Pools and Babies: Safety Tips Every Parent Should Know
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A lot of things can go wrong where kids and pools are at play. Many houses have a backyard pool, and although most are not that deep, they can pose a great danger to small children if they are left unchecked. The number of children that drown in pools every year in the United States alone is about 800, and that is a number that should send a chill down every parent’s spine. Fortunately, there are ways of ensuring that accidents like these don’t happen. The following are some of the tips you can use.
Supervise the Children
At no point should you let your children use the pool without an adult nearby, no matter how good they may be at swimming. Being around them when they are using the pool gives you ample time to jump in and save a kid when something goes wrong. Make it a rule in the house to never allow anyone to use the pool when alone or the kids to access it if there’s no adult around. And if you are the adult doing the watcher, ensure you know the signs of a kid needing help in the water, don’t wait until it’s too late.
Build a Barrier
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You’ll need to create a barrier around the swimming pool, one that’s at least as tall as your biggest child, complete with a gate that comes with a lock. This will ensure access to the poolside area is restricted to the children, preventing them from going through even when they are alone.
Most people find the fences ugly as they interfere with the aesthetics of the pool, but the safety of your kids come first. Once they are all grown up and are able to handle the water on their own, then you can consider taking it off.
Or the best swimming pool fence designs and ideas, make sure you check out Guyabouthome to get a grasp of what is needed.
Teach them How to Swim
Swimming lessons can begin when the child hits four years; for some, that can even happen much earlier. Teaching your kids how to swim when they are little reduces the chances of them ever drowning as they will have the basic skills needed to deal with water, having gotten used to it. If you are good at swimming yourself, it can be motivation enough for them to learn a thing or two about swimming. Alternatively, you can assign them a trainer and get them all the swimming gear they need. More tips on how to go about this can be found at babylic.com.
Use Sunscreen
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Swimming becomes widespread during the summer months when it becomes too hot to do anything. Spending time in the pool is the best way of cooling yourself down. However, you can’t spend the whole day inside the water; at some point, you’ll need to come out a little, and that’s when the sun starts hitting you hard.
Kids can have sensitive skin that cannot hold up well against the sun. You’ll need to apply some kid-friendly sunscreen on them before they go out to the pool area to avoid getting sunburns, which can be painful if left unchecked. To get the best sunscreen products and other related items, click here to get their prices and shipping details.
Create a Kid Section
This may not be an ideal option for many people since backyard swimming pools are never that big, but if you can spare some extra space, you should consider adding a baby pool beside the main one. A baby pool would be shallower and warmer, giving the kids free rein to play around as much as they want without worrying too much about drawing or getting injured.
You can go a step further by installing a pool alarm that will notify you if someone has jumped into any part of the pool. Security cameras are also another added option you can explore, giving yourself the means to monitor the pool area even from inside the house.
Learn First Aid Basics
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In the event that all the precautions fail and an accident does occur, you must have some knowledge
of basic first aid techniques as they could be the difference between life and death. Things like a mouth to mouth resuscitation and CPR could help the victim vomit out all the water that may be choking them, giving them a fighting chance as you await the arrival of the ambulance. Have a first aid kit around the house for such emergencies.
There are many avenues that you can use to learn basic first aid, you can take a short course that usually comes free in most hospitals and learning institutions, or you can teach yourself online by reading informative blogs or YouTube tutorials. It pays to be ready all the time.
Conclusion
Children need to play, and swimming is one of the most exciting things they can engage themselves in, but it is dangerous. Any parent wants to ensure safety for their children, and the pool area is the one place where your attention has to be at an all time high. There are other tips out there that you can try to ensure swimming for your kids is fun, and it is up to you to ensure that it stays like that.
