Splashing Safely
by Michelle Reitemeyer in Health on Friday, May 28, 2010 6:00 AM
Down here in Georgia, the pools opened at the beginning of May. As a mother of six young children, four of whom I do not trust in the deep end, going to the pool can be a frightening experience. In fact, within minutes, our first trip to the pool this year led to a very near tragedy. Besides many prayers of thanksgiving, I have spent much time reviewing what went wrong and how to avoid this situation again.
We had planned for a day at the beach, which is different from going to the pool. I had not reminded the children of our general pool rules:
Children should never enter pool water without their parent’s permission. We were with friends and their dad had apparently given permission for the kids to get in, but I was not yet poolside and ready to do lifeguard duty.
Other rules should include: no running because of tripping and falling; no leaving the pool area, even for a trip to the restroom, without telling a parent; and always using a buddy system or checking in with a parent frequently.
Because we had spent several hours at the beach, I was distracted with cleaning sand off toys and organizing our belongings. I had not looked at the pool and determined the specific pool rules.
Since every pool is different, a parent needs to decide who is allowed in which sections of each pool. Do not rely on pool depth markers to be accurate, especially for children where a few inches makes a difference. The location and style of the bathroom may warrant special rules for children going alone or with a grown up. And every pool has its own guidelines for toys and floatation devices.
Communicate. I am usually hyper-vigilant, but I had seen my oldest son walking with my toddler and thought I could let my guard down for a few minutes. Always do what they call in the military a “battle handoff.” That means you clearly communicate to another person that a non-swimmer is his responsibility until he clearly passes the child off to another responsible person’s care. Never assume that any person who is interacting with your child knows that you are counting on him to keep her safe.
Enlist extra eyes. Teach your older children to notice young children near the pool’s edge. Instruct them to stay nearby until they can spot an adult or other responsible person who is clearly watching them. Have them ask the closest adults if the child is theirs and if nobody claims her, have them tell the adults that she seems to be lost. If the child is a sibling or a family friend, check to be sure mom is paying attention.
Know your children’s skill level. Don’t assume that last year’s timid 3 year old will be scared this year too. Make sure that every family member knows what the others can do. Give other adults with you a run-down of your children’s capabilities. If their youngest was on the swim team at age 6, they might not realize that your 8 year old isn’t a strong swimmer who shouldn’t go down the slide unsupervised.
Stock up on safety. Two years ago, I had five non-swimmers including an infant, a fearless toddler and a preschooler. I bought two life jackets so that I could breathe while at the pool. The lifejackets will not prevent drowning—young children, especially, will pitch forward and not have the strength or coordination to lift their face out of the water—but at least they will bring a child back up to the surface if he squirms away and dives right in. Other floatation aids may give you peace of mind for older non-swimmers. I had left my life jackets at home that day.
Give them skills. Of course, floaties are no substitute for actual skill, and I do recommend swimming lessons. Children are different, and you, the parent, have to be the judge as to how competent your child really is. Err on the side of caution.
Finally, make sure everybody knows the proper ages and uses for any toys you have. My son put his toddler sister on a tire float designed for older children. He didn’t realize that she was too young for it, and he didn’t know I wasn’t watching, so he turned and moved off to play with the big boys. She did slip under, but fortunately caught hold of her sister’s hair and was immediately rescued.
We are lucky to have learned a valuable lesson the easy way. My son felt terrible, but I know that I am the irresponsible one. Had we followed my usual safety guidelines as outlined above, it wouldn’t have happened. Thanks be to God for a happy ending.
—Michelle Reitemeyer keeps her water babies safe and sound at her home in Georgia. Her blog is Rosetta Stone.
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