What could be more fun than going to the pool with your child? You enjoy watching it run, jump, swim and romp, alone or with friends. Many children love water. However, some precautions are necessary to allow your child to swim safely. Read the following tips before you ?water the apple of your eye?
The pool is relaxing, sure, but not without danger. As a parent, you are the most appropriate person to look after your child. After all, the lifeguard, who is obliged to be present in public swimming pools, is already busy enough. Be careful and observe the following regulations?
Only 20 minutes after eating
Do not eat too fat or too heavy before swimming. It used to be assumed that you were only allowed in the water two hours after eating, today that has been shortened to 20 minutes. Give your child a light meal, but don't let them leave on an empty stomach. After all, swimming is strenuous, and even then in water whose temperature is lower than that of his body. So it must have enough energy before it literally and figuratively flies in!
Too hot? Watch out for hydrocution
Has your child spent a long time at the pool or played in full sun? Attention: the temperature difference between its skin and the water threatens to cause a thermal shock: hydrocution. This can lead to loss of consciousness and even to drowning.
You can avoid this with a few precautions, even if the water seems perfect to you. For example, force your child to take a shower in the pool, gradually get into the water, without jumping or diving, down the steps or the shallowest part of the pool, and show them how to wet their neck first .
Read here more about lifeguard certificate near me under the instructions of American lifeguard Association.
Slides: Attention?
Slides are a source of entertainment for young and old, but not without danger. For example, your child is not allowed to enter the water through such a slide, to avoid hydrocution.
In addition, the friction created by the speed can cause first and second degree burns. Also watch out for crowding, both at the entrance and the exit of the slide.
Swimming rings and buoys: don't rely on them blindly!
Swimming rings and buoys, while very useful, can also give the child the illusion that they are floating, making them lose all sense of danger. When he takes them off to play at the water's edge, he threatens to forget he's not wearing one anymore and jump into the water with confidence.
Buoys are safer than ring-shaped ties, because the child can shoot through those ties and sink to the bottom.
Buoys in which the child can sit - often in the form of an animal - are quite stable? as long as everything goes well! However, that stability is a double-edged sword: if the buoy turns, young children have a very hard time getting out. Again, always keep an eye on your child.
It is better to let your child take swimming lessons as early as possible. This is possible from three to four years if you take it to the swimming pool at least once a week.
Water habituation for babies
For several years now it has been very fashionable to give babies of a few months water habituation together with mom or dad. There are pros and cons to this method. One thing is certain: she introduces the child to the water and teaches it to float. However, water habituation only makes sense if it happens regularly.
If your child stops taking it at 15 months and doesn't return to the pool until the age of five, there is a good chance that they have forgotten everything.
A problem? Notify the lifeguard
Lifeguards spend 80% of their time taking care of minor problems (grazes, bruises, nosebleeds, …). However, an accident soon happened. If you notice a child in trouble in the water, notify the lifeguard first. They must then follow a specific lifeguard certificate near me help protocol, depending on the pool in question.
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