Lessons on water safety for your baby or toddler
Teaching your little one to be comfortable in and around water is the first step to water safety.
If you picture your baby swimming across the pool after just a few swimming lessons, think again! But, while your child is a baby or toddler, the results of water safety classes are so much more rewarding: drowning-prevention skills.
“Water orientation for babies and young children is an excellent way to start getting them familiar with water. They don’t really learn how to swim, but they do learn survival swimming,” says Dr Jill Fortuin, executive director of drowning prevention and lifeguarding at the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI).
“With these lessons, if the child falls into the water, they are taught to immediately spin onto their back and float or move towards safety. Children learn these tools in classes for children younger than 18 months.”
What is water safety?
“Water safety refers to drowning prevention – making sure that you have a set of precautions or preventative practises that you enforce in and around your household,” says Dr Fortuin. “This could be things like not taking calls while you’re bathing your baby; always supervising your child in and around water; having a safety gate or barrier to any outdoor body of water.”
Are you ready?
“Parents often unknowingly project their own fears onto the child,” says Debbie Kimber, owner of Kidswim in Somerset West, who has been teaching swimming for 25 years. “Parents limit their children from getting their ears and face wet or experiencing their natural buoyancy. They often fail to teach their children safe behaviour in and around water; sometimes even unknowingly encouraging dangerous habits,” she adds.
Be mindful of this but try to relax. To feel more in control, educate yourself on safe water activities and partake in basic CPR training in case of emergencies.
An early introduction
“Introduce water to your child at a very early age. When babies are bathed, they’re often very relaxed so this is a good time to let water trickle down their face, so they get the feeling of water on their face. Whatever you do, don’t rush it. Go at your child’s pace; don’t, for example, dunk your child under water the first time they’re exposed to it,” advises Dr Fortuin.
The temperature of the water can affect how the baby reacts. Ensure water is at a comfortable temperature of 25-26°C. During summer when it’s hot, you can bring it down further.
Are swimming aids a good idea?
“Swimming aids are not drowning prevention or life-saving devices, but they are a fantastic play device. One can still drown even though they’re using armbands. The key here is to ensure you always supervise your child while they’re using swimming aids; get into the water with them,” says Dr Fortuin. Kimber says: “Never leave floating objects or toys in and around the pool as they act as a distraction and could lure the little ones closer”.
“Swimming aids have a place in complementing the swimming process but should not be used long-term as a safety device. Children do not know their limitations and can become overly confident, and this could render them more at risk of drowning. Swimming aids could also inhibit the learning process if used excessively as they interfere with the natural buoyancy level of children,” adds Kimber.
Rule the pool
To ace water safety, parents should take the lead by setting strong rules and boundaries for their children regarding the aquatic environment, says Kimber. Ensure that you explain these to your children in a clear, repetitive manner and that you practise these rules yourself.
Jane Wentzel, another teacher at Kidswim, adds that children always need to be prepared before they are allowed to get into the pool. With a pre-pool routine that includes dressing in a swimming costume and applying sunscreen, they’ll know not to jump in wearing their clothes, for example.
Dr Fortuin shares five tips for parents and caregivers to follow:
1. Constant supervision. Do not take your eyes off the child when they’re in or around water, no matter where you go.
2. Learn basic bystander rescue skills. Know and learn CPR and teach it to your child’s caregivers; it helps to know how to retrieve the child from water, should they fall in.
3. Ensure there are barriers. Make sure there is a gate or fence surrounding the pool and that it’s always locked, and keep the pool covered with a safety net when not in use.
4. Teach the child basic water skills. Visit a trained professional to teach your child survival skills as soon as you can.
5. Assign a designated supervisor. At parties or social gatherings where there is a body of water, ensure there is one adult (who is not consuming alcohol and is not using their cell phone) who is 100% focused on the child/children.
