When can baby go in pool

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when can baby go in pool

When can baby go in pool?

Babies can go into water or a swimming pool from birth. However, they can’t regulate their temperature like adults, so it’s very important to make sure your baby doesn’t get too cold. And never leave your baby unattended near water. Babies can drown in just 5 cm of water. Babies can also pick up an infection from water. Therefore, it’s generally best to wait until your baby is around 2 months old before you take them swimming. Baby swimming lessons usually start at around 6 months of age. If your baby is younger than 6 months, make sure the pool is heated to about 89.6 °F (32° C). A large public pool would be too cold for a baby under 6 months.

Newborn babies can’t swim – they have to learn, just like they learn to walk. But most babies do enjoy being in water and their reflexes mean they will be able to do primitive swimming strokes. You don’t have to wait until your baby is immunized to take them swimming. Always remain within arm’s reach of any child who can’t swim well.

New mothers should not go swimming until at least 6 weeks after the birth, or when they have stopped bleeding.

Water and pool safety

To stay safe around water, your child needs close and and constant adult supervision. It’s also vital to teach your child about water hazards as well as how to swim.

Water safety for kids:

It’s important to always stay with your child and watch him whenever he’s near water, even when he can swim.

Supervision means constant visual contact with your child and keeping her within arm’s reach at all times. You should be in a position to respond quickly, whether you’re at the beach or the swimming pool, near dams, rivers and lakes, or at home near the bath or spa. Hold your child’s hand when you’re near waves or paddling in rivers.

Supervision is not an occasional glance while you nap, read or do household chores. It’s not watching your children playing outside while you’re inside. It’s always best for an adult, not an older child, to supervise.

You should also teach your child about water safety and how to swim. Many children can learn to swim by the time they’re four or five.

First aid is an essential skill for the entire family to learn. If you know how to do CPR and what to do in an emergency, it could save your child’s life.

Water safety around the house

The majority of drowning deaths in the United States result from a child falling or wandering into the water, particularly into a backyard pool. But a young child can drown in as little as 5 cm of water.

Here are some tips to prevent drowning and improve water safety around your house:

  • All pools and spas must be fenced. Remove any objects from your yard that could be used to climb over the swimming pool fence.
  • Remove any containers with water in them from around the house and make sure your child can’t get to any bodies of water, including the bath, on his own.
  • Use a nappy bucket with a tight-fitting lid and keep the bucket closed, off the floor and out of your child’s reach.
  • Always empty the baby bath as soon as you’re finished with it so older siblings can’t climb in.
  • Empty sinks, tubs, buckets, baths and paddling pools when you’re finished with them.
  • Secure covers to ponds and birdbaths and cover other water features with wire mesh, or keep them empty until your child is at least five years old.
  • Keep aquariums and fishbowls out of reach of small children. If you have an inflatable pool that can hold more than 30 cm of water, pool fencing laws apply.

Water safety around dams, creeks, ponds and tanks

Children don’t always understand, apply or remember rules, especially when they’re distracted by play. So a securely fenced, safe play area can be an effective barrier between small children and water hazards.

A secure play area can prevent your child from wandering near dams, creeks or other bodies of water, and gaining access to hazards like farm machinery, horses and farm vehicles. A ‘safe play’ area, plus family rules and supervision, is the most effective way to prevent serious injury and death to small children on rural properties.

Here are tips to improve water safety around your property:

  • Fence off the area between the house and any bodies of water.
  • Teach your child to not go near the dam, creek or water tank without you.
  • Secure a toddler-proof lid over any water tanks.
  • Fence off, drain or seal ponds if your child or visiting children are less than five years old.
  • Make sure there are no trellises, ladders, windows or trees that your child could climb to get into the water tank.

Water safety around beaches, lakes and rivers

Here are tips to improve water safety near the ocean, lakes or rivers:

  • Always stay with your child when she’s playing in or near the sea, lakes or rivers. Hold your toddler’s hand near waves and when she’s paddling in rivers.
  • Take your child only to patrolled beaches where surf lifesavers are present, and swim only between the red and yellow flags.
  • Teach your school-age child what to do if he needs help – stay calm, float and raise an arm to signal to a lifeguard or lifesaver.

Where can my baby swim?

It’s best to get your baby used to the water at home in the bath. You don’t have to put them under the water – just let them get to enjoy floating (while you hold them) and the feel of the water on their skin.

