Now that it’s Spring Summer is just around the corner. In many areas though it is already warm enough to fill up the swimming pool! A swimming pool is a fun way for your family to cool off when it gets HOT! However, a swimming pool can be a parents worst nightmare when their child drowns in it. Water accidents happen every year. Babies and young children are the main ones who die from water accidents. This is because they cannot swim and lack the coordination and knowing to get themselves up and out of the water. Here’s an article for you that will help you to keep your Summer fun by keeping your children safe.
Did you know that probably 3/4 of accidental drowning regarding young children could have been prevented? Actually, it’s probably like more than 95% of them could have been. Maybe even more than that. Most accidents can be or could have been prevented. I do understand that some can not be or could not have been, yes, but so many could have and can be!
The main way to reduce the risk of your child drowning in the family pool is to constantly supervise. A baby or toddler should never, ever be allowed near water alone. Not even the bath tub. A baby or toddler can drown in as little a two inches of water. Imagine them being near three hundred or so gallons? Even a little kids pool, which holds 25 to 75 gallons of water can take their life in seconds. Parents should always be with their children when they play in any water. I stress this so much because the reason many kids drown and die is because they fall into the pool and Mom or Dad is not right there to pull them out. Had Mom or Dad been right there right next to them they’d have been pulled out immediately. It’s not enough to be watching out the window. It’s not enough to check on them every now and then. You need to be there, right there, every second. That way, if your toddler falls down and goes under the water you can pull him to the surface. If your baby tips over in their floaty you will be right there. Actually, if you are right there baby will NOT tip over in his floaty device because you’ll be there, right there next to him not allowing that to happen.
Children are quick and they love the pool. Children have drown before because they have been sneaky, wanting to play in the pool and going to it while playing outside. Children are fascinated with water and often like to play near the pool too. A toddler who is looking into the water can easily accidentally fall in. A child who wants to play with a pool toy may try to get it. There are so many ways it can happen and the fact is that it only takes seconds for a child to fall into water and drown. Not minutes, seconds. If you have a swimming pool of any size set up do not let your children play outside unsupervised. Actually, a toddler or baby should never be outside unsupervised at all, but it is especially important concerning swimming pools. Kids don’t always care if Mom or Dad said they can go in or near the pool or not. Kids, especially young ones will go where they wish and do what they wish if not supervised. Supervision needs to be all the time, not just during water playtime. A suggestion for tiny pools is to empty them when they are not in use. A suggestion for big pools is to put a fence with a lock around them. This way if your child happens to wander outside they will not have access to the pool. Little tiny pools should be dumped and refilled after each use anyway to prevent bacteria from growing.
When your children are in the water and you are right there are still things you can do to prevent an accidental drowning. Make sure your children aren’t fooling around. When kids fool around in the water they are likely to fall or to make another child fall. When a child falls in the water they often go under. Children do not know enough to not breath in! Prevent the falling by not allowing rough play in the water. Also, do not trust floating devices. Never trust anything like arm floaters or those floaters that baby can sit in. These are meant to use with you right there. They are not meant to keep a child from drowning in the pool. They are meant to help your child stay above water and have fun. However, they have specific rules attached to them and one of those rules is to never rely on a floating device to keep your child safe in the water. Supervision is the only way to keep a young child safe. Supervision is what prevents accidents in the water.
