Who doesn’t love a refreshing pool on a hot summer day? Your family can enjoy hours of fun by the pool, but it’s important to set down a few basic rules and safety tips to prevent problems that could interrupt that enjoyment.
Start before you ever get near the pool by applying sun lotion on your children, and don’t forget their ears and tops of their feet. They might whimper or resist, but that ounce of prevention can avoid a lot of pain and discomfort later.
Next, establish critical pool rules. Pool decks can be especially dangerous when slippery and wet, so insist that your children walk. Even careful behavior can result in slips and falls, but those accidents and injuries can be minimized with extra care and safe behavior. Make it clear that they should not run, skip, or jump around the pool deck. “Time-outs” are well in order if they don’t get the message. A lifesaver should always be readily available by the pool deck.
Avoid clutter down around the pool, keeping pool toys and swim gear out of the way. Always avoid having glass in or around the pool. It is simply too dangerous, and there are any number of plastic cups and glasses available that will eliminate the possibility of cuts from broken glass.
Whether or not you have your own pool, your children need to learn how to swim or, at a minimum, learn how to tread water. At some point your children will be exposed to a neighbor’s pool or an area lake or stream. If you are not comfortable with teaching them to swim, check out local community sources and enroll them in classes.
Children who don’t know how to swim yet should stay in the shallow end of the pool with your watchful eyes on them all of the time. A number of floating devices are available for young non-swimmers to help them enjoy and get used to the pool. Nothing is foolproof, though, and you need to keep a constant watch on children in the water.
Without a doubt, children are very inventive and energetic in creating games to play in the pool. They’ll have cannonball contests, swim races, and try to outdo one another with elaborate flips and gyrations. Be sure to set safety rules, though, to avoid unnecessary accidents:
- No holding someone under water
- No jumping off the ladder
- No playing with filters and drains in the pool or around the deck
If you take your children to a water park with slides, tell them to clear the area of the slide immediately after entering the water so they won’t be hit by the next person on the slide. Children under 4 feet should not use slides, as they could be seriously injured by the speedy descent.