From about 2 months you can take them into a heated pool, but don’t keep them in the water for more than 10 minutes at first. If they start to shiver, take them out and wrap them in a towel. Babies under 12 months shouldn’t stay in a pool for more than 30 minutes.

It’s OK to take your baby into a river, lake or the ocean from 2 months, but it’s very important to make sure they don’t get cold. Choose a spot where the water is warm and clean. Watch out for currents that prevent you from holding them properly. And don’t let your baby drink the water.

Young children should not go into hot spas. Spas are only suitable for children over 16.

Swimming lessons

Baby swim classes are designed to get your baby used to the water, help them learn swimming strokes, and to teach them safety and how to survive in the water. Usually swim lessons involve a small group of parents and babies who learn through fun activities and play. You can find swimming classes in your area by asking at your local pool.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, a couple of small studies have found that swimming lessons for children ages 1 to 4 may lower the risk of drowning. But swimming lessons aren’t a reliable way to protect your child and they aren’t recommended for children younger than 1. There’s simply no substitute for adult supervision when it comes to pool safety.

And some kids may not be developmentally ready for swim lessons until they are at least 4 years old. Whether swimming lessons are right for your child depends on how often she’s around water and her physical abilities.

If you decide to enroll your child in a swimming class, find a program that follows the national YMCA guidelines for swim instruction. Among other things, these guidelines advise instructors not to submerge young children and encourage parents to participate in lessons.

And as soon as you start bringing your child to the pool or lake, begin teaching simple water safety rules including:

  • Don’t go near water without an adult, and use the buddy system in the water.
  • Never dunk another child.
  • Don’t run on the pool deck or boat dock.
  • Always jump in feet first.

Even children who aren’t talking yet are able to understand a lot more than they can say. Teaching water safety early makes sure your child is familiar with the basics of water safety as she gets older and learns to swim.

Water and pool safety precautions

There are lots of risks for babies and young children around water. Babies can drown in just 5 cm of water. To keep them safe, never, ever leave young children unattended near water. It is a good idea to learn resuscitation for babies before you take them swimming. You can learn this by doing a first aid course.

If you have a pool or spa it is important to make sure they are fenced.

It is also important to be careful when using floatation devices such as rubber rings – they can make the baby tip over so that their head goes underwater.

Babies can get ill from bacteria or viruses in water that hasn’t been treated properly. Try not to let them swallow any water, use swim nappies, and don’t take them swimming if they have diarrhea.

To keep your child safe in the pool or at a lake, you may want to wait until your baby can hold up her head on her own (usually by 4 or 5 months) before taking her swimming in a pool or lake. When your child is old enough to go into the water with you, follow these steps for staying safe:

  • Be prepared and take an infant/child CPR course.
  • Any time you’re near water, have your child wear a personal flotation device that fits properly and is approved by the U.S Coast Guard. Don’t rely on inflatable toys (like water wings) to keep your child safe in the water.
  • Don’t dunk a baby underwater. Although infants may naturally hold their breath, they’re just as likely to swallow water. That’s why babies are more susceptible to the bacteria and viruses in pool water and lakes that can cause gastroenteritis and diarrhea.
  • Before you decide to swim at a public pool or lake, make sure it has lifeguards on duty, is equipped with rescue equipment in good condition, and has a readily accessible phone for emergencies. Take your cell phone along with you too.
  • If you’re swimming in your home pool, bring your phone outside so you won’t be tempted to run into the house to answer a call.
  • At home, remove toys from the water and deck of your pool so they don’t entice your child to play in or around the pool when you’re not looking.
  • If you have a permanent pool, make sure it’s completely enclosed with a fence that’s at least 4 feet high. It should also have a self-closing, self-latching gate that opens away from pool. Always lock the gate after each use, and make sure there’s nothing your child can climb on to get over the pool’s fence.
  • For home pools and spas, make sure the drain has an anti-entrapment cover or other drain safety system, such as an automatic pump shut off. Pool drains have been named one of the top five hidden home hazards by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The suction from a pool drain can be strong enough to hold even an adult underwater, pulling on the hair or on the body and forming a seal. Missing or faulty covers often cause the problem, and an upgrade may save a life.
  • Drain inflatable or plastic wading pools after each use, and store in an upright position.

Swimming pool water and illness

Most swimming pools are clean. But sometimes, particularly if a pool is very busy or hasn’t been properly treated with pool chemicals, germs can multiply.

