Advice for water slide: parent alone with child

[ColoradoMom12]

I also posted this under single parents but I thought other parents (not just those who are single) might also have ideas for me.

I will be alone at the pool with my DD (5) this summer. I am wondering what I can do about the water slide? Usually we have one person at the top to go down after the kids and one in the water waiting as they come down the slide. I don't really want DD walking up the stairs to the slide alone. So I would be going down either before or after her. She's a pretty good swimmer and has been on other water slides (including at WDW resorts) before, but I think I still might put a life vest on her. How would you handle the slide? Is it better to slide before or after my DD?

 

[disnmooner2013]

I would go down first

 

[johnsonet]

I would go down first too, and be waiting for my daughter when she came down. (You'll walk up together and there will be a lifeguard at the top with her until she goes. The lifeguard will tell her when to go down the slide - at least that's how it used to be.)

 

[maxiesmom]

Are you at a Disney pool? If so, they won't allow you to wait too close to the bottom. The child will have to be able to swim a little ways over to you.

 

[ColoradoMom12]

Yes, we'll be at a Disney resort, Boardwalk Inn. I'd feel better if there was a lifeguard at the top! Even there's not a lifeguard there, there will probably be other kids and parents which makes me feel a little bit better. 5 seems so little to me to be waiting alone at the top of a water slide! DD is a pretty good swimmer (can swim in the deep end at our neighborhood pool) and has done water slides before. She's definitely able to swim to the side after coming down the slide. This will be our first time at BWI, but she's been on the one at CR. I'm sure we'll be fine. It's just our first time doing a water slide without someone older bringing up the rear so I'm a little nervous.

 

[DLgal]

The Boardwalk slide uses a Red Light/Green Light system. I would go up with her the first couple times (you slide first, then tell her to come down when the light turns green). I'm sure she will get the hang of it quickly and then you can send her up without you while you stay in the pool. The slide stairs are short and you can mostly see people who are standing on them because it's an open, exposed staircase with white slats you can see through. Put your daughter in a brightly colored swimsuit so you can see her from afar.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Yes, we'll be at a Disney resort, Boardwalk Inn. I'd feel better if there was a lifeguard at the top! Even there's not a lifeguard there, there will probably be other kids and parents which makes me feel a little bit better. 5 seems so little to me to be waiting alone at the top of a water slide! DD is a pretty good swimmer (can swim in the deep end at our neighborhood pool) and has done water slides before. She's definitely able to swim to the side after coming down the slide. This will be our first time at BWI, but she's been on the one at CR. I'm sure we'll be fine. It's just our first time doing a water slide without someone older bringing up the rear so I'm a little nervous.

So, IMHO, you have picked the best resort on property for this situation!!! I have been alone at BWI with DS (now 9) countless times over the last 5 years and, from the pool deck, you can actually see the children walking up the stairs and waiting for the slide. You can even see when they sit down to go down the slide so you'll know when she is coming down. I would put a life vest on her (my DS9 is a strong swimmer, but still wore a swim vest at 5). I would either go up with her and go down first (remind her to wait for the green light to go on before she slides after you). The side of the pool is very close to the slide exit so you can slide, swim over to the side and still be nearby when she exits the slide. There is a lifeguard near the slide exit and the lifeguards can also see the children waiting for the slide. I did this a few times and then I became comfortable enough to simply watch him go up the stairs (always reminding him not to run up the stairs!), wait for the slide and come down while I sat on the edge of the pool. It is a fun slide, though, so you may enjoy it as much as she does. I really love the set-up at the BWI pool because you can literally see your children no matter where you are.

 

[ColoradoMom12]

This sounds perfect! I just watched a YouTube video of the pool/slide at BWI and now I have a better sense of the slide. It does seem like the ideal setup. I might even be able to let DD go up the stairs and down the slide alone after I've done it with her a few times. I'll do a life vest for sure. She's a pretty good swimmer, but I think since I'll be there alone, I'll feel reassured if she's wearing a life vest. Thanks for the replies! Very helpful!!

