Saturday, June 4, 2011

Water Safety- what parents & caregivers need to know

I read a great article today about reminding parents and caregivers how to make sure their children are water safe. It's a MUST read.
Review it for your child's safety and then make a list of pool rules for your home and ALWAYS enforce them; even for the children who are 1.5 yrs old. You can start teaching your child water safety at an early age by asking them yes or no questions about the rules. For example, "Are you suppose to go in the pool without an adult?" They answer "no" or shake their head no. Educating kids early about water safety is a successful way to prevent water accidents.

Kidtastics has a list of common pool rules that will aid you when creating your home pool rules.

KIDTASTICS POOL RULES
1. Don’t open the door to go outside
2. Don’t swim alone- must be with an adult
3. Don’t open the gate/ net – only adults are allowed to open them
4. Don’t leave pool toys in the pool
5. Always count 1-2-3 before jumping in or going underwater
6. Don’t push anyone in the pool
7. No running around the pool
8. Don’t jump or dive in shallow end
9. If you cannot swim to the side of the pool then float on your back
10. Don’t jump on the steps
11. Jump out to the middle of the pool when jumping in
12. Tell an adult before trying a flip turn
13. Make sure no one is under the diving board or slide before jumping in
14. Only 1 person on diving board at a time
15. Only go down the water slide if water is on the slide and an adult is watching
16. If you fall off the step you must swim back to the step
17. No climbing on the fountains or jumping off the rocks
18. No pushing anyone underwater
19. Always have adult supervision
20. Never jump into save someone even if they’re smaller then you – use a life saver. In case of emergency call 9-1-1.

Call Kidtastics today for swim lessons to get your child water safe in and around water. 480-994-5437.

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