Swimming pool safety and kids - Ensuring Your Children’s Safety in the Pool

In the United States, pool safety is one of the biggest concerns of thousands of homeowners. This is because drowning is one of the major causes of death of children every year, with a high percentage of these deaths taking place in residential pools. Thus, if you are a homeowner with a pool, you need to understand why pool safety is important as well as be able to implement measures to ensure that your children and other users of the pool will be safe.

Sadly, misinformation regarding pool safety is widespread among adults. Contrary to what most adults believe, simply equipping the swimming pool for children with safety devices does not ensure the safety of the children who use the pool. If you have always equated this belief with pool safety, you need to stop now as continuing to do so may lead to serious damage. When it comes to your children’s safety in the pool, you should never rely solely on pool safety equipment and devices. Instead, you should always use common sense and take safety precautions, and this does include installing pool safety devices.

Life jackets, arm floaties and baby floats are essential pool accessories you should buy. These popular pool accessories can save lives and ensure that your children remain safe in the pool. Life jackets are often used when boating, but there are life jackets that are much smaller and are for use in swimming pools. If you have an infant or toddler, purchase a baby float so your child can safely enjoy being in the pool. Baby floats are typically square shaped and have leg holes; they are highly stable in keeping lightweight children above the water. For older children, arm floaties are ideal. Arm floaties, when inflated and slipped onto each arm, will keep the child from sinking.

Swimming pools are not only used for swimming; most people who use pools use it to have fun. Fun is usually equated with playing games. Thus, there are a wide variety of pool toys being sold at pool supply stores and retail stores. Pool toys can be as inexpensive, costing only a dollar or so, or they can be quite costly. If your children mostly use the pool to play games, you need to keep them under close supervision to make sure that no one gets hurt while playing in the water.

Aside from the pool toys, there are also pool fixtures that can be a source of fun as well as injuries. Pool slides and deep end diving boards are just two examples of pool fixtures that could cause injuries and accidents. If your pool has any of these pool fixtures, you need to watch closely those who use them. Pay close attention to young children who may climb on diving boards or get rough as they race against each other to the pool slide. Never take your eyes off as more often than not, it is when you are not paying attention to the things happening around you that serious accidents occur.

Also, you need to make sure that pool accessories, toys and fixtures are all in working order each time they are used. Make sure that there are no holes in the floaties and that the pool slide or diving board is bolted securely. Before letting your children in the pool, check every aspect of the pool first. Remember, your children’s safety in the pool should always be your main concern.