Taking Baby for a Swim Part 6: A review of Peckham Pulse Healthy Living Centre

Right, I’m back – just briefly though. Baby Boo is 18 months and is pretty much toddler Boo. So we thought we’d go and try out a few more pools for you. I can hear you thinking that this should be easier!

So where did we visit? Yes, Peckham Pulse with its hydrotherapy pool, had been a ‘to do’ for a long time.  It was so near to us and yet so far. However even though we are now living in the far reaches of Beulah Hill (technically Croydon) we thought we would head to the Pulse to satisfy the Little Lambeth readers.

Journey was fine. Our money was swapped at the desk for a ticket only to be told that the Hydrotherapy pool was closed. You WHAT? Yes I did think about going home but, no readers,  we were not here to just test the pool but to look at all the facilities that either make it heaven or hell.

So we decided to take the plunge (get it!) and go for a splash regardless. The changing rooms were easily sign posted and there were several decent size family rooms – one with a baby change piece of furniture. There were also lots of spaces to lock the buggies up as well as a few large lockers that looked like they could accommodate a folded pushchair. 

If you had visited with a tiny baby then there is space to change the baby and keep him/her with you in a family room. If you have come with a toddler, the family changing room offer the chance to let the kid run around without wandering off. 

We put our belongings in a locker and headed towards the pool. A quick ‘whoosh’ of the body under the shower and then we went to face the big, "full of kids because it’s the school holiday", pool!! One section had been roped off and had some floats. This was also the section with a small set of steps leading into the pool. But I wasn’t sure what the deal was so once the mum with the big kid realised I wanted to get into the pool, I went down the ladder with my child firmly clasped to me. 

So this wasn’t too bad but because we don’t really do the floaty baby seat thing or even the arm bands, I had to hold her which would be fine if she didn’t want to fight me and  escape.  My poor arms – water is my place to go to relax but not with a little one in tow! 

We carried on splashing around – or rather she splashed and I held onto her for dear life.  Lots of kids barged pass me and bumped into me. Really wasn’t too much fun but this wasn’t the fault of the visitors. Realistically I should have been in a baby pool.

So swim swum.  And splash sploshed. We got out, didn’t showered (as I was exhausted by this point), found the family room and changed with a minimal amount of wailing and fighting from my daughter.

So what do I think then? So really good basic facilities: big lockers, pushchair spaces with locks and large family rooms with baby change. Well done Peckham Pulse. I will be back to visit your hydrotherapy pool, one day ….soon.

Peckham Pulse Healthy Living Centre Information

Peckham Pulse Healthy Living Centre is located at 10 Melon Road Peckham, London, SE15 5QN

At the sports centre, adults (non-members)  pay £4.40 (peak) or £4.10 (off-peak) per swim and  junior (non-members) pay £1.50 (anytime), Family Swim (2 adults /2 children) is £9.10.

The centre can be contacted on  0844 893 3888

The opening times for parents and toddlers are:

Monday       3:00 to 4:00pm (Hydrotherapy Pool)
Tuesday       3:00 to 4:00pm (Hydrotherapy Pool)
Wednesday  12:00 to 1:00pm and 3:00 to 4:00pm (Hydrotherapy Pool)
Thursday     3:00 to 4:00pm (Hydrotherapy Pool)
Friday          3:00 to 4:00pm (Hydrotherapy Pool)
Saturday     1:00 to 2:00pm (Hydrotherapy Pool)
Sunday        8:00 to 9:00 and 1:00 to 2:00pm (Hydrotherapy Pool)

It's always worth phoning the pool to check it's open or that there hasn't been a change to the timetable.

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Want to know more about swimming with babies in the Lambeth area and beyond? Read the following:

• our review of Latchmere Leisure Centre
• our review of Brixton Recreation Centre 
• our review of Clapham Leisure Centre
• our review of Camberwell Leisure Centre 
• our review of Crystal Palace National Sports Centre

Soft Play at Peckham Pulse Healthy Living Centre

The baby is now big enough to want to crawl everywhere and anywhere and make decisions that everything is to be pressed or open or sucked. She is into everything! So soft play is a good place for her to go. We have visited the one in the Brixton Recreation Centre so thought we'd check out another local option, Peckham Pulse Healthy Living Centre located in Southwark.

The centre's soft play area is a shiny, new, two tiered affair with ball pits, soft shapes, tunnels and slides; this is spread across a room overlooking the swimming pool. There is lots of room along the side for parents to sit and plenty of space to park the buggies. They also have a bloke overseeing the proceedings. He explained how it worked (the take your shoes off bit and where parents can't go) and kept an eye on what was going on. There is a ladies and gents toilet in the area but I didn't check if they had any kind of baby change facility in these toilets. It certainly didn't indicate that you could change a baby in those toilets. Maybe the centre's designers didn't think a baby would be hanging out in the soft play section.

We enjoyed our visit to Peckham although there was some limitation to what we could do.  Boo-boo is crawling but not much else. We had a go on a rocking horse, played around with the soft shapes, chased some balls and had a play on a slide. All good and at £2 for an hour, pretty good for a baby whose only going to have a limited interest in the space. For bigger children, they might want to stay longer so it might be easier to take them somewhere where they can run around till you need to go or they are tired .

It was a pretty uneventful visit though the man on guard did tell off a grandma for taking a photo of her kid in the play area. At least we know he is doing his job!

Peckham Pulse Soft Play is £2 for a 50 minute session. Sessions are available from 9:30am to 6:00pm.

 It is located at Peckham Pulse Healthy Living Centre, 10 Melon Road, Peckham, SE15 5QN. You can travel there by buses 36, 436 and 345 

For any other information, the telephone number is 08448 933 888. Good luck with getting through to anyone!
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Want to know more about soft play facilities in the Lambeth area and beyond? Read the following:

• our review of soft play at Bertie and Boo Adventure Island
• our review of soft play at Brixton Recreation Centre
• our review of soft play at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre
• our review of soft play at Clapham Leisure Centre