At what age would you let a kid swim under these circumstances?

[Anonymous]

About 8-10. Are they with another kid, or all alone? That makes a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:16-18 with life guard training. THat's insane to let them babysit a younger sibling and they aren't strong swimmers.

The parents are watching the younger sibling (potentially split attention).

[Anonymous]

Are people missing that the water is only up to the kid’s neck?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never but lakes scare the living sh@t out of me. You are more buoyant in the ocean and the waves usually push you to shore. Lakes are murky with underground hazards. 60 yards is far out for a parent not in a swimsuit standing in shore. If your kid went under it would take you over a minute to swim there and you might lose sight of your child.

OP said 60 feet, not 60 yards.

Honestly can most people imagine or picture in their heads what 60ft or yards looks like? Can most people estimate how many feet away something is?
If so, i have a deficiency I didn’t know other people could do that.

60 feet is 11 times my body length. Yes, I can visualize and estimate that distance. New poster here. OP, when you say the water was to his neck, do you mean he could stand? I would allow my 10 year old to do that without e en thinking about it.

[Anonymous]

It’s fairly shallow lake if at 60 feet it’s only neck deep (for the kid I assume from your description). It depends on kid, swimming ability, and on lake (how well I and the kid know it), and how many other people are in the water etc. 20 yards is almost the length of a pool, so swimming wise in shallow calm clear water of a small lake it’s not too bad. In best conditions it could be as young as 6-7.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:16-18 with life guard training. THat's insane to let them babysit a younger sibling and they aren't strong swimmers.

That’s some spectacularly poor reading comprehension.

[Anonymous]

I’d say 8-9 years old if it’s a calm lake. The kid can touch the bottom so the water isn’t over his head. The parent can be there quickly if something were to happen. However, it also depends on the age of the other kid the parent is watching near the water and whether that kid has a flotation device on. I personally always have my preschooler in a life jacket or puddle jumper any time we are near the water so that if I have to help my older kid who is swimming, the younger one won’t get into trouble.

But then again, we swim in lakes a lot and I am pretty comfortable in them.

[Anonymous]

The swimming kid is 4. After the parent said she was fine, I watched her closely from the shore. I'm not into judging other parents, but it just seemed do unsafe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The swimming kid is 4. After the parent said she was fine, I watched her closely from the shore. I'm not into judging other parents, but it just seemed do unsafe.

PP again. My own kid is 10, and I was fine with her swimming in these conditions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:-fairly clear lake, with a swim area marked by buoys
-no lifeguard on duty
-parent at lake's edge, watching younger sibling, and not in a swimsuit
-kid about 20 yards (60feet) from shore
-water up to the kid's neck
-kid is a competent swimmer and very comfortable in the water
-no flotation devices or life jacket
-early sunset with light shining toward shore, so it was hard to see swimmers

I thought the age of the child (and therefore their size/experience) made the situation extremely dangerous, but my spouse thought I was overreacting and that it was a "fine if the parent thinks it's fine" type of thing (it was not our kid). Curious about what rules others have at the lake.

So the child was standing on the bottom of the lake and their head was completely out of the water?

[Anonymous]

With the parent distracted, not prepared to aid, and with vision impaired by lighting, this scenario violates the “swim buddy” rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:-fairly clear lake, with a swim area marked by buoys
-no lifeguard on duty
-parent at lake's edge, watching younger sibling, and not in a swimsuit
-kid about 20 yards (60feet) from shore
-water up to the kid's neck
-kid is a competent swimmer and very comfortable in the water
-no flotation devices or life jacket
-early sunset with light shining toward shore, so it was hard to see swimmers

I thought the age of the child (and therefore their size/experience) made the situation extremely dangerous, but my spouse thought I was overreacting and that it was a "fine if the parent thinks it's fine" type of thing (it was not our kid). Curious about what rules others have at the lake.

So the child was standing on the bottom of the lake and their head was completely out of the water?

Yes, maybe on tippy-toes, but head was out of the water. Child is 4.

[Anonymous]

The not being able to see the swimmer thing is what would bother me. Was the child alone or were there other swimmers?

Age doesn’t correlate with swimming ability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The not being able to see the swimmer thing is what would bother me. Was the child alone or were there other swimmers?

Age doesn’t correlate with swimming ability.

There were other kids, but they were in their own groups doing their own thing. The child is a very competent swimmer for a 4 year old.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t have let my 4 year old swim in those conditions, but I do think it falls under the “fine if parents say it’s fine” situation, as do the VAST majority of parenting decisions in life.

Also, do you KNOW he was 4, or just guessing? My son is teeny tiny, and I was always really small for my age. It gets *really* old having people constantly assume he’s younger than he is, and I hated it as a kid too.