Water and children DO NOT mix

You are very lucky, some people dont get a second or even a third chance when it comes to water.

I congratulate you for sharing this with us as it is very important to understand the very real dangers involved.

We should be encouraged to teach our children to swim from an early age in Australia because with the amount of hot days we get water is always going to be atractive to them.

I liked this all children shoud be taught to swim from an early age, good advice

good strong advice

I don't really even believe that older brothers or sisters should watch young ones in the pool as they are not always able to identify when a little one is in trouble. It reminds me of a time when I was little and in the surf. My big brother (who loves me and still feels bad about this even though I am now 31) was watching me on a surfski and then decided to take it for himself as it was his turn. I was a great swimmer, but his timing wasn't well thought out and I was left in the deep water with THE most tired arms in the universe from paddling out there. I started to have trouble and a lifeguard spotted me and paddled out. My brother then came over and told the life guard "she's ok, Im her big brother and I'm watching her. She's a good swimmer." The lifeguard thankfully made his own assessment of the situation and took me in to the beach where I vomited water for ages. I was too scared to go back into the surf for the rest of the holidays. The point being, noone is disputing that older children care about their younger brothers and sisters, they just don't have the skills to assess a situation and decide that it is dangerous until the danger becomes obvious and by then it could be too late. I agree, NEVER take your eyes off your children when they are in water.

Great article and perfectly timed with the weather getting hotter and hotter :)

OMG what a shock! Great advice, and thanks for sharing. I recently had an accident with my son in the bath.. scared the life out of me! I was so shocked at how fast it happened.

Also, earlier this year there was an incident in this town where a 2 and a 4 year old managed to climb over their neighbours fence and ended up falling into their pool and had to be revived. The four year old recovered quickly, however the 2 year old was not so lucky and suffered brain damage. Never underestimate what can happen near water!

They do mix if they are PROPERLY SUPERVISED! I started my daughter in swimming at 10 months old and wish I had done it earlier. Our class has taught my daughter to not panic if she falls in. Floaties are discouraged as dangerous and not good for teaching your child natural movement in the water. The idea of the early classes is to teach them about their bodies and movement in the water. Lets face it - many kids don't put floaties on before sneaking or falling into the pool. They need to feel the water around their body naturally so they don't panic and can manouver properly if they do fall in. The carer or parent should have 100% attention on the child at all times and always be within arms reach of older children in the pool (toddlers and babies are in your arms at all times). Natasha can now monkey walk along the edge to the stairs all by herself at 19 months old. She can jump in, turn and grab the wall all by herself and she can swim to me underwater for short distances. I don't expect her to be the next Thorpie but did it because there is so much water in Australia and I want her to be as safe as possible. I don't plan on ever letting her out of my sight long enough for an accident to happen but just to be sure. The phone regulary goes unanswered because it's bath time and I don't trust the few seconds it would take to answer it. Safety awareness is imperative so kids and water can mix and enjoy the experience.

The advice was good and bringing forward awareness is great - I just hope that others use the knowledge to educate their kids to be safe in and around water and not give in to any fears of their own about swimming lessons. I also hope people are made aware of the dangers of floaties. They do not let the parent off the job of supervision and I find them unnecessary anyway. Each to their own however, so long as you get all the facts before making the floatie decision.

The same goes with bath time guys, i bath my 3 year old and 1 year old together. Lastnight i turned my back to get the towels and when i turned back he had her head under the water.. Just playing of course but it could have been a deadly game. So please dont think for 1 second that cildren are safe near any form of water!

thanks!!

we have a pool,an above ground(which i think is safer)and we built a higher fence than reccomended and we also take the ladder away just for extra precaution. i was worried when we first put the pool in but i am not that worried considering we have a huge fence

We have a pool without a fence (just auto shut doors) & i NEVER let my son leave my sight & he is in swimming lessons. it is always in the back of my mind !!!! Very scary

Joeyjo, I can't tell you how important your post is.  Our neighbors have a pool and on they invited us over along with 3 other families with young kids.  Our youngest was 2 and the youngest of the kids there.  As the adults chatted and drank beers, the kids were running around the pool so we assumed that our oldest and the other kids were all looking out for each other.   Fortunately, one of the parents heard a lone splash and we all turned around.  On the far side, our son had fallen in and was just sinking to the bottom in complete silence.  We dove in after him and he was fine.  However, whenever I look at him to this day - he is 7, I can't help but think how lucky we are to still have him.

I can't swim but have made all 3 of my children have swimming lessons, but I still inwardly panic if they go near water. We regularly go for walks on the local moors with the grandparents and I hate them going near the large ponds incase they slip in even though my over half and his parents can swim.