Kids are fascinated with water the unfortunate truth is that with the fascination comes the scary reality that drowning accidents can happen. We have some essential pool rules for parents and kids so that they don’t go head over heels into the pool.
According to the CDC currently 10 kids per day, die from accidental drowning. To say the least too many kids drown every year. You can help us save lives with just a few tips around the pool. Drowning can actually happening very little water. Kids can drown in puddles, ponds, or plastic pools it doesn’t matter.
Pool rules for kids one to four
Drowning is a serious problem, nationwide for kids. Drowning is the number one threat to children age 1 to 4. Drowning is the number one cause for children, accidental deaths.
For some surviving age, rounding can actually lead to some sort of brain damage or long term disability. Children under one drowned most often in bathtubs, buckets, and toilets. Kid 1 to 4 most often drowned in swimming pools, hot tubs, or spas. Older kids most often drowned in large bodies of waters like lakes or rivers.
That is why it’s very important to know water safety rules when you are around the pool or even in the pool and be aware of the drowning dangers.
Rule number one when you’re around the pool is always stay in arms reach. Kids that are not an experienced swimmer just yet need constant supervision and touch when they are playing near water. This means that you should always stay in the water or around when your child is in the pool.
Once you teach your child, or they learn how to swim long distances or even float on their back when they are in the water, you won’t have to be around them every time they are in the water. Kids of all ages king panic when they are in the water they can get tired or get stuck underwater.
We do you recommend that if your child is age for older that they should take swim lessons. But don’t think that swim lessons is a security, blanket per se you should always be in the water with your child because you never know what could happen.
Pool Tip
Where to learn pool rules
If you are looking to get into some sort of swim lesson for your child check your local recreational center. No they won’t learn how to swim per se. They will learn about water safety from a qualified swim instructor. If your child does not know how to swim, consider taking lessons. You can start at the following:
- Neighborhood, swimming pool
- YMCA
- Red Cross
- Swim labs
- Goldfish swimming center
- Local recreational pool
You can also Google swim lessons near me, or swim lessons in my area.
You should always pay close attention to your child when they are near water. Drowning for children can happen in about 30 seconds.
How you can actually drown
Most children and adults drown quietly and quickly in a pool. Paying attention to your child when they are in a swimming pool and not on your phone or hanging out with your friends, laughing can do favors for you and your child safety and preventing an accidental drowning.
Some parents may rely on Floaties or noodles do not rely on the use floating devices when your child is in the pool. You should never use them as life preservers, because they were never attended to be so. It’s OK to let your child use the Floaties in the pool but you have to be around in the water with them.
When you are not in the water, you should always take out your pool toys or floaty’s so that your little ones are not attracted to getting into the pool.
Do not say yes, to mermaid fins they will trap your children’s legs so that they cannot kick in the water. All children should be only wearing a life jacket that is sitting to their body.
When you are boarding, your child should always have a life jacket on and you should also do the same as a parent just show good water behavior when you are on a watercraft.
Pool Tip
Pay attention to your kids in the pool
When you’re by the pool or when you’re in the water, you should ignore your phone. Silence your phone and put it away while you were on the water. Just the time that it takes you to check a text is there enough time for your child to drown.
We’re not saying that you shouldn’t have it on you for emergencies but just don’t use it a lot when you’re around the water or around the pool.
You should make other children of yours buddy up. You should not let your children swim alone. The buddy system when you’re swimming works well. This does not negate adult supervision it just supplements just in case of an emergency.
If you have a pool at home, you should have a protective barrier in place. This means having protection so it’s not always easy to get access to the pool. You could look at putting a fence around your pool to help isolate your pool from your house this can actually save a drowning accident, but at least 50%.
You could also have a door Alarm
, but say that you have a sliding door to get out to your pool that goes off whenever the doors open so that you know somebody’s trying to get into the backyard or around the pool but we also encourage you to look into some sort of fencing to put around your pool.
You could possibly find a local fence contractor that would be able to install a fence around your pool or even repair a broken fence around your pool for safety reasons.
What to teach your kids around the pool
You should teach your children these rules when they around the pool:
- No, running of any kind
- No, diving in the shallow end
- No, pushing people in
- No pulling kids underwater
- Always have adult supervision when your kids are in the pool
Remember that it’s not always best for adults even the swim solo so make sure that you have some sort of supervision or somebody’s at least home if you’re taking a dip in the pool
Be aware of hazards at home moles, pool, accident, deaths happen in the backyard pools but there are some hazards that could happen even in the house
You should never leave a child under the age of four in the bathtub alone. The child’s parent should always be an earshot if your child is in the tub. Never leave a baby in a bath ring or bathing seat. Just don’t leave them unattended.
A toddler could actually go headfirst into a bucket of water and get panicked and I actually don’t know how to get out. Even a cooler with ice can be a drowning hazard so you should always empty out your coolers when they’re not in use.
Keep your toilet seat covers down and if need be your bathroom door shut it all the time when toddlers are around. When you have a crowd, let’s say at a party or even a pool party. You should have a parent on life guard, duty and maybe switch on and off every hour or two. It’s an effective strategy to make sure that everybody is safe in and out of the pool. If you have a lot of kids at the pool, you should have more than one designated pool watcher. Do not drink alcoholic beverages, if you’re swimming with toddlers he can impair your judgment.
You may have to administer CPR until the ambulance comes and they can save somebody’s life. You truly don’t ever know when you need CPR training because you never know when you’re going to use it in life but it’s always good to be prepared with it.
Some signs to look out for if somebody is drowning in the pool are:
- Trying to swim in one direction, but not making any headway
- Trying to roll over on their back
- Climbing, invisible matter
- Not using your legs
- They may have their eyes closed
- Unable to focus and have glossy eyes
These pool rules should get you started so you can teach your kids the proper way to be around the pool and its not just for your child’s safety but yours too.