It's the weekend, the weather is amazing, the kids are finally getting along as they play in the water and you finally get a chance to slow down and take a breath. Feel the serenity!
All that could be shattered though if you're making one of these 6 most common mistakes around water.
1. No respect for the water
We've all seen the romanticized advertisements on TV of Summer, sparkling water and fun times where everyone just runs to the water, children included. Chances are we've all envisioned doing it, if not done it.
The problem with this is that children (and many adults) don't understand the dangers. Not only are there unseen submerged objects, varying depths and currents in sources like dams, beaches and rivers, but there is only the high risk of child not understanding the consequences of their actions and running straight into a source of water. This could mean the shock of cold water, the water being deeper or shallower than they anticipated, their forward momentum causing them to tumble and become disorientated, the unexpected impact of the water causing them to sharply inhale and ingesting water to name a few.
It is vital to teach your child from the time they are mobile (shuffling/crawling) to not only not enter any water source without permission, but to learn to wait around it. This is as simple as putting a folded up towel on the ground and teaching your child to sit on this towel until you are ready to put them in the bath, pool or water at the beach. It requires you to be consistent and patient.
You also need to give your child supervised opportunities in their water play to experiment and learn their own boundaries and capabilities. By teaching them to respect the water, both when they are in it and out of it, you are giving them an extra skill in being safer around the water, and giving yourself vital seconds in what could save their life.
2. Not checking water sources first when a child is missing
Our first instinct when searching for a missing child, especially in a familiar environment like home, is to look in their favorite places to hide, areas that we perceive as immediate dangers such as the road, or odd places like the pantry. Rarely do we think to check water sources first such as the pool, dam, ponds and even the household bathroom. This delay in checking these areas first can often be fatal. ALWAYS check water sources first, no matter how well trained you think your child is in not entering or playing with water without your permission and supervision, even if you've just hoped out of the water and told your child not to go back in. ALWAYS check the water first.
3. Overestimating your child's abilities
Just because your child can 'swim' across the pool in a flotation device such as a vest, back aide or floaties does not mean that you that don't have to get in the water with them. Just because your child attends swimming lessons once or twice a week doesn't mean you can read a book, garden or play on your phone whilst they are in the pool. Just because your child does squad swimming or won the freestyle event in their school swimming carnival doesn't mean you can pop inside for a coffee and tell them to yell out if they need anything. Just because your child is now a teenager doesn't mean it's ok for them to go swimming by themselves or with friends while you stay inside to give them space.
The child that can easily splash across the pool using an aide suddenly can't right themselves when they tip over, the aide fails by coming off/slips or they end up in the water without the aide and suddenly find themselves in a situation where they can't move efficiently like they're used to, are submerged and can't get back to the side or call for help.
The child that participates in regular swimming lessons has just swum back and forth across the pool 12 times non-stop and it's their 13th attempt when silent fatigue sets in and their legs and arms just aren't moving with the same vigor like they did the first couple of times. All of a sudden they just don't have the energy to make the distance anymore.
The teenage squad swimmer that swims several kilometers comfortably per session is in a completely different environment at an unsupervised (adult inside the house) pool party where risk taking behaviors and peer group mentality can easily take over rational thinking.
Drowning can and does happen to those of varying abilities and ages. It does not discriminate. Yes swimming ability can be a factor that minimalizes your chances of drowning, but it's not a 100% guarantee and the odds can differ greatly with different circumstances. Supervising your child, regardless of age, and being present and active with your supervision could make all the difference.
4. Thinking it's ok to stop watching for a minute
We've all had that moment when our little one is in the bath and we forgot the towel/pajamas/cream. Or you've just finished filling the inflatable pool and the phone rings, and since it's your mobile you can literally run in and grab it. Or you're all in the pool and your youngest needs help to go to the toilet but the older ones still want to swim. It's fine you'll just be a minute.
STOP! In the 10 seconds you go across the room to get the towel your child could be submerged. In the minute it takes to run inside and answer your phone and return your child could have lost consciousness. In the 4 minutes it takes to take your youngest to the toilet, a submerged child could sustain brain damage.
Don't ever leave a child or children of any age or ability in or around water for any reason. A person can drown in less than 30 seconds and it only takes enough water to cover the mouth and nose.
5. Assume that someone else is watching
There's plenty of stories out there of multiple sets of adult eyes around a water source, and yet a child still ends up submerged. A lot of those recollections state that they thought someone else was watching their child, that they just took their eyes of that child for seconds to check on another, that there were so many bodies in the water it was hard to focus just on their child and not be distracted, that they though their child was competent but in that particular set of circumstances they watched their child start to drown right in front of them.
Children are fast and often silent on land, let alone in water.
- Never assume that someone else is watching your child.
- Never take your eyes off a child in the water.
- If you are in the water with your child make sure that they are always in front of you within arms reach.
- If they are on the side of the pool with you make sure that your back is not to the water.
- If you have to leave the water area for any reason take your child/ren with you.
6. That drownings occur like they do on TV
We've all seen the re-enactment of someone played out on the TV with the big noisy splash, the wild thrashing, the calls for help and arms frantically waving in the air.
In reality there is no splash and no sound. A person who is drowning is physiologically unable to call for help as trying to survive means breathing takes priority over speaking. As the mouth continually sinks beneath the water (small children often don't even have the strength to get their mouth out) there is not enough time to exhale, inhale and call for help before submerging again. Their body is upright as they instinctively try to reach and stay on the surface. They have no voluntary control over their arms or legs in order to wave for help or swim. They can silently struggle for 20 seconds before full submersion can occur.
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