4 Tips For Keeping Your Kids Safe Around The Pool

4 Tips For Keeping Your Kids Safe Around The Pool

Protect the Pool Area

I’ve heard it called building layers of protection around the pool. First, we put a fence around the pool with a locking gate on it, so we control access to the pool area. We installed a series of alarms for the pool. The first is a floating alarm in the pool itself, which sounds if a large object falls in the water. We put an alarm on the gate in the fence. We then put an alarm on the back door which accesses the pool area. We didn’t just do one thing and consider safety taken care of.

Swimming Lessons

I’ve read that the best insurance against a child drowning is to have formal swimming lessons. To me, lessons make sense because you’re teaching a child a life long skill which will be needed many times. I saw a young man at a pool party one time, sitting away from the pool, looking miserable. He didn’t know how to swim. I didn’t want that for my kids, so all my kids have had lessons. The recommendation is that a child start lessons at age 4, when they are developmentally ready, so that is when we signed our kids up for lessons.
As I sit by the pool and watch my kids joyfully and confidently playing in the water, I smile, because we have taken the time to provide them a safe swimming experience.

About the Author

Kaitlin Gardner started AnApplePerDay.com to further her passion for a family friendly, green living lifestyle. She is married to her college sweetheart and lives in Pennsylvania. She and her husband enjoy going for long hikes, to get out and enjoy nature. She is working on her first book about ways to live an eco-friendly, healthy, natural life.

Comments

3 responses to “4 Tips For Keeping Your Kids Safe Around The Pool”

  1. Mrs. AOK Avatar

    These are all great tips! I’m quite anxious when kids are in the water, so I’m always on HIGH ALERT. I recently went to a birthday party with a pool involved, and I was surprised by the parents who were completely disengaged with the children who were in the pool without adults. None of the kids in the pool were mine, but I felt like I had to keep an eye out.
    xo

    1. Christy Avatar

      That is sad that parents weren’t actively watching their kids at the pool party. We have been to the pool a few times this year and I either watch the baby or make sure that my older kids are helping me. He loves to swim and I need to invest in a life jacket for next year so that he can try swimming on his own. I got some of those pool noodles this year and I was using them the other night to help me keep him afloat. I still had my hands around him because I don’t trust the noodle entirely.

  2. tanya holland Avatar
    tanya holland

    These are all great tips. My two girls love the water. My husband and I are always watching them near any type of water.