Water Safety
May is National Water Safety month. As Summer approaches and the kids get off school it is time to prepare for some fun in the sun! But, before we all jump in the water, it is so important to share some tips on Water Safety. Whether your kiddos have been swimming for a few years or not at all; it is vital to brush up on swimming safety and be ready to have a safe and fun Summer!
Swimming Suits:
When buying swimming suits for your children, pick bright neon colors like yellow, green and orange to make them more obvious in the water. At the same time avoid colors like blues and whites that can blend into the water. Check out this article for more details on why you should pick a bright swimming suit for your child.
Puddle Jumpers and Life Jackets:
Puddle jumpers, Life Jackets, and other floating devices definitely help keep children safe, but they should not be something we rely on more than our own supervision. Supervising our children is the best way to keep them safe. Floating devices can sometimes give kids a false sense of security making them think that they are capable of floating. This can cause younger kids to jump into water without their floaties not realizing they can’t float on their own. It is so important to teach your children to float without puddle jumpers and life jackets and not to rely on them as the only way to keep their heads above water
Supervision:
As mentioned above, supervising our children is the best way to keep them safe. But, did you know that most drownings happen due to a lapse of supervision not a lack of supervision? Children can drown in only two inches of water and one of the main ways to prevent that from happening is to keep them in eyesight and especially for the little ones to never be more than an arms length away.
Floating on their backs:
Teaching your children to float on their backs can be the defining point in helping them survive. It is a scary thing to talk and think about but drowning is quiet. It is not like in the movies with loud splashes and gasping/panting for breath. Teaching your kid how to float on their back even starting when they are infants or toddlers can give them the breath needed to shout for help and keep them above water.
Swim Lessons:
Putting your children in swim lessons is obviously one of the best ways to provide them with a safe water experience but, swim lessons do not mean that your child will not drown. Yes, it gives them the tools to safely be in water but they still need supervision.
Looking for swim lesson options in the Fairfield, CT area? Check out a list of swim schools here.
Access to Water:
If your family has a backyard pool or if you are on vacation with a pool close by, it is so important to make sure your little ones don’t have easy access. Having four sided fencing, gates and doors that lock, and ,for above ground pools, taking out ladders and steps for easy entry are all ways to keep your child from entering the water unsupervised.
These are just a few tips we have for water safety this Summer. Do you have any other water safety tips? Dm us on Instagram, we’d love to hear them. We can’t wait to splash around in the pool and I hope that you and your kiddos have some fun in the sun!
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