At what age would you let your kids swim alone.

[lemondog]

Our pool rule is 10 so I will drop my 10yo off at the pool for the day, but of course there are plenty of lifeguards. No way would I let her without adult supervision. If it was a private pool with no lifeguards I honestly don't know - 16??!

 

[rodeo65]

We have a pool in our yard and our rule is DH or myself must be outside at all times. As much for managing horseplay as anything else. The kids are 8 & 10 and competent swimmers but I would worry in an emergency/panic situation they would lose ability. We also don't allow their friends to swim without their parent being there until we know the family and their swim ability enough to feel comfortable. No just allowing the neighbourhood kids in unsupervised. I'm not a lifeguard.

At public pools it depends on the situation. I'd never allow them at this age to just head to a pool without me. I go along, but am comfortable enough to read while they swim as long as there are lifeguards on duty. They have to stay together. This was an issue at Great Wolf Lodge in March. DS kept taking off on DD so she'd come and get me and we'd have to go find him and "remind" him to stay with her. That would be the largest pool/water park I'd be comfortable with letting them have some freedom, and even at that I was a little nervous and about every 15 minutes I'd go check on them. As a PP said, somewhere like Blizzard Beach, I'd need to actually go with them to each slide/ride.

 

[sunnyday123]

OT but I can't get past this; you said they were your ex sil's kids. Wouldn't that make them your nephews/neice?? Were they there with your brother, their father? I'm just really confused. You don't speak to the kids?

 

[Pixiedust34]

WDW's official policy is that kids have to be 12 and over to be unsupervised at the pool. On our last trip, our kids were 14 and 12. They are both excellent swimmers, and I was fine leaving them at the pool together for a little while when I went back to the room for a bit to organize laundry stuff. I think if the kids are good swimmers and are within the age of the resort's policy that it's fine to give them some pool independence. With younger kids, an adult is needed to stay.

I'm thinking of letting our kids completely on their own at Typhoon Lagoon next year at ages 16 and 14. They are trustworthy kids, good swimmers, and I think they'll have fun. I'd be in the park, but probably on the lazy river all day while they'd slide over and over. Oddly enough, I think the minimum age for unsupervised kids in water parks is 10 (?), younger than at the resort pools.

 

[justhat]

I don't know if I have a set age so much as set ability level. My 7yo is on a year round swim team and an excellent swimmer. I wouldn't allow her to go alone, but I have allowed her to swim without me in the pool since she was 4.5yo. I was sitting on the side, in a swimsuit, watching her, but by that age she knew 2 strokes, how to float and tread water.

My son, however, will be 5yo this week and I do not allow him in the pool unless I am physically in it (or another adult). He's just not as strong a swimmer as his sister at all. He can do a basic freestyle and can float if you put him on his back, but he can't get there himself like my oldest could at that age.

And my youngest, she's 18 months and has been in ISR swim lessons since the beginning of June. She can swim underwater, roll to her back and float, and flip back over and swim. She repeats this pattern till she can get to the steps, edge of the pool to hold on, or can just float till someone gets her. She hasn't finished the course yet since we were out of town 4 weeks this summer and now her swim teacher in on vacation, but the conclusion will be her completing the swim-float-swim sequence fully dressed in winter clothes, coat, shoes. Once she can do that, I would assume she'll be on the swim team by 4yo and I'll be comfortable with her swimming without me in the pool.


That said, we have a pool in our yard and my rule for the 7yo is still that she needs to have an adult outside with her. The pool we belong to has a rule that kids must be 11yo to swim with just the lifeguard on duty, no parent present. As far as sending them down to a hotel pool alone, with no lifeguard, I'd say at least 13yo.

 

[Poohforyou]

Our community pool doesn't allow kids to come alone until they are 12 and pass a swimming test and that is with lifeguards. I wouldn't allow my child to go alone at all if there wasn't a life guard present. IMO that's akin to swimming alone since no one may notice a problem until it's too late. I would probably let me child go with a responsible friend who's a good swimmer when they were both 13-14.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

Actually-to truly swim "alone" with NO ONE around anywhere, I don't think anyone at any age should ever do that.

I agree with this too, but when it comes to children I am just now letting my 13 year old be out in our back yard without me, with some of her friends of course. I still check on them every few minutes too. I still will not let my 10 year old out there at all without me.

Recently while at POR my son wanted to go swimming at the big pool while I was doing laundry so I sent him over, but I had my 18 yo DD take him and she watched him the whole time. I would not feel safe sending my children to a public pool without one of us watching them until they were much older. (16-18)

 

[luvmy3]

We have a small local waterpark here and their drop age is 13. If you are under 13 you must be accompanied by an adult, so there is no way a 4 year old could be left with a 13 year old there.
In my own pool, my 13 year old dd is allowed to swim unsupervised. My 10 and 7 year olds are not.

 

[MnMomtoboys]

I would say 12.

OT - but can I ask what hotel you were at? We are going to one up near Brainerd next week and I am looking for reviews

Thanks!

we were in SD.

 

[MnMomtoboys]

OT but I can't get past this; you said they were your ex sil's kids. Wouldn't that make them your nephews/neice?? Were they there with your brother, their father? I'm just really confused. You don't speak to the kids?

Sorry I should of made myself more clear. My bil had 2 kids with his ex wife. He divorced her because of how she treated the kids and he had full custody. She then had 3 boys with other guys. The kids are not related to me and I make my kids keep their distance from the older one because 2 years ago he choked one of my sons twice and my ex sil just said that my son shouldn't of made him mad. Last year he tried to get my other son to go smoke cigerettes with him. Thus we have nothing to do with him.

 

[almburr]

Our Public pool allows 5 year olds to come unattended. DS is 6yrs old and I let him go. But I Manage the pool and lifeguard it. When Im working hes swimming and when I have a rare day off Im there. But there are times when he will go before I do.

Its a culture thing. We are a small pool I can name every person in the water or link them to a person that came with them (like cousins or grandkids visiting).

 

[MrsPete]

Our pool requires that kids under 14 are accompanied by a parent. So for most kids, that means high school.

I don't remember the pool rules when I was a kid, but I think that's about the age my mom'd drop us off in the afternoons while she went to work.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Our home pool rules - no one swims alone, and a strong swimmer must be present at all times. Both of my boys are strong swimmers.

When at others' pools, we follow their rules. But I wouldn't have turned in kids for breaking that rule at a public pool.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

My 13 yo DS takes my 7 yo DD to the neighborhood private pool. There are 4 lifeguards there for a little bigger than an olympic size pool.

Both of my kids are strong swimmers. That was a must in my book. They took lessons at an early age and had to be able to tred water and swim the length of the pool, which both accomplished by 4 yo for DS and 3 yo for DD.

DD will be on the swim team at the pool next summer.

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

No way. I find it extremely irritating when people just think other adults have nothing better to do than keep an eye on their unchaperoned children.

 

[Wadecool]

No way. I find it extremely irritating when people just think other adults have nothing better to do than keep an eye on their unchaperoned children.

I have a cousin who is infamous for doing just that. She will show up at our house, get all her kids (age 6, 4, and 2) in their swimsuits, send them out to the pool and just assume some other adult will supervise her kids. Meanwhile, she is sitting in the living room playing Words With Friends on her iPhone.

 

[golfgal]

Ok, for all you parents with "strong swimmers", keep in mind that because many of these kids are so young, they WILL panic if they find themselves in a situation where they feel like they are drowning and even if they are strong swimmers, most of that will go out the window in their panic. DO NOT rely on their swimming skills to get them out of a situation like this when they are 4-6-12 years old.