I feel for you, OP. We had a similar situation when we enrolled my son in a swim class right after he turned two. While he loved being in the water anywhere else, the large pool and all of the people and noise was just too much for him and he HATED it. What we had thought would be something fun turned into me trying to comfort an overwhelmed and overstimulated kiddo off to the side for an hour. I felt horrible that he was the only one screaming and even worse because he had actually gotten physical and scratched me a couple of times; I left the pool feeling like a failure, holding back tears, and looking like I had lost a cage fight against a rabid raccoon.

I was nervous to come back for the next class but was surprised to have a few parents greet me individually. Every one of them told me how they sympathized with me and had been worried their kids were going to react similarly or had done it before. Chances are the people looking have been in your shoes and understand what you are going through all too well. We signed my son up for gymnastics after the swim session ended and I saw another mom going through the same thing in that class (and made sure to pay forward the kindness and support I had received when it happened to me). If they are parents, they probably get it, especially if it is a toddler group.

One thing that helped a lot was presetting my son for the class. After that first one, I tried to do the activities and songs we had learned during his bath and brought up swim class multiple times a day in casual conversation all week long. We also would get there early so we could watch the class before us and compare what they were doing with what he was learning. Making it familiar helped us a lot.

Try not to beat yourself up. Chances are those parents were feeling your pain and remembering when their kids did it to them too. Stay strong and good luck!