Teaching babies and toddlers how to rescue themselves
Typhoon have developed a gentle and holistic step-by-step system that teaches babies and toddlers how to rescue themselves! Our lessons encourage enjoyment as well as achieving effective results over time
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Drowning is the third leading cause of accidental death worldwide. Learning to swim is therefore not only a life skill but a lifesaving skill, and starting your child whilst they are young is the best time to begin their swimming journey; all babies are born with a ‘gag’ (laryngeal) reflex which kicks in as soon as they feel water on their face. This reflex is at it’s peak in the first 6 months of their lives
As your child ages and their gag reflex begins to fade, we switch to teaching breath control with verbal and visual cues. Typhoon Tots has a very strong focus on teaching babies and toddlers how to rescue themselves completely independent of adult help, helping to keep them safe in and around water
Throughout this process, we teach you to become your child’s own personal swimming teacher. Our Tots classes have a MAXIMUM of 6 children, meaning you and your child get the attention you deserve. It’s an amazing bonding experience for new parents, builds your child’s confidence and gives them a sport they can enjoy participating in for life
All classes are taught by highly trained instructors: first they achieve their qualifications enabling them to deliver ‘parent and child’ type lessons, then we put them through our rigorous in-house training which once completed they must maintain each year with internal Continuous Professional Development (CPD) training courses. We believe requiring our instructors to maintain their professional standards on an annual basis makes our instructors some of the most up-to-date in the industry. In addition to this, Typhoon is not franchised, this means we are not fragmented – we retain ownership, responsibility and pride in the quality of lesson we deliver at every location
Typhoon’s Tots lessons are progressive but not forceful, we still adopt a holistic approach to ensure your child fosters a lifetime love for the water
FREE underwater photography sessions:
Brilliant teachers and so patient with my little girl! Will highly recommend this way and company for swimming!
The teachers are amazing. They really help the children develop their confidence and skills with encouragement, kindness and are talented at what they do. My family couldn’t recommend them more
Happy children, looking forward to lessons and improving constantly. Well worth the money!
Question time 👇
As soon as you have completed your free trial form we will start looking for an available space. We always offer free trials to ensure the group is the right fit for you/your child. Understandably, we are in high demand, so the more flexible you can be with days/times you’re able to attend; then the quicker we can find a matching space.
We can’t guarantee how long it will take for space on a specific day/time to become available. We have a high demand for our lessons and we cannot predict when someone will leave our lessons and free up their space for you.
However, it’s worth mentioning that Typhoon always prioritises existing customers – customer loyalty means a lot to us. We will always take care of internal transfers before we offer spaces to our waiting list. Once you’re on lessons with us you become an existing customer and will receive that same priority treatment.
Therefore, we recommend to all our parents to be as flexible as possible when starting lessons with us. Once onboard, you can put in a transfer request and get the priority offer of your ideal day/time as soon as it becomes available (and before being offered to those not on lessons/on the waiting list).
This will depend on your children’s ability and the spaces we have available – we’re always mindful of siblings and aim to offer either consecutive or simultaneous lessons.
Please have a look at our locations page
Not at all! For our weekly lessons we don’t run in terms, we run week in – week out – your space is yours until you want to leave. We operate an ‘easy-in, easy-out’ policy: just give us 1 month’s notice when you want to leave 😢 but we’re confident once you see our lessons that you’ll want to stay! 💪
For ad-hoc lessons such as crash courses, 1-2-1’s/private lessons or holiday clubs, these are arranged on an as-and-when basis with no requirement to commit long term.
Photography and videography of any kind on any device by any person in any area during Typhoon’s lessons, including poolside, changing areas or the general facility where other children may be present, by adults or children is strictly prohibited. This is not a Typhoon policy; this is a child protection issue for which there is no flexibility. We apologise if this seems draconian, but hopefully, you can agree that child protection is not an area to compromise on.
If you cannot attend this free trial, please don’t worry – just let us know and we’ll re-arrange
Great! Please contact us to arrange your FREE trial as soon as a space becomes available. Please note, we only offer FREE trials for weekly group lessons, not for crash courses, private/121 lessons or holiday clubs.
