5 Important Water Safety Rules For Kids
In This Article
All kids love water. You probably have a hard time getting your kid out of the bath tub or from playing with too much water. While playing with water is a lot of fun, this curious nature of kids also puts them at a greater risk of drowning themselves.
Whether you are visiting the dam, lake, river or swimming pool, you need to keep an eye on your kid and teach him the basic water safety tips. Make sure to stay together wherever you go.
Gary Smith of Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Ohio Nationwide Children’s Hospital stated that, “Once a child’s head goes underwater, it only takes a few minutes for her heart to stop and brain damage to occur.”
Water Safety Rules For Kids:
Here are some of the simple yet important tips on water safety for kids that you must remember before going near water:
- Keep your preschooler or toddler at an arm’s reach when he is near water. You must always keep a watch on him.
- Do not distract yourself with other activities when your kid is near a pool or lake.
- If it is a pool, equip it with 4 sided fencing of at least 4 feet height. Put anti-entrapments and a rigid cover. Remove ladders from the pool after using them.
- Do not keep toys scattered around the pool water.
- It is better not to rely completely on air filled tubes for safety of your child.
[ Read: Road Safety For Kids ]
Encourage Your Child To Learn Swimming:
Toddlers and babies learn swimming very fast. Swimming lessons are a great way to make your kid comfortable in water. Try to enroll your child for swimming classes to improve his skills. Keep in mind the following:
- Make sure to choose a program that is age appropriate.
- Toddlers and preschoolers must learn how to swim under supervision.
- The swimming program you choose must be certified and offered by instructors and professionals only.
- Swimming classes will help children learn about water safety.
[ Read: Safety At Home For Kids ]
Stay Away From Swimmer’s Ear:
This is a kind of painful ear infection that affects the outer ear canal. The bacteria multiply when moisture lingers after the swimming sessions.
a. What You Can Do:
In case you find your child infected with swimmer’s ear, you need to do the following:
- Inform the doctor if you find leakage from the ears.
- See if the outer ear looks swollen.
- Ask the child if the tab or lobe in front of the ear hurts when touched.
- Doctors generally prescribe ear drops to keep the canal dry for 3 -7 days.
b. What You Can Do To Prevent Such Infections?
If your child is infected with swimmer’s ear, you can do the following:
- Turn his head from one side to the other to drain out water.
- Prepare a solution with white vinegar and alcohol and put a few drops to kill the bacteria – ensure you check this with the doctor first.
[ Read: Fire Safety For Kids ]
Look For Infections Form Contaminated Water:
Children learning swimming generally get an infection from contaminated water in pools and lakes. The infections are known as recreational water infections that results from germs that enter from fecal contamination. The most common infections are:
- Skin infection
- Eye infection
- Ear infection
- Respiratory infection
What You Can Do To Keep Your Child Safe?
Following the rules stated below will keep your child stay safe:
- Educate your child not to drink water or have swimming water in her mouth.
- Check for disinfectant levels and chlorine if you have a bath tub or pool.
- Make sure to change the diapers regularly and ask her to take bathroom breaks frequently.
- She must wash her hands after the swimming sessions.
- She must take a proper shower before as well as after swimming.
[ Read: Eye Care Tips For Children ]
While you should let your child have fun in the pool or lake, make sure to keep in mind these safety lessons when it comes to kids water safety.
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