Germs in swimming pools can cause illnesses like infections of the ear, eye, skin and chest, as well as gastroenteritis. Also, strong chemicals in pool water can sometimes cause eye and skin irritations.

Germs can get into pool water through:

  • skin, sweat, urine, poop, saliva and open sores
  • dirt, food and other solids that end up in the pool.

This can happen quite easily. For example, if you’ve had diarrhea, germs can still be on your skin even if you’ve cleaned your bottom and hands really well. So if you get into a swimming pool, germs can go from your skin into the water.

Also, babies or non-toilet trained children are very likely to poo in the water when they’re swimming. If they’ve had runny poo, germs from their poo can get in the water, even if they’re wearing a swimming nappy. Or if you change a sick child’s nappy near a swimming pool, germs from the nappy can get into the water even if the child doesn’t.

Swimming pool hygiene, keeping pools clean and safe

Here are some simple tips to help keep swimming pools fun and safe for everyone.

For all swimmers

  • Don’t get in the pool if you have diarrhea, or have just gotten over diarrhea.
  • Try not to get water in your mouth, and don’t swallow pool water.
  • Wash your hands with soap and water after using the toilet or changing a nappy.
  • Shower before you get in the pool and when you get out.

For parents of young children

  • Make sure your child has a clean bottom before your child gets into the pool.
  • Use well-fitted swimming nappies to help stop poo from getting into the water, but note that these nappies aren’t leak proof. They can delay but not stop the germs getting into the water.
  • Change swimming nappies regularly to stop nappy contents getting into the water.
  • Keep nappy changes away from the pool area. With lots of water splashing about, it’s easy for germs to end up in the pool.
  • For toilet-trained children, try to prevent toilet accidents in the pool by making sure your child has regular toilet visits.

If a public pool has been properly treated with pool chemicals, most germs in the pool will be killed.

But when a public pool is very busy – for example, on a hot summer day – germs can get into even the cleanest pool. More people mean more germs and more dirt in the water.

If you want to know how clean and safe a pool is to use when it’s busy, ask the pool staff about the latest pH measurement. They should be able to explain it to you.

If there’s a poo accident in a public pool, get out and let the pool staff know straight away. If you or your child gets sick after using a public pool, contact the pool staff so they can monitor potential disease outbreaks.

Keeping home swimming and wading pools clean

Because home wading pools are mostly used by babies and young children, they’re most likely to have germs that come from poo. Also wading pool water isn’t usually treated with pool chemicals.

You can reduce the risk of your young child getting sick from using a wading pool by:

  • trying to keep pool water out of your child’s mouth – young children are more likely to swallow pool water than other swimmers
  • always emptying the wading pool at home once you’ve finished using it. Leaving water in the wading pool is a drowning risk as well as a germ risk.

Home swimming pools need regular treatment and monitoring to keep them clean and safe for swimming. You can start by:

  • using pool chemicals strictly according to manufacturer’s instructions
  • testing the water’s pH and chlorine levels regularly
  • checking that the water is clear and that you can see the bottom of the pool.

If there’s a poop accident in your pool, get everyone out straight away. If it’s a wading pool, empty the water out and scrub the pool with disinfectant. Rinse the pool and then dry it in the sun for at least four hours before using it again. If it’s a swimming pool, follow the cleaning and treatment instructions that come with your pool chemicals.

You can get advice about swimming pool hygiene from pool chemical suppliers or pool maintenance companies, as well as the Environmental Health Officer.

Swimming clothes for babies

Before you take your baby swimming, you will need:

  • swim nappies (take some spare)
  • a towel
  • change mat
  • nappy bag
  • a snack or bottle for afterwards

If you are swimming outside, make sure your baby is protected from the sun with clothing that blocks out ultraviolet light.

Drowning and drowning prevention

Drowning can occur quickly and quietly, without any warning noises.

Drowning is one of the major causes of death for children under five years. Babies and toddlers are top-heavy, which puts them at higher risk of drowning. If a baby falls into even shallow water, she can’t always lift herself out.

In United States, children under five drown in:

  • swimming pools
  • baths and spa baths
  • rivers, creeks and streams
  • beaches
  • dams, lagoons and lakes.

Children also drown in less obvious locations, like nappy buckets, water tanks, water features and fish ponds – even pets’ water bowls.

For every drowning, approximately seven other children are hospitalized from non-fatal drowning incidents. Some of these result in severe brain damage.

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