Every parent wants to make sure their kids are always safe. Therefore, we take great care to ensure the safety of baby car seats and babyproof our homes before our children are even born. However, water safety is something that every parent fears, particularly if they’re not very good swimmers.
Children have a natural curiosity when it comes to water, and they can drown in as little as 5 cm of water, hence the high drowning fatality rate among youngsters. Since most drownings are preventable, learning how to keep your kids safe around water is vital.
How Do You Keep Kids Safe Around Water?
Whether spending warm summer days on the beach or by the river, swimming in a public pool, or splashing in your backyard pool, you must take certain preventative measures every time you get around water with your kids. Some of these will vary depending on their age; others, like giving your kids your undivided attention, teaching them to swim from the youngest age, and equipping them with the right floating devices, such as children’s life jackets, have no substitute regardless of age and circumstances.
Always Keep an Eye on Your Kids Around Water
You must give your kids your full attention while they’re near water, as drowning could occur in seconds in the time it takes to glance at your phone. When your kids are swimming, always ensure to watch them. That’s also true when your kids are taking a bath or near other water features in your house. Less than five minutes before they died, most young children who drowned in pools were inside the house, with one or both parents there most of the time.
Kids Should Learn to Swim
Children are less likely to drown if they go through formal swimming lessons. Water survival skills can be taught to children as early as age four. Participating in your child’s water activities is a great way to help them build swim-ready skills and good water safety. However, you should always keep an eye on your child when they are in or near water, even if they have taken swim lessons.
Equip Them With a Life Jacket
Learning to swim can be exciting for your kid (and you as a parent). Yet, it can also be a little scary for them (as well as you), particularly if they’re scared of water. How can you help them to become more confident and maintain a natural swimming posture? With the help of buoyancy devices.
If your child is only starting to learn how to control their movements in the water and you want them to advance and swim more quickly, most parents and swimming experts advise using a children’s float vest. These are ideal for maintaining a horizontal posture and are comfortable and simple to put on, offering a superior range of motion.
As they’re meant to be worn over shorts or swimming suits, children’s life jackets help kids develop a natural posture in the water when they’re learning to swim by. As a buoyancy aid, they work with a child’s inherent stability to increase their safety in the water. Some vests also have detachable floats you can remove as your child gains confidence and improves their swimming abilities. Additionally, vests with non-detachable floats are offered.
It’s important to emphasise that life jackets are often a better option than other floating devices because, whether a person is moving or not, they keep them upright and hold their head above the water. While floating devices can help your kid stay safe in the water, it’s worth noting that you should monitor them at all times.
Be Aware of Your Decreased Vision Near Water
It may be difficult to see near natural bodies of water due to many risks like rocks, grasses, waves, and toys. The inside edge of a pool may be difficult to look over, even if you’re directly on top of it.
Even though uneven surfaces could make you think your child is safe walking in knee-deep water, the ground could suddenly drop sharply. Other unseen threats that could kill people of all ages are undertow and water currents.
Talk to Your Teen About Water Safety
Teens should be warned by their parents about the dangers of jumping from rocks or bridges into rivers and oceans. Older teenagers, particularly guys between the ages of 15 and 19, are far more likely to drown. Boat-related injuries account for 25% of these cases. Many of these incidents are the result of careless actions, drug use, or alcohol consumption, unfortunately.
Install a Fence Around Your Pool
Use a fence at least 150 cm high to divide your home from the pool area. Make use of an iron fence with bars spaced 7.5 cm vertically. With a latch near the top of the fence, it should close and latch by itself. Children shouldn’t be able to scale the barrier. Away from the barrier, keep chairs and other objects that kids can climb. Alarms and pool covers are useful but can’t replace sturdy fences. Soft pool coverings and inflatable pool toys put kids at risk of drowning by trapping them.