, in the past eight months I’ve even trained as a Water Babies swimming teacher.
If I had given up all that time ago when my eldest went through the wobbles, I probably would have done the same when my youngest experienced them too. But because I trusted the process and experienced that breakthrough myself, I knew there really was light at the end of the tunnel. Now, I get to help other parents through exactly the same stage, reminding them the wobbles are often just a small part of a much bigger, wonderful swimming journey.
No matter where you are on your swimming journey, remember that every stage, even the wobbly ones, is part of helping your little one grow in confidence. Sticking with lessons truly does pay off, and the breakthroughs are always worth the patience. If you haven’t started swimming with Water Babies yet, there’s no better time to begin. The water has so much joy, confidence and connection to offer for both you and your child. Click here to find baby and toddler swimming lessons.
