Proper pool supervision

[stacy6552]

Hello, friends! We're back from a georgus, though hot, stay at the Beach Club. I have a cautionary tale to share.

My 6 yr old, who can swim, wears a life vest at SAB because he loves the whirl pool and slide. I love the end lounge chair where I can sit and watch that end of the pool. My other son is 12 and I was doing a quick scan for him when my younger son let out one of those "I really mean it!" screams and starts yelling for a boy to get off him. I realize that the other boy is in serious distress and is clawing at my child in his panic. The other boy is head under water and not making any noise of his own. My son freed himself as I was getting over there and I fished the boy out of the pool.

He was maybe 5. And when I said lets go find your parents, he told me they were not there that they were eating. He said he was there with his brother, but didn't know where he was either. I told him to stay put and went to get a lifeguard, who had missed the whole incident. In the time it took the lifeguard to talk to the boy and for a CM to be radioed and show up to get the boy, there was no sign of anyone looking for him.

I don't know what happened to the little boy in the navy swim suit with orange dinosaurs. And it wouldn't suprise me that if by the time the story went from me to the liufeguard to the CM to the parents, that the parents were just told not to leave their child unattended, w/o any mention of his close call. But I do know that had he not endangered my child, he might have gone completely unnoticed until it was too late.

Please please please make sure that your precious children are really well supervised at the pools and keep in mind that a responsible sibling at home, is probably not an adequate babysitter on vacation and at play.

 

[all4fun]

I sure hope they did tell the parents what happened and they are smart enough to realize they made a mistake. Some people...

I'm glad you were able to help and that your son wasn't injured in the incident.

 

[Groovee]

That's awful

I used to work in private daycar before I had my family and about 11 months afgter I'd had dd, an ex colleague called to tell me that one of our children had drowned on hols and to this day they still don't know what happened.

 

[minkydog]

A message that bears repeating Never, ever trust your kids in a swimming pool. Be vigilant. Don't expect a 16yo lifeguard to watch them for you. No one is as connected to your kids as you are. Even a good swimmer can have a cramp. A bad swimmer endangers himself and others.

i once witnessed lifeguards "walking" the bottom of a lake, looking for a missing 8yo. they found him--in 5ft of water. No life jacket. Non swimmer. Just got out a little too far and nobody there to help. There's nothing as horrifying as seeing someone fish a lifeless child out of the water. He could not be resuscitated.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

We had a close call with my ds4 last year at my mother's house. Everyone thought someone else was watching him and he got into the pool. We don't know how long he was in before my sister inlaw saw him and I pulled him out. He was okay after a few minutes, we were very lucky. The thing was, we were all only 10 feet away at the time. In fact, my ds6, my sister and her boyfriend were in the pool at the time, but never saw him go in.

My point is Make sure there is a designated person watching the kids at all times. It's not enough just to have adults out in the area. Besides that, our new rule is that the kids have to have their life jacket on if they are going to be out in the pool area, whether they are swimming or not.

 

[hidmickey:myantidrug]

You would think that with all of the drownings that have happened recently (there were several locally within the past month but I'm sure there have been around where all of you are too) and in the past that parents would learn that it can happen to anybody! I don't understand...

It's a wonderful thing that you and your son were there. Obviously not good that he was getting pulled under but great that your family could all do something about it! Good for you!

People's wack version of 'common sense' never seizes to amaze me

 

[CEDmom]

People never cease to amaze me. Thank goodness you were there.

A few years ago DD and I were at the baby pool at WL. DD was about 3 at the time. A mom came over with a much younger child - probably about 18 mo. She put the baby in the water and then went to get her lounge chair set up. I lost count of the number of times I pulled this baby's face out of the water before the mom came back. There wasn't much else I could do because I couldn't leave my DD to go get a guard. When she came back DD and I left.

 

[I Love Pluto]

You - and your son - are really great people. I cannot ever understand how a Mom and/or Dad can just leave their child somewhere - especially in a pool. What were they thinking?

