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General Water Safety, How To Prevent Drowning

Swimming lessons for special needs

General Water Safety

Protecting your children against drowning is not difficult. Your primary responsibility to keep them safe is simply to supervise them; whether in the pool or the bathtub. You only have to remember one thing: ALWAYS SUPERVISE YOUR CHILD AROUND IN AND AROUND WATER!. Put your phone down. Put your book down. Face the water instead of the sun or your friends. Give him 100% of your attention.

At home:

  • Close your bathrooms and and your laundry rooms.
  • Close your toilets and use toilet seat locks.
  • Stay with your child when they are in the bathroom.
  • Drain the tub immediately after your child’s bath.
  • Empty all tubs, buckets, containers and wading pools after use and store upside down out of your child’s reach.
  • Empty inflatable or portable pools after each use and store them upside down and out of their reach.

Swimming safety tips:

  • Teach your child to never go near or in water without an adult present.

  • Actively watch your child in or around water, even when a life guard is on duty and even if your child is a confident swimmer.
  • Stay within arm’s length of your child until he is a confident swimmer.
  • Every child is different. Enroll your child in swimming lessons when you feel he is ready.
  • Teach children that swimming in a lake or river is not the same as swimming in a pool. It may be difficult to judge the depth of the water or the strength of a current.
  • Swim only in areas designated for swimming.
  • Whether swimming in a backyard pool or in a lake, teach children to swim with a partner using the “buddy system”.
  • “Water wings” and inflatables are toys, not safety devices.
  • Learn CPR, it will give you peace of mind.
  • Watch your child for the dangerous “too's:”

- Too tired

- Too cold

- Too far from safety

- Too much sun

- Too much activity

  • How have you educated your child on water safety?

​​This is a great swimming safety resource as well: Swimming Safety: Tips and Considerations for Pools, Beaches, Hot Tubs, and More