When summertime rolls around each year, the opportunity for a variety of water activities comes about, such as spending time on paddle boards or swimming in an above ground pool, which offer fun and exercise for your child. It’s important, however, before engaging in water activities that your child knows how to keep himself safe. And as a parent, it’s up to you to provide the proper instruction and supervision.
Here are 8 summer water safety tips for kids, so both you your child can enjoy fun water activities with confidence.
- Swimming Alone is Not Allowed
Instill in your child that he should always have someone with him when he’s swimming — even when a lifeguard is present. Lifeguards can get distracted by other people or events, and there’s a better chance a swimming buddy will notice if assistance is needed. And, when a lifeguard isn’t present, your child should not be swimming at all. Although a swim buddy can notice if something life-threatening is about to occur or is occurring, a trained professional will be needed for water rescue or perform CPR.
- An Adult Should Always Supervise Children in the Water
It’s inevitable that your child will get invited to pool parties, the lake or other places where water activities will take place. So it’s important that you impress upon your child that she cannot participate in such activities unless a responsible adult, who knows how to swim, is supervising. To prevent adults from assuming that someone else will watch the children if they aren’t, adults should have a practice of notifying other adults that are present when they are taking a break and ask them to take over.
- Risky Behavior is Not Allowed
Make sure your child understands that things he might do on dry land aren’t necessarily safe. For instance, children often like to take risks by diving into the pool or another body of water, which can be extremely dangerous, depending on conditions. Diving should only be done off of a diving board, not in a natural body of water. Also, prohibit your child from playing games that involve staying underwater to see who can hold their breath the longest amount of time. Explain that this is a dangerous practice that can end in a tragic accident.
- Insist on a Life Vest
Although a life vest isn’t required in a swimming pool, it is if your child is traveling in or being towed by a vessel or is in a personal watercraft, such as kayak. Life vests need to be Coast Guard-certified and fit properly. If your child doesn’t know how to swim at all, she should always wear a life vest around bodies of water. Products such as floaties, water wings and pool noodles are never an acceptable substitute.
- Don’t Try to Save a Drowning PersonAlone
Although your child’s first instinct would likely be to try and help someone in need, explain that by doing so they could risk their life, as well as the victim’s. The safest thing to do is to use something to reach out to the person to help them to safety. This could be a paddle, oar or tree branch.
6.Avoid Pool Drains
Unfortunately, pool drains can and have posed a serious hazard to swimmers. Children’s hair or bathing suits have become stuck in malfunctioning or broken drains, leading to serious injury or death. Tell children to avoid pool drains, especially if it appears the drain cover is missing or something just doesn’t seem right.
- Stay in Safe Swim Areas
Explain to your child how drowning accidents occur, such as people get too far out in the water and run into trouble or become fatigued before they can make it back to shore. If your child is not a good swimmer, he should not go in the deeper end of the pool without close supervision. Instead, he should stay where he can stand flat-footed on the bottom with his head above water. If he’s swimming in a natural body of water, he should stay in shallow areas and never go past areas that are marked off or have signs posted that read “Swim at your own risk.”
- CPR is Valuable to Know
The American Heart Association does not have a minimum age requirement for taking a CPR class, but your child’s body strength may not be adequate to perform CPR. If you feel your child is not ready to learn CPR just yet, you take a CPR class and become certified to prepare yourself and set a good example.
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