I am a former lifeguard and cannot relax at the pool! Pools are easier tho; I worked at a lake and there was always the idea in the back of my mind that a kid could have just slipped under.

My 10 is an A meet swimmer who swims year round. He has the run of the pool, but needs to tell me if he's switching areas.

7 yo is on preteam and can swim decently, dive and handle herself well in deep water. I watch her like a hawk and if it isn't crowded, I will let her swim into a different section of the pool without me.

5 yo really started swimming this year. Unless he is in the 2.5/3 foot section, I either sit on the wall to supervise or am in the water with him.

If I need to run to the restroom, my younger two are allowed to sit on the stairs in the shallow end (if I can't find a friend to keep an eye on them there). 10 yo can keep swimming, but I tell him that I'm leaving the pool area.

I might be able to relax when they can all knock off a 200 IM!

Anonymous wrote:We go to a quiet community pool (it's never busy) and I read while my kids swim. They are 5 and 8. I look up from book from time to time and watch them.

For them to go off at a crowded busy pool and do their own thing? I would say a mature 8.

I don't know if you realize this, but when kids are drowning they don't make any noise.

Does that mean you don't your kids go on play dates to pool or pool parties without you?

15 or so. I would never trust the life guards. They are kids and do not always watch the pool the way they should. Plus, at our pool, there are way too many people and I don't feel there are enough lifeguards on duty for the number of people or the lifeguards are not posted in places where they can see all parts of the pools. We have two pools and there is often only one lifeguard on duty even though both pools are in use.

9. This is the first year. The lifeguards at my pool are not good.

My oldest is 11 and I still keep an eye on him. Never put your trust in lifeguards.

My 7 yo has been able to swim since shortly before age 3 and is on swim team-- strong swimmer. I still try to watch him most of the time but definitely look away to deal with my toddler who obviously can't swim at all and requires constant hands-on supervision.

right at 6 was when I let my son go off on his own. I do keep an eye out for him but he is a strong swimmer.

My 4yr olds swims well but I still stay close to him because he isn't big enough to "protect" himself. One day a kid in puddle jumper was grabbing onto him and thus holding him under. That sort of thing scares me.

We go to a quiet community pool (it's never busy) and I read while my kids swim. They are 5 and 8. I look up from book from time to time and watch them.

For them to go off at a crowded busy pool and do their own thing? I would say a mature 8.

I read recently that the age children most commonly drown is like 7 or 8. As the parent of a 6 yo who is a pretty good swimmer (for his age), I couldn't help but wonder whether this was around the age we start to let our guard down and the kids start to exercise more independence.

I have 3 kids: 1,4,6. I do allow the 6 yo in the deep end while I'm in the shallow end with the 4 and 1 yo. In my perfect world, I'd be in the deep end to watch him, but I'm simply outnumbered. With that said, the deep end typically only has a few ppl in it, and the lifeguards are very strict with the rules. Our former pool was much more lax and had much more roughhousibg allowed.

I guess it depends on what you mean by watch. I'll keep eyes on my 7 year old (who is on a swim team and a strong swimmer) rather than reading a book or chatting, but I'll often stay out of the pool and sit in a beach chair while he plays/swims.

About 8 or 9. I'm a bit overprotective.

This is DCUM, universe of th helicopter parents. I'm not sure how many sane responses you'll get.

Mine are 7 & 9. I keep an eye on them but certainly don't watch every minute. I'd probably run to the bathroom if I needs to go and leave them unsupervised for 5 minutes or so.

This summer my 7yo passed the swim test to swim a pool lap. I let him hang out with his friends now and don't look for him every 2 min.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a birthday party recently for a 7 year old and I was the only parent who stayed to watch mine at the pool. There was no one else besides lifeguards at the crowded pool area.

Exact same thing happened to me. And these were not strong swimmers at all.

It's quite shocking to me, too. I know two parents who bragged about how their children passed the swim test and they could breathe easy now. Then I went swimming with each kid separately - their skills were not what I'd call "safe swimmers." I was shocked. My kid is not a great swimmer at 7 - I will watch for a while longer.