Our lesson prices vary from venue to venue due to differing prices we’re charged to hire the facilities. Please get in touch and let us know the lesson/class you’re interested in as well as the venue and we can tell you our prices. Please note, our weekly lessons are 48 weeks minimum per year: we don’t stop for half terms or public holidays – we continue all year, only stopping for around 3 weeks over Christmas (meaning we typically provide you with 49 weeks of lessons). Our prices also include VAT.
We take any age of child from 12 weeks onwards. With our tots’ lessons, an adult will need to be in the water with the child to offer support and for safety – this means we have no height or ability restrictions.
For your child/baby:
- we require all children who are not fully potty trained to wear a double nappy: this is a reusable swim nappy and a swimsuit on top
- a spare swim nappy (just in case)
- the other item worth considering is a neoprene jacket which keeps babies and toddlers toasty for longer
- a poncho/towel to wrap up in on your way back to the changing rooms
For you/the adult:
- please wear whatever you feel comfortable in that doesn’t restrict your movement, typically adults wear swimwear plus shorts/t-shirt as they desire
- a drink (and maybe a healthy snack for after)
- a hairband if you have long hair
- some adults like to wear goggles for a clear view of their child when submerging
Our lessons focus on teaching you how to be your child’s personal swimming teacher. We aim straight for independent swimming, including breathing, in order to teach babies and toddlers how to rescue themselves completely unaided. Our lessons avoid unnecessary flotation aids which can become a crutch, and will need to be removed at some point.
We require at least one accompanying adult to be in the water with your child. Our instructor will also be in the water to help and assist you, but you (or someone else) will need to get in the pool – don’t worry our Tots’ lessons take place in the shallow end of the pool and it’s an excellent activity to bond over.
You can take your baby swimming at any age, both before and after they have been vaccinated. It does not matter if they have not yet completed their course of vaccinations. Source: NHS
Nope! We have many adults who can’t swim – you can stand or crouch in all of our pools. There will come a point where you need to submerge simultaneously with your baby/toddler but our friendly instructors will be in the water to help you every step of the way (or adapt anything you are not comfortable with).
A maximum of 6 children (plus their accompanying adults and an instructor) are in each class.
They are more than welcome, but they must be accompanied by another adult if under primary school age.
Any child over 2 years old (so adults too!) can start to wear goggles. For comfort, we recommend a dedicated age-specific-sized pair of goggles with a fixed nose bridge for children (i.e. not adjustable) with a permanent gasket (cushioning) around the eye socket (i.e. not the plastic ‘bands’ that can fall off).
We also practice going under the water without goggles, mainly for safety but also if you’d like an underwater photograph they’ll look much better without goggles
We’re not doctors, so if you’re in any doubt always seek medical advice either by calling 111 (non-emergency), 999 (emergency) or your GP.
That said, if you or your child has a cold (e.g. a green blocked or runny nose) then swimming could result in sinus pain and unpleasant submerging experiences. Similarly, the infection may have spread to the ears which will be exaggerated by submerging. If you’re not swimming, then these are less of an issue.
We do not recommend any sport if the infection has moved to the throat or chest. If the adult or child in question has a sore throat and/or a chesty cough it’s best to rest up and recover quicker than to try and ‘push through’.
Please note, if you have any contagious infection (such as Chicken Pox) you must not come swimming until you are no longer contagious.
Important: – if the child or adult in question has suffered from diarrhoea in the last 48 hours you must remain at home.
COVID-19 update: If you are displaying any of the symptoms relating to COVID-19 then you MUST follow the NHS’s advice about self-isolation.
Yes, if your baby has hiccoughs or is coughing then submerging must wait until they have passed. A drink of water (not from the pool!) will sometimes help, or if you are still breast feeding that is the quickest and most effective way of stopping them.
Unfortunately, we don’t offer discounts for siblings as we charge the minimum amount possible per child. If we offered sibling discounts we’d need to increase the price for the first child which would in effect cancel this discount out. Additionally, parents with one child would be penalised. By charging our lowest price for each child we’re as transparent and as affordable as possible to everyone.
We process payments for our lessons via direct debit, we can never see your bank details and you are protected by the direct debit guarantee.
Absolutely – and we encourage it! We sit our parents as close to the lesson as is safe and possible, you will need to remove all outdoor footwear if you’re poolside. We have nothing to hide and want you to see our lessons up-close