Q: A Mom from Massachusetts has asked: “My neighbors have a swimming pool. I would like to take my children there—ages 3 and 18 months—but I am reluctant to have them wear life jackets which is my neighbor’s rule. Isn’t she being overprotective and ridiculous?”
A: You are asking an excellent question about swimming safety, and you have a very smart neighbor!
Watching both swimming and non-swimming children near water is of enormous and potentially life-saving importance. It is unfortunately taken casually in this country which is why we have so many drownings every year. Perhaps two pearls will help you make understand your neighbor’s perspective.
First, drowning is silent. Parents are so used to hearing their children cry when they are hurt (and needing adult help) that they often rely on their ears when “watching” their children. But, with drowning, a child is unable to cry out for help. Therefore, you need to really watch a child in the water all of the time. Drowning is silent and drowning is fast.
Second, the more people at a pool or beach having fun together, the greater the risk of harm to small children. Parents and older siblings watching the little ones can easily get distracted, and the littlest head can slip under water unnoticed. This is obviously tragic. “Neighborhood” pools are a place where lots of families may gather and where young children may be at special risk. It is the rare family that has a “toddler” pool—with no deep end—at their home; but even a “toddler’ pool can of course prove deadly. A small child near a pool needs to be in “touch” arm’s length away from a grown-up at all times.
Your neighbor’s insistence that your children wear life jackets in her pool is her way of making sure that they stay safe. This is an excellent idea and one recommended by many pediatric practices: all children inside pool enclosures should be watched continuously (no texting!) and non-swimming children should have life jackets on. If they get old enough that this embarrasses them, then it is time to learn to swim!
Thanks for an excellent question in the middle of the summer.
Dr. Hippo
Resources: 1. http://www.aap.org/publiced/BR_WaterSafety.htm