 

[disneyvoice]

Your DD will be fine since there are lifeguards there. The WDW lifeguards are awesome! When my son was almost 3 we went to Blizzard Beach and he went all over the little kid's area by himself while my mom and I watched. There were lifeguards at the top and bottom of all the rides in that area and he just kept going down and walking back up again, over and over. At first I was walking back up with him but the two lifeguards told me I didn't need to. He was scared of one of the slides so one of the lifeguards talked him into giving it a try and waited for him at the bottom. It was great! I got lots of photos and video that I wouldn't have been able to get if I had been walking him back and forth the whole time.

 

[monorailsilver]

I would wait at the bottom.

I can tell you the last time we went (eons ago) in 2013, my kids were 12, 9 & 7 and all went up together or alone and dh and I waited at the bottom. The time before that my oldest was 7 and she went up and down alone. I don't think I my almost 5 yo went up/down as he finally learned how to swim.

I think after a few times of you going up and down with her you can determine if you can let her go alone and you wait at the bottom.

 

[Shanti]

Yes, we'll be at a Disney resort, Boardwalk Inn. I'd feel better if there was a lifeguard at the top! Even there's not a lifeguard there, there will probably be other kids and parents which makes me feel a little bit better. 5 seems so little to me to be waiting alone at the top of a water slide! DD is a pretty good swimmer (can swim in the deep end at our neighborhood pool) and has done water slides before. She's definitely able to swim to the side after coming down the slide. This will be our first time at BWI, but she's been on the one at CR. I'm sure we'll be fine. It's just our first time doing a water slide without someone older bringing up the rear so I'm a little nervous.

There is no lifeguard at the top, but there will be a green light indicating when to go, & as there will be a line, you can point that out to her & watch/discuss the process in advance. You should slide down first. When the light turns green, if she gets confused of when to go, other kids will tell her she can. It's a friendly waterslide community at the pools. Wait at the bottom for her to come down. Lifeguards understand that parents wait for their kids, but you can't hang off the edge of the slide to actually catch her as she hits the water. She needs to be able to swim a few feet to you.

 

[AngiTN]

We adults (DH, DD or I) don't do slides at all. By 5 we just sent DGD off to slide down the slides and watch for her to come down and it works just fine. Never occurred to us to think about it as something to worry about since we knew she could swim away from the slide area.

 

[sweetmama17]

So my DS4 is just strong enough this summer to be trying the "big boy" slides. When we were at POR last month I went with him the first few times and rode down first (there was always a parent behind me who would chime in that they would make sure he got off) then I would wait for him at the bottom ( I was more concerned about him being a strong enough swimmer to swim up and to the side after the slide dumps you out, he did great!), After a few times I let him go up by himself and I always stayed at the bottom.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

I had my daughter at BWI before she had even turned 4.

The first 2-3 times she went down the slide I walked her to the top and showed her how to wait for the green. I then went down before her and caught her at the bottom. She caught on really quick. After that, she walked to the top by herself and I just waited for her at the bottom.

The lifeguards at Disney are very careful about not having people close to the slide exit, but they notice when it is a parent catching a small child and they are good about letting me stand nearby so I can quickly catch her at the bottom. I don't stand right at the ext, but I stand near enough- off to the side- so that when I see her coming down I can quickly move over and catch her.

I have done this so many times with a little one at AKL, AKV, YC (SAB), POR, CBR, Cabins at FW, and POFQ. Most of the time I was by myself and just let her go to the top by herself and I caught her at the bottom (after showing her how it worked first). A few times she did not even have on a life vest (though I definitely recommend having the child wear a life vest if she cannot swim). At YC the slide entrance is so far from the exit that she did not walk to the entrance by herself- I had to go with her and go first. But at BWI, a five year old can easily climb up to the top by herself and you can wait at the bottom. That particular pool slide is conducive to independence.

The only thing I worry about is that she will jump line or let someone get in front of her if I am not there and there is a crowd, so I also teach her how to stand in line and not cut. She picked it up very quickly even before she turned four, so I am sure your five year old will get it.