 

[spiceycat]

he told me they were not there that they were eating. He said he was there with his brother, but didn't know where he was either. I told him to stay put and went to get a lifeguard, who had missed the whole incident.

when a parent can afford to have 2 rooms - sometimes the kids will get out (older sibling) without the parents even knowing it.

they are generally asleep.

but that is no excuse - put an alarm on both doors if necessary.

 

[JoiseyMom]

My kids are 5 and 10, we have our own pool, but they are never in it alone or around it. It is fenced off. When we are at Disney, me or DH are with the kids at all times in the pool. I follow my little one like a hawk! Even my older one, I want to know where she is at all times in the pool.

 

[CindyAnn]

Stacy - That's a very sad story. Who would leave their child alone at a pool? It's wonderful that you got to the little boy in time, but the story could have had a very different ending.

People should also remember that many children who drown are in fact swimmers, but are inadequately supervised (i.e. by an older child), not supervised at all, or are not wearing a lifejacket in a situation where it should be worn.

Also, parents should be very cautious about the use of water wings. They're meant to be worn when an adult is in arm's reach of the child, and are not in any way meant to replace a lifejacket. Most lifeguards can tell you horror stories about water wings that have slipped, with only a pair of little hands still sticking up out of the water. I've seen very young children (3 at the oldest) swimming with waterwings while Mom was on a lounge chair with her eyes closed, getting a tan. Get in there with them!

Rant over. Good cautionary tale, Stacy.

 

[Schmeck]

Waterwings scare me for that very reason - they can slip off so easily if punctured, etc. They had to fish a girl out of the pool at BB when one of her wings came off. She was OK, thank goodness, but having lifeguards run past you is very alarming, as you know something is wrong.

Someone told me "lifeguards are there for other people's children"

 

[anbouk]

the 6 caribbean beach resort quiet pools have no lifeguards unlike the mainpool they should have them everywhere. and i bet they do that at alot more resorts too. things could happen to little ppl if lifeguards are not there (they usually dint pay attention though )

 

[peightonmom]

That makes me so angry!

 

[LaraK]

No child should be near any body of water unattended...EVER!

 

[ekball]

Totally agree with the last 2 posters.



To me, this is a case of child neglect or child endangerment.

What were these parents thinking!?

 

[DVCisME]

I read somewhere that 9 out of 10 drownings are under supervision.

I don't understand why people have children if they are not going to care for them!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

My DS6 (today is his birthday!) is having a birthday party at a local pool this Saturday. Guests attending will vary from 6.5yo down to 2 (my younger son.) The director of the pool told me that while their rules currently state that any child under 4 ft tall must be accompanied in the water by an adult, they are now going to bump that height minimum up to 5ft! Apparently too many parents are allowing children who cannot swim (but meet the height minimum) into the pool by themselves.

He further said that the lifeguards are not, in fact, there to keep the kids from drowning, but to prevent such a scenario from getting even close to happening. One or two lifeguards can't keep an eye on every child in the pool at every minute! Parents need to be vigilant about the safety of their children, especially around water.

 

[jodifla]

I read somewhere that 9 out of 10 drownings are under supervision.

I don't understand why people have children if they are not going to care for them!

Now this is a broad statement. Fact is, kids can drown in a flash. This is definitely a judge ye not situation.

One of my son's playmate's drowned. Her parents doted on her, and were very vigilant. But one day, when the baby woke up from her nap, the mom went to get her, and the other child, a toddler, went back into the pool. They had an above-ground pool, and the mom mistakenly thought that she had removed the ladder, as she'd done every other time. By the time she got the baby up and fed her a jar of baby food, the other child had drowned.

The OP's situation seems pretty extreme. But be careful about judging people whose kids drown.

 

[all4fun]

Jodifla, I didn't take DVCisME's statement that way at all.

If 9 out of 10 drownings occur while kids are being supervised, then why on earth would anyone risk NOT supervising their child at all when in the pool?

See the difference?

ETA: I'm sorry to hear about your friends child. How horrible that must be for that family. Accidents do happen and they are just that. Accidents. It doesn't make it any less painful though.