Safer Child Products

My 8 y/o loves baths, but often times we just don’t have time and she needs to take a fast shower instead.  Whenever I run a bath, I close the door so that no one will accidentally fall in and drown.  I have always instructed her to wait for me before she enters the bathroom with the tub running and I never leave her alone in the bathroom if she is in the tub.  If she is in the shower, I may sit in the adjoining bedroom, in case she needs me for anything.

When I run the shower, I always check the water first to make sure it is not too hot for her. This past weekend after playing outside all afternoon, we came home to clean up and shower.  While I was cleaning up downstairs, she went upstairs and started running the water.  I was surprised, because she has never showed the initiative before and I figured I’d go up and check the water temperature before she steps in.  I was quite surprised when I went upstairs and found her sulking in her room with the door closed and the Bathroom door was also closed, but the tub was filling up.  I got very upset and had to explain to her, while remaining calm, that she cannot run the water on her own.  She needs to ask a grown up for help.  I explained that I do not want her to get burned, or to fall in and drown and that we need to keep an eye on the tub so that it does not overflow and cause a flood!  She does not know to check the lever in the tub to see if it is up or down, or what that even indicates! 

We walk such a fine line between fostering independence and hovering over them at all times, trying to keep them safe.  I am grateful that I caught the water in time before anything bad could have happened to her, or to the house!  It just reminds me that she is still young and still needs supervision. 

Also, I know that it only takes about an inch of water for someone to drown.  Here are some home safety tips around water from Safe Kids.  http://www.safekids.org/safety-basics/safety-resources-by-risk-area/drowning/home-drowning-prevention-tips.html

Safer Child Products

Drowning is the one of the most frequent causes of death in young children. Teaching a toddler to swim does not necessarily solve the problem, because they do not know enough to stay away from or be afraid of the water.  According the American Academy of Pediatrics,  “Children are not developmentally ready for swimming lessons until after their 4^th birthday.” Children under age 4 may not truly comprehend how to stay safe in and around water. http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;105/4/868

Though there are many water acclimation and pre-swimming classes offered, I found an interesting program that appears to offer what others do not.  I have not tried this program with my kids, as they are past this age group now.  However, I have read their brochures and looked at their website www.infantswim.com .  This program is called ISR or Infant Swimming Resource.  What stood out to me was that they claim to be teaching 1:1 developmentally appropriate survival skills.  ISR recommends that you participate in these 1:1 lessons 10 minutes a day, 5 days/week, for 4-6 weeks.  For example, for children 6-12 mos old, they teach the child to hold their breath under water and to roll over onto their backs and wait to be rescued.  Along with instruction for the child, comes education for the parents as well.

I really liked that they include instruction when fully clothed, because “86% of children who fall into the pool are fully clothed.”  Even with all this, ISR still acknowledges that supervision is the key to safety and that swim lessons do NOT prevent drowning.

Never leave a child alone near a pool or any water, including bathtubs and buckets.  A child can drown in as little as 1 inch of water.  Loss of Consciousness happens 2 minutes after submersion, and permanent brain damage occurs within 4-6 minutes.

Be sure to put away all toys and flotation devices (from bathtub too) when you are done, so a young child does not yearn to reach over to get something in the pool, or bath, and risk falling in.

Let’s keep all our children safe!