Last summer was a good one. Not just weather-wise — though it was genuinely warm, which in England feels like something worth noting — but because my son Freddie turned one in June and suddenly the world opened up in a way it hadn't before. He was walking. He was communicating. He had opinions, strong ones, mostly about dogs and puddles and the colour yellow. And we had a lido ten minutes from our house that we'd been meaning to use for three years.
My name is Tom. I'm 34, I live in South London, and last summer Freddie and I became lido regulars. Every Saturday morning, sometimes Sunday too, sometimes a weekday evening when I finished work early enough. The lido became our thing. And for the lido, Freddie needed a proper swimsuit.
The Swimsuit Question
I hadn't thought much about baby swimwear before I needed it. I assumed it was fairly straightforward — small swimsuit, goes on baby, job done. What I discovered when I started looking was that there's a meaningful difference between swimwear that's designed for babies and swimwear that's just small. The fit matters. The fabric matters. Whether it stays on a one-year-old who has strong opinions about removing clothing matters enormously.
I found the HelloBaby Baby Swimsuit Boys in Yellow on ALTOE and the colour alone made me stop scrolling. Freddie's favourite colour is yellow — he points at yellow things with great enthusiasm and says something that sounds like "lellow" — and I knew immediately that he would love it. The practical considerations confirmed the choice: soft, comfortable construction designed for babies, a fit that would move with him rather than against him, and a design that would stay in place during the kind of enthusiastic water activity that a one-year-old brings to everything.
The First Lido Morning
I put the swimsuit on Freddie on a Saturday morning in July. He looked down at himself, said "lellow" with great satisfaction, and then tried to walk directly into the lido without waiting for me to take my shoes off. That felt like a positive sign.
He spent an hour in the water. Not continuously — there were breaks for snacks and for pointing at other people's dogs — but an hour of genuine water time, kicking and splashing and sitting in the shallow end looking extremely pleased with himself. The swimsuit stayed in place throughout. No riding up, no slipping, no uncomfortable bunching. He moved freely and comfortably in a way that told me the fit was right.
The Rest of the Summer
We went to the lido eleven times over the summer. Freddie wore the yellow swimsuit every single time. It washed well — I machine washed it after each visit and it came out looking exactly as it went in, no fading of the yellow, no loss of shape. By the end of the summer it had been worn and washed eleven times and still looked new.
The lido became the highlight of Freddie's week. He'd see me getting the bag ready on Saturday mornings and start bouncing with anticipation. He learned to splash deliberately, to kick his legs, to pour water from one container to another with the focused concentration of someone conducting important research. All of it happened in the yellow swimsuit.
What It Meant
I know it's a swimsuit. I know that's a small thing. But last summer was the first summer Freddie was old enough to really experience things — to have a favourite place, a favourite activity, a favourite colour on his own body. The lido was his. The yellow swimsuit was his. Those Saturday mornings were ours.
I've already ordered the next size up for this summer. Obviously.
If you're heading into a summer with a baby or toddler and you want swimwear that's comfortable, durable, and genuinely cheerful — this is the one. And if your child has a favourite colour, get it in that. Trust me.
You can find the HelloBaby Baby Swimsuit Boys in Yellow on ALTOE. Browse the full Clothing range, explore the Apparel & Accessories collection, and check the Latest Products collection for new arrivals.
Get to the lido. Wear the yellow. Have the summer.
— Tom Baxter, South London
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