1. Water safety is super important! I’m pretty sure that I don’t need to stress how quickly accidents can happen. So I was super chuffed when Huggies Little Swimmers sent me a list of water  safety tips. It came in pretty handy this weekend when we had our yearly family Christmas party at a Port Elizabeth resort.

We used Huggies Swimmers with Aidy after I put him in a kiddies  pool with a normal nappy and had to cut it off, in fear of explosion. The swimmers are legit, some how they don’t absorb the pool water but still draw the pee away from delicate areas, super cool (no one is paying me to say this, and I don’t take my legit’s lightly, lol)

Since they are all about fun in the water they hooked up with Sarah’s Swim Academy in Johannesburg and these are the tips they came up with

Be Attentive

Never turn your back on a child while they are in or anywhere near water.

Arms Reach

Always keep a hand on babies and toddlers while in the pool and the bath even strong swimmers under 5 should always be within arm’s reach of an adult.

No dunking allowed!

Never dunk a child under 3 years of age. Younger children can swallow large amounts of water and this could lead to drowning or secondary drowning. This experience might actually increase your child’s fear of swimming.

Teach safety basics

Teach your child the pool safety basics when s/he’s a toddler. This includes the following rules:

• Climb in the pool backwards, never climb in forwards or jump in
• Do not run near the pool and;
• Never enter the pool or go near water without an adult present

Learn CPR and know the difference between the types of drowning

Learn to perform CPR on a child and know the difference between drowning, dry drowning and secondary drowning as well as what symptoms to look for in each case.

Dry drowning is a result of breathing in water, which causes your child’s vocal chords to spasm and close after s/he has already left the pool. It closes off his/her airways, making it difficult to breathe.

Secondary drowning occurs where your child’s airways open up, allowing water into his/her lungs where the water builds up.

Symptoms to look for are as follows:

• Persistent coughing
• Rapid shallow breathing, nostril flaring or where you can see the child is working harder to breathe
• Sleepiness
• Forgetfulness or change in behaviour
• Vomiting

Symptoms of dry drowning usually happen right after the incident in the water. Secondary drowning symptoms generally start later, within 1-24 hours of the incident.

Take Swimming Lessons

• If you’re not a swimmer yourself, it’s a good idea to take lessons and learn how to swim to aid your child in the water if necessary.
• All children should learn how to swim as this can save their lives. Babies can start swimming lessons from the age of 6 months.
• Swimming lessons teach children to back float which enables them to call for help if they fall into the pool. Lessons also teach children to reach for a pole or noodle offered to them if ever struggling in the water.

If you enjoy my posts, why not vote for me 🙂