Protecting your children against drowning is not difficult. Your primary responsibility to keep them safe is simply to supervise them; whether in the pool or the bathtub. You only have to remember one thing: ALWAYS SUPERVISE YOUR CHILD AROUND IN AND AROUND WATER!. Put your phone down. Put your book down. Face the water instead of the sun or your friends. Give him 100% of your attention.
General Water Safety
At home:
- Close your bathrooms and and your laundry rooms.
- Close your toilets and use toilet seat locks.
- Stay with your child when they are in the bathroom.
- Drain the tub immediately after your child’s bath.
- Empty all tubs, buckets, containers and wading pools after use and store upside down out of your child’s reach.
- Empty inflatable or portable pools after each use and store them upside down and out of their reach.
Swimming safety tips:
Teach your child to never go near or in water without an adult present.
- Actively watch your child in or around water, even when a life guard is on duty and even if your child is a confident swimmer.
- Stay within arm’s length of your child until he is a confident swimmer.
- Every child is different. Enroll your child in swimming lessons when you feel he is ready.
- Teach children that swimming in a lake or river is not the same as swimming in a pool. It may be difficult to judge the depth of the water or the strength of a current.
- Swim only in areas designated for swimming.
- Whether swimming in a backyard pool or in a lake, teach children to swim with a partner using the “buddy system”.
- “Water wings” and inflatables are toys, not safety devices.
- Learn CPR, it will give you peace of mind.
- Watch your child for the dangerous “too's:”
- Too tired
- Too cold
- Too far from safety
- Too much sun
- Too much activity
- How have you educated your child on water safety?
This is a great swimming safety resource as well: Swimming Safety: Tips and Considerations for Pools, Beaches, Hot Tubs, and More