We spend most of our summer by the lake. And while we love the amazing opportunities our kiddos have to learn and grow in the country, it also means we take on the additional responsibility of water safety for two kids under three on the daily.
Now let me just pause here to say how seriously we take water safety for our kiddos. Drowning is one of the top causes of death for children under four, and it can happen quickly (in under a minute) and quietly. I don’t say this to be dramatic, rather just to reinforce how SERIOUSLY we take water safety.
That being said, I could also drive myself (and everyone around me) crazy trying to control every moment when the kids are by the water, and suck all of the fun and learning out of their summer experiences. For us, finding a safe balance is critical.
So, we’ve built a plan (you guys KNOW I love me a good plan) that helps my hubby and I feel comfortable when the kiddos are around the water, and that encourages the kids to ‘Be Safe, Not Scared’.
Our Goal: For our kids to have A Healthy Respect for the Water. We want our kids to respect, but not FEAR the water, and this is how we build that respect:
- Get them in the water early and often. We believe in enrolling the kids in swimming lessons early, and we commit to having them in the water often. They get used to wearing lifejackets, floating, paddling, and submerging their faces from the time they’re infants. So, if and when it happens in real life, it’s no big deal.
- Lifejackets are mandatory. Until they’re at an age where swimming is not only second nature, but they’re capable of treading water for long periods of time, lifejackets are 100% mandatory any time we’re on the dock or near the water (we transition to water wings or swim trainers once we’re in the water with our little ones who are close to swimming on their own). I should also add that kiddos are only allowed down on the dock with an adult.
- Allow them to take supervised, skill-appropriate risks. I know I’m going to get some comments on this one, so let me explain what I mean: We want our kids to respect the water. We want to equip them with the skills they need to navigate the water safely, but we also want them to understand that water needs to be respected. So for us, that means that if our still-learning-to-swim-on-his-own toddler is playing in a wading pool, we always stay a couple of strides away from where he’s playing. But if he gets tripped up, falls over, and his head slides under water (which he’s very used to at this point – see point one) we give him a moment to let him correct it himself before we pull him up. We’re always right there to supervise and assist, and in this case (this happened a few weeks ago in a city wading pool) I stepped in to pull him back up out of the water. But not before letting him understand what that moment feels like. Because I want his instinct to be to try to swim, not to look for someone to pull him out. Again, let me reiterate – this is only our approach because he’s been in swimming lessons for the past two years and has become very comfortable being submerged and swimming in the water semi-assisted. But our basic mentality is the same. Encourage him to push skill-appropriate boundaries while supervised and safe.
- Stay calm. No matter what, we stay calm. We ask our kids to be calm on the dock/pool deck and around the water (I know, I know… it happens probably 25% of the time), so we model the same behaviour. In the wading pool incident above, I pulled Emmett back up, gave him a smile and reminded him that we need to walk in the pool to stay safe. He still remembers falling (‘mom, remember that time I fell under the water in the pool? We have to walk slowly.”), but it doesn’t feel scary to him. And that’s our goal.
Is water safety a big focus for your family? I’d love to hear how you balance fun and safety with your crew!
