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Water safety is your life line
It’s not just a summer thing.
However, any excuse to highlight the dangers of children around water is good enough.
Growing up – my parents had me and all of my siblings on swimming teams when we were very young.
I passed on my love of water – and my respect for it – making sure my children could each swim before they were five years old.
None of the above guarantees a child’s safety 100 percent.
In fact, a little bit of exposure and a few swimming lessons can create over-confidence.
Parents should never let their guard down with children, around pools, lakes, etc.
Look at some safety tips in this South Florida Parenting article: Keeping baby afloat.
And here is one of our picture galleries. A safety tip accompanies each photo.
And happy swimming, or sailing or water polo!
Gretchen Day-Bryant has a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. She’s lived to tell about the struggles of juggling little kids and work...
Joy Oglesby has an infant daughter and a sister 13 years her junior, whom she babies to the now-adult...
Cindy Kent Fort Lauderdale mother of three. Her kids span in ages from teenager to 20s...
Rafael Olmeda and his wife welcomed their first son in Feb. 2009, and he's helping raise two teenage stepdaughters...
Lois Solomon lives in Boca Raton with her husband and three daughters...
Anne Vasquez is the Online Editor in charge of overseeing SunSentinel.com. She is the mother of a 5-year-old boy and a newborn daughter.
Georgia East is the parent of a five-year-old girl, who came into the world weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces...
Brittany Wallman is the mother of Creed, 13, and Lily, 6, and is married...
Chris Tiedje is the Social Media Coordinator, and father of two boys and a girl all under the age of seven.
Comments
Being confident about your young child's ability in the water could be a huge mistake. I started getting my child lessons young and he had all the basics down by the age of two. He could swim short distances under water and really enjoyed being in the pool.
When he was a little over the age of two I took him to Splash Adventure at Quiet Waters Park. In case you have never been there it's a small water play area for young kids. The water is very shallow probably nothing over 1-2 feet. Anyway, I was watching my son closely when all of a sudden he slipped. I was thinking any second he would stand up, but he didn't. I ran over to him and he was fine but very upset and looked like he was in shock. I have no idea what happened and why he got o scared, but honestly I think if I wasn't there my child who was able to swim would have drowned in water that was shallow enough that he could have stood up in. Pediatricians don't even recommend children get swimming lesson until later because of parents being to confident in their child's ability. Be careful!
Posted by: careful | May 26, 2009 7:44 PM
Careful, that is such a good point and a perfect example! I'm glad your experience had a :happy ending." In fact, it makes me think that one portion of swimming lessons ought to be how to teach a child to regain their footing in shallow water. No matter how skilled or prepared a parent thinks their child is for waterplay - parents should never be too far away. Keep an eye on them!
Posted by: Cindy Kent | May 27, 2009 9:33 AM
This is a really important subject and, thankfully, there is a lot of good info out there for parents. Check out this story to help everyone enjoy the water safely: http://www.findingdulcinea.com/features/health/Practicing-Water-Safety-on-Summer-Vacation.html
Posted by: Cara | May 27, 2009 2:32 PM