Family holidays are a great time to relax and have lots of fun at the swimming pool or beach. For maximum enjoyment it is also important for us all to be water safe, especially abroad, so we’ve teamed up with our friends over at Konfidence for their top water safety tips for parents.
First and foremost, remember young children are attracted to water. Don’t take your eyes off them for even one second if they are near water. Supervision is the key to safety.
At the Swimming Pool – Safety Tips
- Parents / Guardians should take turns to supervise children who are in the swimming pool.
- If the children’s pool is adjacent to the main pool, weak and non-swimmers should be deterred from changing pools or using the dividing walls / features to walk on.
- Weak and non-swimmers should not go out of their depth – even when they are using floatation devices.
- Do not run around the pool, in case the surface is slippery.
- Always swim in pools patrolled by lifeguards.
- Use a buoyancy aid or personal floatation device to be safe in and around the water. Konfidence say a big misconception is that parents with children who ‘can’ swim think they don’t need some form of buoyancy aid.
“Most children love to play for hours in or at the side the pool – but they get tired. A personal floatation device, such as our Original Konfidence Swim Jacket, gives them enough buoyancy and you the time to reach them if they are in difficulty – it only takes a few seconds for you to take your eye off them, and especially if you are supervising more one than child in the pool. The hi-visibility yellow back on the Jacket also helps greatly.”
At the Beach – Safety Tips
- Familiarise yourself with the beach flags. On the continent a ‘Red for Danger’ or ‘Yellow for Caution’ and a ‘Green Safe to Swim’ flag system is used, but often a bit on the liberal side. It’s better to be safe and swim only when the ‘Green’ flag is showing.
- Be aware of hazards – waves, tides, rip currents.
- Don’t take lilos and other inflatables into the water – they can blow you out to sea and they may ‘pop’.
- At the beach, never play or swim near rocks, or near boats or other crafts.
- Always swim parallel to the shore rather than out to sea – and stay within your depth.
- Make sure there is an adult with a child in the sea and someone on shore who knows you are swimming.
- Never leave a child alone on the beach.
And finally, explain and reiterate the four water safety rules to children:
- Never Swim Alone
- Do not dive into unknown bodies of water
- Do not push or jump on others
- Learn and teach them where to get help in case of an emergency
Most of all have lots of family fun on your holiday this summer!
Main image at top of page courtesy of Tim Campbell-Smith