2009.07.07 23:21:53

Maggie Brown

It’s that time of year again when we have almost daily drowning incidents of toddlers and small children in backyard swimming pools, lakes and ponds. Some even die in buckets and bathtubs. Hundreds of young children die and many more are permanently damaged by a near death incident and end up with life long disabilities. Listed below are important pool safety parenting tips to help you protect your child around a pool or any body of water.

1.    Do not use or hire a childcare provider that has a pool. There have been countless deaths of young children when a distracted caregiver fails to supervise a youngster and somehow they end up in the pool, and are usually dead by the time they are discovered.  A pool fence should not dissuade you from not using a babysitter that has a swimming pool. Don’t do it.
2.    Both parents should agree that only they would assume responsibility of their young toddler or child whenever around a body of water. They will not delegate this responsibility to a trusted relative, friend or child caregiver for any reason whatsoever.  
3.    Parents that own a swimming pool should employ multiple layers of barrier protection from their pool. This includes both above ground and inground swimming pools. That means if your pool has a fence, you should add a motion detector alarm or other pool alarm, plus door alarms on all exit doors. If you have other avenues to exit your home, like a doggy door that is used and not boarded closed, add a pool net to completely cover your pool or other secondary barrier.   
4.    When you or your spouse bathe your baby or young child, never leave them unattended for any reason. Develop the habit of assembling everything you need before you put your child in the tub and don’t answer the phone or attend to another distraction that causes you to leave your child for any reason. If you must leave the bathroom, wrap your child in a towel and take them with you. Better to have to wash two towels that to have your child drown.

If you think these measures are extreme, you probably have never experienced the trauma of loosing a child to a preventable accident.  Most incidents happen in just a few short minutes. Young children succumb to preventable accidents every day across the United States and parents almost always, never think it could happen to them.

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parenting tips | water safety | pool safety