Unsupervised pre-k kids in floaties at pool

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this is why why my pool does not allow floaties

This! Floaties are only allowed in the kiddie pool.

[Anonymous]

Puddle jumpers inadvertently cause drownings. Because kids think they can “swim” and have no clue that it doesn’t work without the puddle jumper on. There are countless sad stories about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a pool manager back in the day, and always required parents to be within arm’s length of their child, regardless of the floatation device.

I’ve seen kids somehow get stuck upside-down with poorly-inflated arm floaties, or had a styrofoam bubble slide up just enough to press a head down and panic the kid so they can’t right themselves.

In a perfect world, a lifeguard would get to them in time, of course. But if the parent is right there, the guard can blow the whistle and get their attention to grab the kid much faster than they can jump down and navigate a crowded pool to get to them.

But I can also tell you, I got a ton of pushback on this every year. Especially from parents with several small children, who didn’t want to force all of them to stay in one area. I was fortunate that our board always backed me up on this rule, because it wasn’t always fun to enforce.

I would never stay with a pool that always required me to be in arms length of my child! That’s over the top unless you are talking about like, toddler age.

That’s a pretty common rule. If your kid is not tall enough to stand on the bottom of the pool with their head above the water, you absolutely should be within reach of the child.

My pool makes you stay withing arm's length until your kid passes a swim test. My kid is 3 and absolutely no way would I let him be in the pool without me. I am an experienced swimmer, including ocean swimming, and false confidence is deadly.

I think we all agree here and I’m going to assume the pool manager’s policy had to do with very young children (although it’s unclear given the parental pushback experienced). Huge differences between a toddler, 3 year old and an 8 year old, and kids have to learn to swim independently which can’t happen if you are constantly within arms’ reach.

[Anonymous]

If it's an actual life vest that's one thing, but floaties aren't good enough to not be in the pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My pool has a rule that parents have to be arms length away if the kid is in floaties. I’ve only seen the lifeguards tell parents that twice. But I don’t think I see what you see at our pool.

I went to my parents pool in another state and there were toddlers in the baby pool by themselves. Lifeguards not watching. Parents back turned drinking beer. It freaked me out. I watched the kids.

This happens at my pool in Rockville - parents day drinking, backs turned to their kids in the pool. It makes us so uncomfortable and DH and I always end up watching people’s kids while they drink and socialize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this is why why my pool does not allow floaties

OP is referring to things like puddle jumpers and life vests, not pool floats.

[Anonymous]

MYOB OP unless you see a child in distress, in which case you help him or her. Obvs

[Anonymous]

Normal. Some parents are bad parents. It is what it is. Judge the hell out of them, but don't confront them.

[Anonymous]

I would never do this but I don’t get the floatie hate on these boards. My kid is in swim lessons but not yet swimming on her own. She can float on her back but is afraid to do it without someone right next to her. She can paddle with her arms and get in good position to swim, but can’t yet keep herself above water on her own. She’s very close but not quite there.

We use a puddle jumper or life vest all the time at the pool (we go almost daily). We do swim practice without them where she practices skills with me or DH, and then we will put a vest on so we can just have fun. It allows DH and I to relax, not so we can leave her alone in the pool but do we can play with her without needing to be checking her every single second. And it gives her a chance to have fun too, which is motivating for her. Putting her in the vest also allows ME to swim, float on my back, etc., which I think benefits her as well because she can see what that looks like.

I don’t worry about her jumping in the pool without a vest because she thinks she can swim, as she would never, ever do this (she won’t even jump in the water with a vest— the closest she’ll come is sitting on the edge and then sliding into the water, and only if one of us is there with her).

If we tried to go without the vest, we’d wind up spending a lot less time in the pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would never do this but I don’t get the floatie hate on these boards. My kid is in swim lessons but not yet swimming on her own. She can float on her back but is afraid to do it without someone right next to her. She can paddle with her arms and get in good position to swim, but can’t yet keep herself above water on her own. She’s very close but not quite there.

We use a puddle jumper or life vest all the time at the pool (we go almost daily). We do swim practice without them where she practices skills with me or DH, and then we will put a vest on so we can just have fun. It allows DH and I to relax, not so we can leave her alone in the pool but do we can play with her without needing to be checking her every single second. And it gives her a chance to have fun too, which is motivating for her. Putting her in the vest also allows ME to swim, float on my back, etc., which I think benefits her as well because she can see what that looks like.

I don’t worry about her jumping in the pool without a vest because she thinks she can swim, as she would never, ever do this (she won’t even jump in the water with a vest— the closest she’ll come is sitting on the edge and then sliding into the water, and only if one of us is there with her).

If we tried to go without the vest, we’d wind up spending a lot less time in the pool.

Totally agree. And especially for kids who weren't able to take swim lessons for the past two years, those rules are incredibly unfair.

[Anonymous]

"drowning is the leading cause of preventable deaths in children from 1 to 4"

This statistic alone means that we take zero risk in the water with our kid. Older children do need to be watched carefully, there should always be one designated adult watching the kids. Floaties are considered a toy, and shouldn't be trusted as a floating mechanism.


This is essential reading for every parent in the summer: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/well/family/drowning-children-water-safety.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

[Anonymous]

I would totally say something before a tragedy happens. Perhaps you can speak with the managers at the pool and see if they enforce a parents with their young kids in the pool rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a pool manager back in the day, and always required parents to be within arm’s length of their child, regardless of the floatation device.

I’ve seen kids somehow get stuck upside-down with poorly-inflated arm floaties, or had a styrofoam bubble slide up just enough to press a head down and panic the kid so they can’t right themselves.

In a perfect world, a lifeguard would get to them in time, of course. But if the parent is right there, the guard can blow the whistle and get their attention to grab the kid much faster than they can jump down and navigate a crowded pool to get to them.

But I can also tell you, I got a ton of pushback on this every year. Especially from parents with several small children, who didn’t want to force all of them to stay in one area. I was fortunate that our board always backed me up on this rule, because it wasn’t always fun to enforce.

I would never stay with a pool that always required me to be in arms length of my child! That’s over the top unless you are talking about like, toddler age.

That’s a pretty common rule. If your kid is not tall enough to stand on the bottom of the pool with their head above the water, you absolutely should be within reach of the child.

My pool makes you stay withing arm's length until your kid passes a swim test. My kid is 3 and absolutely no way would I let him be in the pool without me. I am an experienced swimmer, including ocean swimming, and false confidence is deadly.

I think we all agree here and I’m going to assume the pool manager’s policy had to do with very young children (although it’s unclear given the parental pushback experienced). Huge differences between a toddler, 3 year old and an 8 year old, and kids have to learn to swim independently which can’t happen if you are constantly within arms’ reach.

Of course you can teach your kid how to swim while staying close.

You learn to swim, and then they pass the swim test, and then you give them more distance.

[Anonymous]

The baby pool (12-18 inches) is the place for my toddler to feel independent and exploratory and I watch her from the side, yes sometimes day drinking, but my eyes don’t leave her.

The big pool, shallow or deep, puddle jumper or not, is for doing with parents in the water. I think puddle jumpers are a nice thing to do before your child can swim independently if she has big friends/cousins she wants to play with— fully supervised.

Puddle Jumpers do not cause drowning. Bad parents do. Take your non-swimmer in without the puddle jumpers a few times and they will understand their limits.