Modern parenting rules say it's never too soon for a new skill so Lucy Rock signs up Agnes for a swimming course - and also pampers herself.
Lie flat on your backs, ears under the water and kick, kick, kick those legs.' These instructions could be heard in any beginners' swimming lesson but this class was for babies only and my nine-week-old daughter was among them. According to modern parenting wisdom, you are never too young to learn a new skill, and Lucy and Andy Orr, who run Glynn Barton Cottages in Cornwall, which cater for parents of under-fives, are tapping into the trend by adding baby swimming lessons to the list of attractions. Their five-day courses are a good way of introducing your newborn or toddler to the water.
My baby, Agnes, loved it. Obviously I don't know that for sure because, genius child though she is, she can't yet talk. But she only cried once or twice during each half-hour session and mostly adopted a happily serene look.
Don't expect your baby to be zipping up and down the pool with a perfect butterfly stroke by the end of the week, but they do 'swim' underwater after a fashion. At first it's nerve-racking; with both hands around Agnes's body, I had to push her gently under the surface of the water, head first at a 45-degree angle, and then - terrifyingly - release her. Sarah reassured us that the baby's 'diving reflex' kicks in, causing the epiglottis to close over and block the throat so no water can get through. This is why you often see picture of babies swimming under water with their mouths open. As soon as the baby is underwater, she will begin to kick her legs and glide up to the surface where you lift her out and give her a cuddle. The 'swim' only takes a few seconds.
In truth, I didn't enrol Agnes in the course just for her benefit - my daughter Beatrix, 21 months, and I got to stay with her in one of the eight 18th-century cottages and enjoy all the other facilities.
Lucy, a former charity events organiser, and Andy, a landscape gardener, bought Glynn Barton nine years ago when Lucy was pregnant with their eldest son. It was then a tired two-star complex, which they renovated to create the four-star family paradise it is today.
Within two minutes' walk there is a playroom, a soft play barn, an outdoor area with toddler cars and bicycles, an adventure playground and the indoor heated pool. No excuse for the kids to get bored, and keeping them entertained requires minimal effort from mum or dad. Being a mile from a public road and set in 13 acres of beautiful grounds also makes it a safe place for children to run free - a rarity for Beatrix, living as she does in a busy part of London.
It is like being in a hotel without the restrictions of set meal times and all being crammed into one bedroom. The cottages are tastefully decorated and contain everything a family needs - high chairs, cots, stair gates, toddler crockery, DVD player, dishwasher and microwave - and look out over the stunning Cardinham valley with its patchwork of fields. There's a midweek maid service and no need to cook. An on-site shop sells home-made frozen food, which is pretty tasty, and local delicacies, though it doesn't stock basics such as bread, milk or eggs (it only takes five minutes in the car to get to the supermarket in Bodmin). Oh, and there's a babysitting service so you can spend ridiculous amounts of money in Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, which is a half-hour drive away, if you're feeling flush.
A holiday with babies and toddlers is rarely relaxing, but the idea at Glynn Barton is for parents to have a break too. While dad entertains the children, mum can have a massage (a beautician can be booked to come to your cottage), or, in my case, go to bed for a kip. While I hope the highlight of our stay for Agnes was her swimming lessons, I'm in no doubt that for Beatrix it was the animal feeding. At 9.30 each morning 'Farmer Andy', as the children call him, doles out food pellets to the children and explains how to throw them to the two donkeys, four sheep, two pigs, chickens and small herd of Highland cattle.
Being a city girl, Beatrix is all too cocky when she sees an animal in a book or on the television, mimicking their grunting, braying or baaaa-ing, but show her one in the flesh and she's terrified. Not so now. By the end of our stay, she was stroking the chickens, holding out pig nuts for the kunekune pigs, Huxley and Preston, and patting Muffin the donkey.
For me, tired by the night-time demands of a hungry baby, the key to Glynn Barton is that you don't have to pack up the car and go out if you don't have the energy; all the facilities and swimming lessons are included in the price, so you may as well make the most of them. However, the cottages are well placed for day trips. Other, more adventurous, parents with older children visited beaches on both the south and north Cornish coasts, the Eden Project, Newquay Zoo, The Lost Gardens of Heligan, and the Bodmin and Wenford steam railway, all a 30-minute drive or so away.
Beatrix and Agnes didn't seem anxious to explore much either. Beatrix thought she had entered Toddler Land and was happy to remain there, and Agnes was exhausted by the swimming and slept for much of the day. Her teacher, Sarah Scheele, of Swim Academy for Babies, says better eating and sleeping patterns are two of the benefits of baby swimming; given Agnes's monster appetite and daytime dozing during our stay, I can vouch for this. Sarah also thinks the lessons can help women get their pre-pregnancy figures back because there's a lot of holding baby at arm's length and swishing her through the water. I think this is wishful thinking. Cutting out cake and crisps is the only way I'm going to shift those baby pounds.
Lots of people sign up for safety reasons. Sarah is confident she can teach the babies to float on their backs unaided and to make their way to the side of the pool and hang on if they accidentally tumble in. Sarah fell into a pond when she was three and was dragged out unconscious. When her sons were born - they are now three and four - she took them swimming and enjoyed the lessons so much she decided to train to be a teacher.
For me, the lessons were as much for myself as for Agnes. They gave me the confidence to take her into the water. Although I was terrified when she did her first underwater swim, now I can push her under the surface and watch her reappear a few seconds later without thinking I've drowned her. I can also guide her around the pool on her back with my fingers lightly supporting her head, and push her through the water as she clings on to a float in her tiny pink wetsuit. Sarah's enthusiasm is infectious and there are lots of songs and splashing about in each lesson to relax the babies and help them to enjoy the water.
In Agnes's sessions were two other babies with their dads. Darcie Metherell, aged seven months, was top of the class, grinning widely as she was put through her paces by her father, Paul. His wife, Jo, who takes Darcie to lessons at home in Marlowe, said: 'Paul says I look at him as though he's about to drown Darcie when we're in the pool together so it's nice for him to learn the techniques too.'
I must go back to Glynn Barton with my husband, who was left at home during this trip, so he can learn the moves and leave me to catch up on some sleep or have that massage. Who said going on holiday with toddlers was stressful?
• A two-bedroom cottage at Glynn Barton Cottages (01208 821104; www.glynnbarton.co.uk) costs from £510 per week in low season including swimming lessons, while a three-bedroom cottage can cost up to £1,790 in high season.
• Lessons for children over three will be run from 11-26 February. Baby swimming courses for children under two will be run again next November.
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